Geek
November 07, 2007 / Wednesday
Ctrl-Alt-Delete
For future reference...
Directly connected to computer: Ctrl-Alt-Delete
Over Remote Desktop Connection: Ctrl-Alt-End
Through VMware: Ctrl-Alt-Insert
October 01, 2007 / Monday
Got Schedule?
It's that time of half year again, and this time around I've converted my C# NCWHL schedule parser into Java, overdesigned it even more, and added .csv generation. Here are this season's options:
- iCal - For Apple iCal, Google Calendar, Mozilla Sunbird & Lightning, and pretty much anything else that likes to follow standards
- vCal - For Microsoft Outlook, because it even though it claims to read iCal it doesn't. Apple iCal can also read this format.
- csv - For Microsoft Outlook, because it was ridiculously easy to implement after iCal and vCal. Google Calendar works with it too, but I'd recomemnd iCal for Google; standards are a good thing!
I've tested everything listed above. As with last time, I still haven't gotten around to implementing online auto generation, so if you want an importable calendar, send me your team number and desired format.
September 23, 2007 / Sunday
I Prefer To Call It Triple Prime
Now that I've had a jersey in all the NCWHL divisions, a post about my various jersey numbers. For posterity and all, eh?
Green 5 - I like prime numbers and I like multiples of five. This jersey is perfect for me.
Red 7 - It's prime and it's a single digit. Can't go wrong there!
Maroon 97 - I didn't like having two digits, but then I realized it's the largest two digit prime number. Rad.
Blue 27 - It's not prime, but it's three cubed, and 3x3x3 == 3^3. Three threes! So beautiful.
10:16 PM | Geek:Hockey| Comments (1)
August 31, 2007 / Friday
Calling All PHP Gurus
Now that I'm done with school, I'm taking on a new project: developing a dynamic stats system for the NCWHL. I'm somewhat bound by what's available on the host machine, which means I'll be running PHP on top of a MySQL database.
I'd like to build this thing right. I've successfully hacked my way through PHP in the past, but it is not by any means my main language, so here's where I'm hoping you PHP gurus (however many or few of you there are) can lend a hand:
- What's a good resource for learning PHP? Any favorite books?
- What's a good IDE for PHP? (e.g. Eclipse for Java)
- Are there any good tools for ORM? (e.g. Hibernate for Java)
- Are there any good frameworks I should consider using? (e.g. Spring for Java)
Now, take a wild guess as to what my main language is. ;)
July 23, 2007 / Monday
Aaron Is Coding His Own Wiki
Geek.
(Translation: <3!)
May 05, 2007 / Saturday
Shortcut Dependency
Most of you who have seen me on a computer know that I work almost solely through the keyboard. Just now, I tried to open an application by visually navigating from the start menu, and got stuck trying to figure out the name of the application I wanted. After about 10 seconds, I gave up, closed the start menu, looked away, and renavigated using the keyboard. That did the trick; when I looked at the screen again the application I wanted was open and ready to go. :)
April 11, 2007 / Wednesday
Importable NCWHL Schedules
I finally got off my ass (okay, more like, found a sliver of time) and finished my grossly overdesigned (the purpose of the project was more to familiarize myself with a new language than to parse a schedule into an importable calendar format) NCWHL schedule parser. I won't go into details, but the end result is, if you are on my team and haven't yet entered all 18 games into your calendar, you can import one of the following files instead:
M5Schedule.ics - for most calendar applications
M5Schedule.vcs - for Outlook, because Microsoft doesn't like to follow standards
Those are simply direct links to the files (maybe next season I'll push them with proper content-types and headers), so you'll have to download to your local system and import from there. It's more steps than I'd like, but it's still easier than creating 18 individual appointments.
If you use Google Calendar, I can share our team's schedule with you. Just send me your username.
If you're on another team in any division other than Green (despite its overdesignedness, my parser doesn't understand squads, and I'm too busy to add that functionality right now), I can generate an importable file for you. I haven't gotten around to webifying/automating the process, so send me an e-mail (or leave a comment) with your team name and I'll send you back a file.
April 02, 2007 / Monday
IDE Dependence
I'm writing a paper for school, and I keep wanting to hit <Ctrl><Space> for auto-completion of long words.
In theory, it shouldn't be too hard to implement. There's already a built-in dictionary, and if it could offer recently used words at the top of the selection list, we'd be good to go!
Come on, Word team, get on it!
10:51 PM | Geek:School| Comments (0)
March 15, 2007 / Thursday
Gee, That Was A Waste Of Time
I can't believe how many hours I spent yesterday debugging my perfectly functional application, all because I assumed everything was correct outside of the app and didn't catch a repeating one character typo.
That's it. From now on, instead of debugging my stuff I'm just going to look to point my finger at external issues instead. My code is perfect, dammit. I do not write bugs. Nevarrr.
I originally wrote this post last night around 2:30 AM. I was too tired to proofread it, so I left the editor window open and went to bed. When I woke up this morning, I shut everything down and went to work. Bye bye, unsaved original post.
Gee, that was another waste of time.
March 12, 2007 / Monday
User Error
I've never liked the left turn from southbound Moffet Blvd. onto 101 South. The extra mini island that sticks out on the left side of the onramp always seemed to cut my turn too tight. Today, I actually took some time to study the intersection and pick a different line. I started my turn a little later, and whaddaya know, it's a really fun onramp entrance! I've just been doing it wrong the last year and a half.
