Having just watched Bull Durham this past weekend (and really finding the movie quite short on shots of downtown Durham) I decided to list my favorite sports movies in no particular order.
Bull Durham. - A good movie but a bit strong on the language. Some odd flat acting here or there but, for the most part, a very good movie.
Major League - Another baseball flick, this time set in the majors. Entertaining. Dennis Haysbert as Pedro Cerrano is particularly memorable. Keep a sharp eye out during the "pre-season training" portion of the movie as it was shot in Tucson, partially at Hi-Corbett field. That's probably interesting only to me.
Mystery, Alaska - Ah! Now we're talking. Hockey is the flavor of the day. Hank Azaria, Russel Crowe, Burt Reynolds, and the rest of the cast turn in stellar performances in a movie about a men's small-town hockey pick-up league that take on none other than the New York Rangers in an exhibition game. I personally find Maury Chaykin's performance to be the best in the film.
Rocky - the original. The Oscar winner.
Field of Dreams - hey, Kevin Costner is back in his 2nd baseball related movie. A good father/son movie to be sure. Great for the family all the way around. Burt Lancaster's final movie role. James Earl Jones plays a fantastic reclusive author and unwitting road-tripper with Costner.
Brian's Song - Oh Brian Piccolo (Wake Forest Grad). You were struck down too soon.
A League of Their Own - Another baseball movie. You'd think I liked the sport the way I was going on and on about it. A good movie that should have been 20 minutes shorter. An enjoyable movie never-the-less.
Hoop Dreams - haven't watched this one in quite a while. One of two documentaries on the list.
Speedo - the other documentary about "Speedo", a demolition driver from New York.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Fusion vs. Parallels - who is more stable?
I have a client on the NC Outer Banks that uses an Intel iMac desktop as her primary workstation. She made the switch pretty well but the company had one application that she required to run on her desktop that could only run under XP*. To make matters worse this application was used constantly as it formed the core of their hospitality business.
At first we tired to run her under Parallels - and that did work pretty well except for one ongoing and annoying flaw: the application running inside XP, and sometimes all of XP itself, would lock up requiring a soft boot of the virtual machine. This was very annoying (understandably) as she was required to get up from her desk, go to another office, get on that system, blah blah blah. And we tried everything to optimize that machine to keep it up and running and nothing worked (including software updates).
Almost out of desperation we opted to try VMware Fusion under the assumption that, heck, it is only $80.00 and it might actually be more stable. After two weeks of testing I can report back that Fusion IS more stable. My customer has had zero mystery lockups and her productivity has increased dramatically.
Granted two weeks of regular use is nowhere near long enough for a comprehensive head-to-head stability test but the VMware Fusion is ahead out of the gate and down the back stretch for sure.
* - so yeah, the application can run under Mac OS, OS 9 that is, and OS X but only if ALL desktops connecting to the server are the same OS. Ergo if you have a mixture of OS X and XP and you want all desktops to attach to the CM Server you'll either have to uproot the XP boxes or run XP on your OX machines.
On an unrelated rant there is a huge opportunity for someone to make a lot of money making a competitor to this product (and its brethren) based on open-source technology and true client-server communications. Both main products in this market charge for client licenses, and they charge a lot. Not to mention both companies have a vested interest in placing an application on the desktop of the client rather than using PHP and AJAX (or whatever) along with a true object oriented DB behind the scenes.
So, young enterprising coder, take heed and write a great app that can run on any desktop, be that desktop Mac, Microsoft, OLPC, BSD perhaps even mobile devices and PDAs. There is a lot of money on the plate just waiting for you to burst on to the scene.
At first we tired to run her under Parallels - and that did work pretty well except for one ongoing and annoying flaw: the application running inside XP, and sometimes all of XP itself, would lock up requiring a soft boot of the virtual machine. This was very annoying (understandably) as she was required to get up from her desk, go to another office, get on that system, blah blah blah. And we tried everything to optimize that machine to keep it up and running and nothing worked (including software updates).
Almost out of desperation we opted to try VMware Fusion under the assumption that, heck, it is only $80.00 and it might actually be more stable. After two weeks of testing I can report back that Fusion IS more stable. My customer has had zero mystery lockups and her productivity has increased dramatically.
Granted two weeks of regular use is nowhere near long enough for a comprehensive head-to-head stability test but the VMware Fusion is ahead out of the gate and down the back stretch for sure.
* - so yeah, the application can run under Mac OS, OS 9 that is, and OS X but only if ALL desktops connecting to the server are the same OS. Ergo if you have a mixture of OS X and XP and you want all desktops to attach to the CM Server you'll either have to uproot the XP boxes or run XP on your OX machines.
On an unrelated rant there is a huge opportunity for someone to make a lot of money making a competitor to this product (and its brethren) based on open-source technology and true client-server communications. Both main products in this market charge for client licenses, and they charge a lot. Not to mention both companies have a vested interest in placing an application on the desktop of the client rather than using PHP and AJAX (or whatever) along with a true object oriented DB behind the scenes.