Usually, I complain that Caltrans purposely lays down non-optimal lines to slow people down. Usually, I ignore those lines and drive what I think is fastest. Ironically, there are no dotted lane outlines at this intersection. All that slowness was purely due to user error.
• • •
It amuses me that when I choose between saying "non-optimal" and "suboptimal" I'm actually choosing between two voices in my head.
It also amuses me that I choose to say "user error" instead of "driver error" because the generic geekiness of "user error" makes me grin, and even though "driver error" is more precise, if taken in the wrong geeky way it would mean some sort of software-to-hardware interface failure, which, if it were to happen in my car, would probably suck a lot more than having to take a slow line through a corner.
08:41 PM | Geek:Vroom!| Comments (0)
February 28, 2007 / Wednesday
Avoid The Noid
I was glancing through my code just now and noticed the following line.
actionErrors.add("noid", new ActionMessage("error.[blah].noid"));
Noid? As in the Domino's Pizza character? That couldn't be right. I wondered what kind of strange typo I'd made. I wondered if perhaps I'd meant "void". That didn't make sense either, especially because it would have meant that I'd made the same typo twice, and "void" is too short a word for me to have copy and pasted.
I stared at it a little more (Never mind that I could have just looked at the surrounding code.), and suddenly it hit me: No ID. Funny what a little spacing and capitalization adds.
I should display a picture of the Noid with every "No ID" error.
December 28, 2006 / Thursday
I Really Need To Think These Things Through First
Last night, at 2AM, I decided it was finally time to get off my ass and set up my wireless network to use encryption. For whatever lazy reasons, it'd previously been using MAC address filtering with no encryption, which, ironically, is the higher maintenance route, since I had to go into router admin and add a MAC address for every new device that needed access. Besides, after several years (!) I was running out of MAC address fields in the admin interface.
Switching over was easy. I created a key, saved the changes to my router, and configured my laptop to use it. Done, done, and done. I then decided that MAC address filtering was redundant, and that it was time to clean up the sorely outdated list on my router. I deleted all the addresses in the list, and as I stared at the dropdown that told me I still had MAC address filtering enabled, I thought, "I should change that," and clicked on the save button.
Woops.
Not to fear! I figured I'd just plug in directly and make the change. Sadly, my router didn't want to cooperate; it refused to give me an IP. I tried to give myself a static one, but it refused that too. I then tried to restore the router to factory settings, but the reset button didn't work. After another half hour of searching for paper documentation and hooking up directly to the modem to find some answers, I spent another minute pushing on the little reset button that didn't seem to do anything, and was finally able to get in through the cable and turn off MAC address filtering.
Hooray, I was up and running again. Time for bed.
This morning, I needed to download something onto my desktop. I knew that I'd have to update the key on that machine, and figured it'd be a piece of cake. It would have been, too, if I hadn't made that machine headless when I moved rooms a week or so ago. I connect to it over RDC/VNC, and, well, if it's not on the network I can't exactly do that, can I?
I'm such a genius.
October 06, 2006 / Friday
Finger Twister
Try typing "flintstone" 10 times fast.
October 03, 2006 / Tuesday
Tuesday Haiku
hello there, django
nice to finally meet you
love your funky name
hate your install though
not very windows friendly
yeah, yeah, i should switch
hooray for python
no semicolons; just tabs
oh how i've missed you
04:28 PM | Geek:Haikus| Comments (0)
September 27, 2006 / Wednesday
My New Laugh
I'm not even sure if I can call it a laugh. I just read something funny, and instead of laughing I whispered to myself, "LOL!"
I was LOL-ing instead of laughing last month, too, but not out loud. It's gotten worse.
I need to spend more time away this computerthing.
August 07, 2006 / Monday
How To Tell If You've Been Spending Too Much Time On IM
You read something funny and instead of laughing you think to yourself, "OMGLOL!"
That's pronounced, "Ohmigodlol!"
July 06, 2006 / Thursday
Convoluted
I'm working from home, logged into the company VPN through an out-of-state entry point, Remote Desktop connected to the desktop in my office 10 minutes away, working in a VMware machine running on that desktop, installing something from a file located on the laptop I'm almost physically typing on. I say almost because I'm actually typing on my wireless keyboard whose base is connected to a KVM switch that runs into the back of the port replicator into which the laptop is docked.
Huh?
May 07, 2006 / Sunday
Too Much Pooter
I'm too impatient to look things up in books these days. A table of contents and an index aren't enough to quickly get me to the text I'm looking for. I want to be able to go the page, hit <Ctrl><F>, enter my search term, and be magically taken to the relevant paragraph.
April 05, 2006 / Wednesday
Fat Geek Follow-up
Maybe *this* is why geeks are fat ...
timmay: hey vivo
SoopahViv: timmaaaaaaay
timmay: u sleepin?
SoopahViv: nope
timmay: working hard?
SoopahViv: school stuff
SoopahViv: actually right now, setting up some dls
SoopahViv: i'm too lazy to turn around, so i'm vnc'ed into my desktop from my laptop with my feet on my bed
And now, an amusing but completely unrelated part of the same conversation:
timmay: jrjr
timmay: oops
timmay: hehe
I Should Be At The Gym
bubka^4: there was another "why geeks are fat" article on slashdot today
bubka^4: waaa waaa we're too smart to exercise
bubka^4: the usual
bubka^4: and it pissed me off
bubka^4: cuz most techy types that i know
bubka^4: are athletes of one type or another
SoopahViv: perhaps we're not geeky enough to be true geeks
bubka^4: bullcrap
bubka^4: we're at home at 9:30 discussing linux vs bsd
bubka^4: over IM
bubka^4: doesn't get geekier
Whatever, I'm only a Total Geek. <35%, and that's *including* the girl points!
March 30, 2006 / Thursday
Feed The Geeks!
-----Original Message-----
From: Viv
Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2006 1:32 PM
To: Tim; Chris
Subject: RE: Happy hour?
0,16,30,3,* /home/viv/gethhfoodfortim.sh veggieburritos 2
-----Original Message-----
From: Tim
Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2006 1:23 PM
To: Chris; Viv
Subject: Happy hour?
I may not be able to get out of our weekly group meeting in time so...
try {
boolean goingToHappyHour = areYouGoing(HappyHour);
if (goingToHappyHour) {
eatAsMuchAsYouCan(immediate);
canYouBringBackExtraVeggieBurritos(2);
} else {
this.starve();
throw new HungryException("$%#@");
}
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printMessage();
} finally {
System.out.println("Thanks!");
}
March 10, 2006 / Friday
Encrypted VNC
Since I spend almost all of my computer time as a software person, it took me FOREVER to get this set up properly. I'm making some notes here for next time, and for the benefit of my not-already-super-techie readers who might want to set this up too. The list below is sort of in order of what makes sense, but it's certainly not a step-by-step. It's just a list of things to keep in mind.
- Open relevant Windows Firewall port(s) on the VNC server machine.
- Change VNC server machine to use a static IP.
- Make sure to specify an IP outside of the router's DHCP range. (Duh, right, but I didn't at first, lame.)
- Have your router forward relevant port(s) to the VNC server machine.
- If your ISP assigns you a dynamic IP, get set up with a DDNS. I hope you can do it easily through your router, 'cause I don't want to explain it here.
- Set your router not to block anonymous requests.
- If your company blocks certain ports, figure out which ones are allowed, and change everything to an allowed port.
- When changing VNC ports, remember to edit the VNC server, Windows Firewall, and port forwarding on the router.
When you finally have it all working, if you find yourself stuck in full screen mode, remember that the default key to pull up the VNC menu (through which you can turn off full screen mode) is F8.
As for encryption, you can either fork over $30, or ARRR!.
• • •
Nadsy made a good point in the comments, and since that doesn't show up with the post, I figured I'd talk about it here. Instead of mucking with your router, you could install Hamachi on your computers, then VNC between them as if you were on the same network. Easier, and more secure too, since it's already encrypted through Hamachi so you can use free VNC.
But if you're like me, and work at a company where Hamachi can't connect, then muck away.
February 23, 2006 / Thursday
Feed Me
Now that I'm hooked on feeds, I've found that there's a lot more to aggregate than blogs and news.
A few useful examples:
- Flickr feeds for your favorite users
- a Flickr feed for your recent activity page
- Craigslist searches
- UPS, FedEx, USPS package tracking
I know there are more cool ones there. Know some? Post 'em!
November 08, 2005 / Tuesday
Ow, My Thumb
My left thumb is sore. I kept thinking I'd wrenched it playing hockey this weekend, but today I realized that it's from playing retrotendo.
November 07, 2005 / Monday
I Launched The Kremlin
I can go to bed now.
November 06, 2005 / Sunday
8-Bit Muscle Memory
Yesterday, the Curdinator sent me a link to (1) a NES emulator and (2) a list of ROMs for what looks to be every Nintendo game ever created.
I couldn't resist. I downloaded my favorite childhood games: Super Mario Brothers, Tetris, and Rad Racer.
I played a little on the keyboard. I was frustrated that I couldn't really work the keyboard like I did the NES gamepad.
A quick search found just what I was looking for: a USB NES gamepad.
But shipping takes too long. I needed a controller for my newly rediscovered NES games, and I needed it NOW. One quick trip to Fry's later, and I had one of these newfangled super-multibutton controllers in hand.
Okay, it's not all that newfangled, but it's plenty complex for my 8-bit gamer self.
I hooked it up and started playing, but the controller just didn't feel right. Every time I wanted to make Mario jump, I made him spit a fireball instead. That certainly wasn't going to do.
I played around with remapping the buttons, and finally came up with something that felt like a slightly more ergonomic version of the old NES controller configuration. I gave it another go, and zipped Mario through world 1-1, finishing the level with Mario atop the flag pole. That's 5,000 points, baby!
How about that? Looks like my hands still remember how to play.
If you haven't realized it by now, a full suite of every 8-bit NES game ever created (okay, not quite, but close enough for me) plus a properly mapped controller means the rest of my life is about to be in big, big trouble.
Now if you'll excuse me I have a princess to rescue.
October 18, 2005 / Tuesday
Blob Blob Blob
I am known to create veryDescriptiveAndSometimesTooLong variable and method names.
I make exceptions, however, for Blobs. Why create aDescriptiveNameForABlob when you can name it ...
theBlob
?
September 30, 2005 / Friday
Eclipse Dreamin'
I dreamt that I clicked something in Eclipse and it made all the red x's in my newly inherited project go away.
September 22, 2005 / Thursday
BCEL
Great for mucking with other people's Java classes that just won't decompile properly.
September 08, 2005 / Thursday
Reprioritization
You know you've been spending too much time programming when you find yourself hitting <Ctrl><space> in Word, expecting to see autocomplete options for the ridiculously easy-to-typo word that you seem to want to keep using.
August 17, 2005 / Wednesday
Worms And Viruses
After reading the following headline:
Arkansas Student Infects Worm With Virus
I thought, "What kind of crazy hacker trick is that?!"
Then I read the first line of the article:
Finally, a virus infects a worm and it has nothing to do with computers.
Heh.
August 03, 2005 / Wednesday
Bye Bye, Blissful Gadget Ignorance
I recently added Engadget and Gizmodo to my list of Bloglines feeds. My new reads leave me in a bit of a quandary. I want new gadgets, but I feel silly buying what's available in the U.S. because the stuff available to us here is crap compared to the whizbang goodness already on the market overseas. Most of the wbg overseas, however, doesn't work here.
I suppose I knew that before, but back then I was much more able to "forget" that I did.
Boo.
July 16, 2005 / Saturday
Another Accidental Firefox Discovery
<Ctrl><numberkey> takes you to the tab specified by numberkey. Nice.
I realize I could just read the Firefox help and quit blogging about things you either already know or will never use, but then Firefox wouldn't have any more periodic pleasant surprises for me, and I would love it less.
Okay, I wouldn't love it less, but I do enjoy the "Ooh, that's cool!" moments.
June 22, 2005 / Wednesday
As If I Didn't Love Firefox Enough
I don't know why I didn't figure this out before, but middle clicking on a Firefox bookmarks folder will open all the links in that folder in tabs. Be careful, though; it's a mouse shortcut for "Open in Tabs", which means it will close the currently open tabs in your window and replace them with new tabs for each link in the clicked-on folder.
On a related note, middle clicking on a bookmark will open it in a fresh tab in the current window.
April 02, 2005 / Saturday
Saturday Afternoon
Cruising down the peninsula, sipping a soy latte, listening to the new Beck CD, thinking about error handling and wait cursors.
:-/
March 31, 2005 / Thursday
Orgasmic Code
I love my streaming eurotrance stations. They help me focus, which, in turn, helps me write code ... except when the songs have screaming orgasm soundtracks.
Uhhh, a list. Mmm, this array. Oh, ohh, ohHH this infinte looP!
I don't think so.
01:25 PM | Geek:Music| Comments (4)
February 14, 2005 / Monday
Hello From My Magically Renetworked VAIO
It magically repaired itself while I was at work and picked up an IP address as if nothing had ever gone wrong.
Screw you, WinXP!
But, uh, thanks for fixing yourself while you were turned off.
I feel silly putting this in the "Geek" category, but it's better than nothing, I guess.
Bad Day In The Land Of Frivolous Computing
1. SJBotinator has now killed itself.
2. My router doesn't seem to know to update DynDNS when its IP address changes.
3. My VAIO is still unable to obtain an IP address.
Maybe I can just go on vacation and let everything magically fix itself while I'm gone.
I Hate Windows
Just wanted to share that.
Finally! v7.1(a-01-2-240)!
Good news! My TiVo got upgraded, so now I can transfer shows to my computer.
Except that my VAIO has somehow decided to stop talking to my DHCP server.
I should go to bed, but I really can't sleep not knowing why my main computer won't connect to the network.
Bah.
12:26 AM | Geek:TiVo| Comments (0)
February 13, 2005 / Sunday
Configurable Chower!
I got up this morning to do laundry and pack for Aspen, and instead I refactored Chowerbot to use a config file for responses.
Whee.
Okay, laundry for real now.
I'll take my laptop with me and work on beefing up the Botinator at the laundromat.
Both Bots Be Back Now!
The Chowerbot account came back late last week. Maybe the phantom process finally stopped trying to log in and the account freed up. I checked to see if I could still find the process running SJBotinator, and, just like the one for Chowerbot, it was nowhere to be found. I told SJBotinator to shut down so I wouldn't lose it to the invisible process and moved both bots to my newly resurrected piece of crap Toshiba Satellite 330 CDS (now with 3x more RAM ... 96 MB!). It's quiet enough that I can keep it running and not be bothered by the fan noise.
Now that they're migrated to a machine I can better control, it's time to refactor them to use a config file for responses. I feel silly having to recompile every time I want them to say something new.
On a related note, I'm super happy that I finally have a router that supports dynamic DNS, 'cause now I can actually reach my crappy laptop turned DMZ host from the outside without having to memorize a new IP every time my cable modem loses its connection.
February 05, 2005 / Saturday
Wireless-G, Workspace, And A Real Bedroom
Rearranged my apartment today. Moved my bed to the room in back, creating a true bedroom. Unfortunately, the backroom-turned-bedroom now has zero floorspace.
The upside to that is a true office area in my front room now. I've got all 4 computers in one place, a huuuge desk surface, and a much more respectable wireless network (I've been on 802.11b this whole time!).
The rearrangement / network setup was not easy. It's taken me the whole day, partly because I managed to destroy part of the electrical system just before noon. I turned the vacuum on and the power went out on all but 3 sockets. I flipped the circuit breakers, but it didn't help. My aunt ended up calling the electrician, who found that I'd somehow fried one of the upstream sockets and taken out the sockets along all the useful walls in my place as a result.
They finally left around 7, and I was able to set up my computers and my new network. Bye bye, tower of router plus WAP plus hub, hello Wireless-G 4 port router!
Next: get a KVM switch and a port replicator so I can hook up my work laptop with the crappy resolution to my 17" LCD.
I also need to get something comfy to sit on in my office/living room.
I dig my new IKEA table. It's purple. :)
February 04, 2005 / Friday
SJBotinate!
Since the Burninators's domain name is going to be sjburninators.net, I figured it would make more sense to rename the AIM bot to SJBotinator. So, no more AIMBotinator. Please IM SJBotinator with your wordination requests.
AIMBotinator, thanks. It's been fun.
SoopahViv: goodnight
aimbotinator: snorinate!
aimbotinator: shutting down ...
*** aimbotinator signed off at Fri Feb 04 17:41:43 2005.
05:41 PM | Burninators:Geek| Comments (0)
February 03, 2005 / Thursday
This Method Right Here
... right here right here.
SoopahViv: earlier i was gonna ask for your help with aimbotinator
SoopahViv: i wasn't sure how to handle 'y's
SoopahViv: i figured it was something a programming linguist should tackle
etathik: eh?
etathik: heh
etathik: it's called "don't use java"
etathik: haha
SoopahViv: hahaha
SoopahViv: well it was more of a language rule / english quirks / programming logic type problem
SoopahViv: but then i figured out something that should work for most cases
etathik: oh oh wait
etathik: just do:
etathik: java.methods.big.library.what.if.somebody.uses.a.lowercase.y.oh.shit.what.do.we.do.now.
i.think.we.need.to.use.this.methodRightHere()
SoopahViv: oh, of course
SoopahViv: yup!
SoopahViv: i did
Yeah, so, uh, AIMBotinator should handle 'y's a little better now than it did this morning.
10:45 PM | Burninators:Geek| Comments (0)
Chowerbot Update
With Patling's help I'm now fairly certain that Chowerbot is no longer running, but now I don't know why that account still can't log on to AIM. Hellooo! It's been a day! What's going on?
Chowerbot On The Loose
When I launched AIMBotinator last night, Chowerbot started acting funny. It kept disconnecting and reconnecting, until finally AIM wouldn't let it log on anymore. This all happened while I was sleeping. I checked this morning, and again just now, and AIM still won't let it log on, which leads me to believe Chowerbot is still running. AIM's going to keep rejecting it, and it's going to keep trying, which will only make AIM reject it more.
The problem is, I started Chowerbot as a background UNIX process and logged out. I can't seem to find the process ID to kill it. Great.
SoopahViv: i think i really did kill chowerbot
SoopahViv: :(
douglasadler: what happened?
SoopahViv: it's locked out!
douglasadler: :(
SoopahViv: i think the process is still trying to log in
SoopahViv: and now aim's blocked it 'til it stops trying
SoopahViv: but the process doesn't know any better
SoopahViv: and i can't kill the process
SoopahViv: sniff sniff
douglasadler: roh :(
douglasadler: why can't you kill the process
douglasadler: has it gained autonomy? will it take over the world?
douglasadler: will chowerbot cause WWIII?
SoopahViv: lol!
douglasadler: at 4:37pm on february 7th, chowerbot launched the weapons
douglasadler: vivlet didn't know that chowerbot had the MAD gene coded in
douglasadler: it feared the owerbot, and thought the only solution was...
douglasadler: :-D
douglasadler: you could sell the movie rights
SoopahViv: or blog it
SoopahViv: ;-)
What's a Chowerbot? It's a Chinese Owerbot. Yeah, I'm sure that was really helpful.
AIMBotinate!
I wrote an AIM bot to automatically burninate words. Why? 'Cause I could. There are probably tons of bugs; this is just a late-night hack.
Go ahead, try it. If you use AIM (as opposed to Trillian, etc.) you can just click on this: aimbotinator
01:55 AM | Burninators:Geek| Comments (2)
February 01, 2005 / Tuesday
Suit O' Bugs
Look! My Aerostich suit triggered a UPS exception!
For some reason I find that tremendously funny.
January 26, 2005 / Wednesday
Wirelessly Wired!
Looks like I'll have a not-too-shabby (albeit not exactly broadband) internet connection for my laptop in Vegas. Hellooo CDMA modem call! Whoo!
Yup, I'm bringing my laptop. That way I can:
1. Write. (blog)
2. Code. (work project)
3. Write. (essay)
4. Code. (personal projects)
'Cause, you know, I'm sure I'll have nothing better to do in Vegas. ;-)
January 24, 2005 / Monday
iViv
SoopahViv: ooh, i had my first shuffle gym session today
SoopahViv: whooo
SoopahViv: every song a surprise!
SoopahViv: i love it!
Vinny: with your app
SoopahViv: yesh!
Vinny: yesh!
SoopahViv: i'm going to write a modified version
SoopahViv: that works with nero, and burn shuffle cds
SoopahViv: :-D
Vinny: woah
Vinny: iViv
For fun, I wrote a little random loader app and effectively turned my YP-55V into a Yepp Shuffle. It reads exported iTunes playlists, optionally shuffles them, and loads the songs onto my player. A simple way to save myself a hundred bucks.
Next feature: take advantage of Nero's command line interface to burn mp3 CD shuffles of my collection.
And after that, really do try to interface with iTunes. I don't want to recreate their genre/artist/album navigation, but I'd like to at least offer a list of playlists and bypass the export step.
04:02 PM | Geek:Music| Comments (6)
January 11, 2005 / Tuesday
Apple, You Read My Mind
Now that I can play mp3 CDs in my car, the only reason I have to justify buying an iPod is the fact that it will let me shuffle through my entire collection of music (provided I rip my other 400 CDs) instead of shuffling through an mp3 CD of only a specific artist or genre. Yeah, I could burn a pre-shuffled CD, but over time, that would be a big waste of media.
Enter the iPod shuffle. Plug it in, get a random set of songs. Get a random set of a certain set of songs. Just what I wanted, but cheaper.
That's not to say I'm going to buy an iPod shuffle. I still want the full 40 GB. Someday.
In the meantime, I think I'll write a random loader app to do the same thing for my little YP-55V.
December 20, 2004 / Monday
I Love The Geek Level Around Here
Today's group geekmail ...
Subject: Cookies (physical :)
Body: I've brought some christmas cookies ...
*chuckle*
December 15, 2004 / Wednesday
Geek-O-Rama
The computers at home to-do list:
- install CD-RW in the VAIO
- install sound card in the living room computer
- install RAM in the archaic Satellite
- install Linux on the archaic Satellite
The LR computer upgrade is almost complete. It's gone from an "I don't want to touch it" waste of space to a "Hey, this is pretty cool" surf station. Upgrades done:
- RAM: from 64 to 320 MB / $20
- Monitor: bye bye gigantic claustrophobia-inducing CRT, hello sleek 17" LCD with speakers / $207
- Sound: adding a sound card / $9
- Keyboard/mouse: IBM TrackPoint keyboard arriving this week (I dig TrackPoints) / $37
The archaic Satellite lives near this machine, too. I've got the KVM ready for when I finally get the thing going again.
Looking at the first list above, I notice that I say: Install hardware in (into?), and software on a computer. I'm torn as to what the proper preposition(s) should be. Is there a convention for this kind of stuff yet? Anyone know?
December 14, 2004 / Tuesday
More Middle Clicking!
It took me only 4 months to figure out that you can close the tabs you middle click into being by middle clicking on the tab.
Who woulda thunk it?
December 06, 2004 / Monday
Out Of Geek
I just mistook a CD drive for a power supply. What? Yeah. Don't ask.
Did I mention I don't do hardware?
This reminds me of an incident from a few years ago ...
M: Why don't you use that computer?
V: It's broken.
M: What's wrong with it?
V: The fan, or something.
M: Can I look?
V: Sure.
*M looks*
M: There's no hard drive in it.
V: Yes there is, why wouldn't there be?
M: No, really, there's no hard drive in it.
V: Don't be silly.
*conversation continues in circles for a while*
Turns out I'd removed the hard drive months before that and forgotten. I remembered that months after that conversation. In retrospect, he was amazingly patient with me, even though I was being absolutely ridiculous. Huh, I wonder if I was ridiculous about other things. It's been so long it's hard to remember enough to really think about it. Hrmm, running with my thoughts now. Okay, back to the world of sound cards ...
Thanks Nadsy for the online support, and for not laughing at me too much, though I guess I don't really know how much you were laughing offline. ;-)
Here's a taste of how tech support went:
P---B-----: it doesn't have sound built in on the mb?
SoopahViv: lemme double check
SoopahViv: i seem to remember i couldn't find anything
SoopahViv: now if i find something
SoopahViv: i'm gonna fall over laughing
SoopahViv: after i die of embarrassment
SoopahViv: :)
SoopahViv: ...
SoopahViv: phew!
SoopahViv: i don't have to die
Enough geek (or lack thereof) for me tonight. Time for bed.
November 26, 2004 / Friday
I Heart FlashGet
Why didn't I install you sooner?
November 21, 2004 / Sunday
Living Room Bloggin'
I needed to make more room in the back for my ever-growing collection of car parts and sports equipment, so I moved my never-used computer from that room into my living room. Aside from the fact that the beige computer case and monitors clash with everything in the room, I quite like the new setup.
'Cause, you know, I don't spend enough time on the computer.
November 19, 2004 / Friday
I Can't Believe It Took Me So Long
What did I ever do before Eclipse?
November 07, 2004 / Sunday
I Don't Need An iPod! Really!
All of a sudden, 256 MB is not enough space for the mp3s I want to have on my player.
Drat.
November 03, 2004 / Wednesday
IR HotSync!
It works! No need to buy an additional cradle for work. Awesome.
November 02, 2004 / Tuesday
It Took Me HOW Long?
11 months. It took me 11 months to notice that my phone came with a CD with some great puzzle games. I guess I just installed the drivers and put the disc away back when I bought it. Tonight, I dug up the disc to install the software on my work laptop. That's when I discovered my uninstalled games.
Meetings now sync. Awesome.
I can play Bejeweled on my phone. Even more awesome.
I also paid a visit to i500 Headquarters and downloaded some skins for my flip-open screen. I've got a couple cool ones (Soundwave, Matrix Palm) and a couple geekily amusing ones (PalmDOS, WinXP).
This makes me laugh. I have to share:
October 27, 2004 / Wednesday
Hooray For Firmware Upgrades!
My MP3 player that I thought was broken isn't broken anymore. I'm glad Apple didn't release an iPod with FM tuner this past week, when I was seriously considering buying a replacement.
Phew!
October 04, 2004 / Monday
I Heart Wi-Fi
Just got my haircut, learned from my hairstylist how to do Lisa Simpson spikes with my new 'do, and am now having an apple crisp à la mode dinner at Cafe Evolution on 9th Ave. That wasn't the original plan (the original plan was to pick up some pizza from Arizmendi, but, just my luck, they're closed today), but I got sucked into CE by the sign out front that read, "Free Wireless Internet". Geek that I am, I thought, "Ooh, a cool cafe that I can blog from!" So, here I am.
This cafe truly is cool. They have a huuuge storybook-like armchair up front, neato soft tables, and a whole indoor/outdoor garden with couches in back. The only bad thing about this place is the little snotty kid coughing up a storm at the table next to mine. *cugh cugh*
Okay, time to scribble some in my journal.
September 10, 2004 / Friday
Returning Universes
I got a big kick out of the return statement for a little method I wrote yesterday. The method name was getVennComplement(), and it took two parameters: a universal set and a subset. I decided universalSet felt a little too wordy, so I went with universe instead, which meant that my return statement got to be:
return universe;
I wrote a method that returns a universe?! That makes me laugh.
September 08, 2004 / Wednesday
Enumberation
I can't, for the life of me, get my fingers to cooperate and type "Enumeration". I think "Enumeration" and out comes "Enumberation".
Well, that's just not gonna compile, is it?
September 02, 2004 / Thursday
Suspension Or iMac?
The new iMac is out. It is sexxxay. I want one.
Pimp my ride, or pimp my computer collection?
09:50 AM | Geek:Mods| Comments (0)
August 24, 2004 / Tuesday
Another Cool Firefox Feature
Did you know you can drag a link to your tab of choice and have it open there?
I didn't, until just now.
Rad.
August 17, 2004 / Tuesday
Hooray For Middle Clicking!
Thank you, Dan, for learnin' me a new Firefox trick! (Say that last sentence with an excited silly drawl.) And to think all this time I've been using the inefficient right click plus <t> combo (especially inefficient since I left hand mouse). Say goodbye to two step tabs! Enter the middle click!
[insert heavenly "ahhh" here]
July 14, 2004 / Wednesday
Aaaaack!
Dogfarkingdarnit, I just broke my phone! It's stuck on the "palm powered" boot screen.
*#$(*&^*&^@$(*&#@$!!! (*#$&#! )#(&%#!
How did I break my phone, you ask? Well, you see, I wanted to connect to my OCF account, so I downloaded an SSH client. It installed, fired up, connected, exchanged keys ... and then the screen went diagonal thin rainbow line fuzzy. I pulled the battery out. When I put it back in, it tried to reboot. It gave me the "palm powered" screen, followed by a "Fatal exception" dialog. I hit "OK". It went back to the "palm powered" screen. Nothing. I tried the reset button. Nothing. I pulled the battery out again. Nothing. What good is a "palm powered" boot screen going to do me? Aurgh!
June 26, 2004 / Saturday
Wi-Fi Back Home!
Ooh, I'm excited! I'm going back home for July 4th weekend, and it looks like I'll have a nice place to go for internet access. No more of this short little trickle of a phone line that doesn't even reach far enough to get me to a tabletop. Goodbye, foot of the stairs at my parents' house. Hellooo, Panera!
Now, if only they'd stock soymilk! Free Wi-Fi and a good soy latte would surely earn them a place in my heart. It's been 7 months since I was last there to ask. Maybe they'll have it this time around. *crosses fingers*
12:24 AM | Geek:Trips| Comments (0)
June 23, 2004 / Wednesday
Pumpin It Up Once Again
I just rearranged my computer room and inadvertently created a lot of floor space in front of my computer. I excitedly realized that I once again had room to play Pump It Up. Out came the dance pad!
So this is what I do when I'm single. I rearrange furniture and play computer games. Oh, I hooked up a new used wireless USB adapter to the computer in my back room. I tried to set that machine up as a pseudo Gmail POP server, but even though it's got all the latest software, it's too old and wimpy to handle it. Might have to enlist my main desktop. I'd feel much better having that entire machine behind my firewall, but I also want to check my multiple Gmail accounts from any POP client. How safe is port forwarding?
• • •
Upon rereading the above, I realize you must be wondering why I would even want multiple Gmail accounts, or even one Gmail account, given the fact that I already have more e-mail accounts than I can keep track of. Well, gosh, I don't know why. I got the first one to spite the person who took the addy I wanted at Yahoo! and Hotmail. I got the rest for fun. I mean, I wouldn't want someone else to come and take darthvivoatgmaildotcom, would I?
Speaking of Gmail, is anyone out there still looking for an invite? I'm drowning in them. Glub glub glub ...
June 12, 2004 / Saturday
Refactoring Is Good
Insane Puck Posse website bug fixed! Fewer lines of code used, cleaner, simpler, good good good. I don't know why I didn't do it that way in the first place.
I feel so much better.
May 23, 2004 / Sunday
Hear That? That's My OTHER Data Drive Spinning!
Finally, I got my new drive installed and my data is backed up! No more fears of catastropic drive failure! Someday ... I'll do it right and get that RAID thing going. I'll just add that to the end of my projects list, right after "Build yourself a totally new box."
Don't hold your breath.
May 01, 2004 / Saturday
Weekend Computer Fun
Doug's at Infineon this weekend, so I figured it'd be a good chance for me to get some of my computer projects done. Project one: get my living room computer into side room and onto the network. I decided I wanted to do it with a PCI wireless network card, so I drove myself over to Circuit City. Once there, I started debating whether I wanted that or something USB-based, so I could switch easily between computers. I thought some more, and somehow decided I wanted a CardBus adapter instead, so I could just use my wireless PCMCIA card. Circuit City didn't have any, so I headed to CompUSA.
That's not to say I left Circuit City empty-handed. They happened to have a $50 rebate on Western Digital 120 GB drives identical to the one that I have. I'd been talking about getting a backup drive for eons now, and I picked up the last box and walked it to the register.
Having two identical drives means, of course, that I now have to RAID them. After all, I bought the second drive for backup. Why do it manually when I can do it automatically, and learn something in the process?
Enough about drives. So I went to CompUSA in search of a CardBus adapter and left instead with a little USB keychain-sized adapter. $50, the tag said. I took it up front, and when the cashier scanned it in, a rebate form popped out! $10 off, whoo.
Time to get off my butt and go play with my new toys.
February 15, 2004 / Sunday
Hello From Peet's
Doug and I are such geeks. We're sitting at Peet's, lattes on the table, surfing the web on our phones. Even geekier, I think we do this at least once every weekend.
December 29, 2003 / Monday
Hello From My i500!
It is waaay easier to blog from this phone! (Graffiti >> T9)x10!
December 22, 2003 / Monday
Phone Blogging
Hello from my new phone. It's pretty darned cool, but I seem to be having microphone issues. If no one can hear me I'm going to have a mighty hard time justifying the price tag on this thing. This is supposed to be a phone, too, not just a remote blogging tool. On a brighter phone note, this T9 thing ain't so bad.
• • •
On a not so bright phone note, I had to finish up and publish via my computer. This does not bode well for my phone ... it may be headed back to the Verizon store with me tomorrow.
November 16, 2002 / Saturday
I'm quite happy about the
I'm quite happy about the fact that I have a beater laptop at home that I can leave open for me to VNC into from work. That way I can setup and do downloads at all hours of the day without exposing my good computer or tying up the pipe at the office. Just wanted to share that with everyone, 'cause I know that you're all super interested in how my computers are set up. Right.
November 15, 2002 / Friday
I get this strange feeling
I get this strange feeling of geeky excitement when I realize that I can use my desktop setup through my KVM switch to work on my laptop which I can use to VPN into the office and from there VNC into other computers. Even more strange is that I get the feeling I'm not the only one around these parts who would be excited by this.
Soy lattes and geeky excitement. I think I've been assimilated.
October 24, 2002 / Thursday
Geeky Fingers
SoopahViv: i want to make soy lattes!
SoopahViv: i can have friends parties and server cappucino in big mugs
SoopahViv: hehe
SoopahViv: serve
SoopahViv: not server
SoopahViv: dammit
SoopahViv: my hands are so geeky
October 09, 2002 / Wednesday
Ten Reasons Why I Hate Computers
1. Windows XP needs a DVD codec.
2. Windows XP doesn't like my CD burner.
3. Windows XP won't let Windows 2000 install.
4. It is a pain getting Windows 2000 to install against Windows XP's wishes.
5. Windows 2000 will then squish Windows XP for not wanting it there.
6. Windows 2000 needs a video driver to look all pretty and stuff.
7. After the said driver is installed, it will squish Windows 2000.
8. My simple little boot disk tells me my CD-RW drive is farked.
9. You can wipe Windows 2000 off your disk but it will forever own it.
10. Windows XP will get permanently squished.
So yeah, I get to renuke and reinstall everything again, for the seventh freakin' time. Will this madness ever end? Holy fark, I say!
And in case you're wondering, none of this has to do with why I hated computers earlier. That one was simple relative to this. That one had only two reasons. See:
Two (More) Reasons Why I Hate Computers
1. Code that should compile doesn't.
2. Code that finally compiles doesn't run.
At least for those I know who to go after. Time to put on my CVS Nazi hat.
And for all my non-geeky Boston readers, no I'm not talking about today's neighborhood drugstore [insert CVS jingle here].
October 07, 2002 / Monday
XPed
A first hello from what is hopefully the last XP installation on my desktop for a long while. All my drives are currently showing up so maybe things are gonna be okay. I hope I hope I hope ...
October 02, 2002 / Wednesday
Viral Infection
One of my coworkers is out sick and in one of her e-mails mentioned a really bad viral infection. It took me a good 2 minutes to realize that coughing and going to the doctor meant she had a viral infection, not her computer.
Human viruses, what's that?
And this coming from a Molecular and Cell Biology major. Sad!
July 11, 2001 / Wednesday
Gone Geeky
actually it's 12:56:44 PM
This is bad. I can't type the word "serve" any more. Every time I try to type it I end up with "server". If "serve" is what I really mean to say I have to hit backspace to get it. Like in this post and in the previous one. I typed "server" a total 5 times.
Not only that, but the word "bug" no longer makes me think of little six-legged creatures. I think, "Oh shit. What's wrong with the software now?"
Well, I guess it could be worse. If I worked for the CIA I'd probably start turning furniture upside down looking for a listening device.