So, young enterprising coder, take heed and write a great app that can run on any desktop, be that desktop Mac, Microsoft, OLPC, BSD perhaps even mobile devices and PDAs. There is a lot of money on the plate just waiting for you to burst on to the scene.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
I've seen fire and I've seen rain
James "JT" Taylor is a NC local from Chapel Hill and I couldn't help but think about him and his music on the 3.5 hour drive home from Rodanthe to Youngsville. Just a couple of months ago North Carolina was in the midst of the worst drought on record. Only two months ago we were driving home and it seemed 1/2 the Eastern part of the state was on fire. Today it seemed 1/2 the Eastern part of the state was under water.
It rained most of the drive home but somewhere around Princeville it really opened up and poured. It rained so much that people were stopping under the overpasses! No, it wasn't hailing and there was no threat of tornado but they stopped anyway. It seemed people developed a fear of airborne water pulled by gravity to the ground. Totally bizarre! At one point I had to put the A-Hole hat on and honk my horn so I could get through a "roadblock" under an overpass that spanned my two West-bound lanes and both shoulders! People! It's just rain!
Yes, I reduced my speed by about 15 mph but I still drove safely through the RAIN. Ugh. I have had the displeasure of witnessing some very stupid moves on our nation's highways and byways but bringing all traffic to a complete stop ranked as the new #1. Again, no tornado. No hail. No nothing except for heavy rain.
Had these people seen a bad monsoon a-la the Tucson 1986 (or was it '85?) variety I can only wonder what they would have done with themselves.
It rained most of the drive home but somewhere around Princeville it really opened up and poured. It rained so much that people were stopping under the overpasses! No, it wasn't hailing and there was no threat of tornado but they stopped anyway. It seemed people developed a fear of airborne water pulled by gravity to the ground. Totally bizarre! At one point I had to put the A-Hole hat on and honk my horn so I could get through a "roadblock" under an overpass that spanned my two West-bound lanes and both shoulders! People! It's just rain!
Yes, I reduced my speed by about 15 mph but I still drove safely through the RAIN. Ugh. I have had the displeasure of witnessing some very stupid moves on our nation's highways and byways but bringing all traffic to a complete stop ranked as the new #1. Again, no tornado. No hail. No nothing except for heavy rain.
Had these people seen a bad monsoon a-la the Tucson 1986 (or was it '85?) variety I can only wonder what they would have done with themselves.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Mystery Solved: my laptop and 802.11n
I have a Core Duo Intel Macbook laptop and thus I do not have 802.11n capabilities but, as previously reported, I had the ability to scan and "see" 802.11n networks that were responding to SSID queries. Or so I thought.
Turns out my laptop has 802.11 a/b/g, not just b/g and certainly not "n". I had my Time Capsule at home configured as 802.11n backwards compatible to 802.11a and, thus, I could see and join that network (as an 802.11a client).
Even though I am not 'n' compatible I am still happy with 802.11a capabilities. My wireless spectrum is getting a bit crowded at home, even more so at the Outer Banks. So my laptops now enjoy interference-free communications at home courtesy of my Time Capsule and as of today we enjoy the same at the coast thanks to my new Airport Extreme, both of which are operating as 802.11n network devices backwards compatible to 802.11a (I went to Best Buy today in search of a 'n' capable Airport Express but they had none.)
Having now replaced an 802.11b/g Airport Express with the Extreme I very well may use one of the extra Ethernet ports in the back for a network camera so I can keep an eye on the place while I'm away. It's not that I expect to see anything; I just like to feel like I'm here while I'm working to pay for this place.
Turns out my laptop has 802.11 a/b/g, not just b/g and certainly not "n". I had my Time Capsule at home configured as 802.11n backwards compatible to 802.11a and, thus, I could see and join that network (as an 802.11a client).
Even though I am not 'n' compatible I am still happy with 802.11a capabilities. My wireless spectrum is getting a bit crowded at home, even more so at the Outer Banks. So my laptops now enjoy interference-free communications at home courtesy of my Time Capsule and as of today we enjoy the same at the coast thanks to my new Airport Extreme, both of which are operating as 802.11n network devices backwards compatible to 802.11a (I went to Best Buy today in search of a 'n' capable Airport Express but they had none.)
Having now replaced an 802.11b/g Airport Express with the Extreme I very well may use one of the extra Ethernet ports in the back for a network camera so I can keep an eye on the place while I'm away. It's not that I expect to see anything; I just like to feel like I'm here while I'm working to pay for this place.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Durham
For anyone with the slightest interest in Durham (please, no drive-by jokes) you need to check out the Endangered Durham website. Great old pictures of Durham alongside updated pictures of the same area today. An excellent historical perspective of the Bull City.
One of the best TV shows rides into the sunset
Goodbye, Rob and Big! You were and entertaining television show and I shall miss the weekly antics of Rob Dyrdek, Christopher "Big Black" Boykin, Bam-Bam, Drama, Steve Berra, Meaty, Mini Horse and Big Zeus (among others).
I wish the show could continue but with Big Black having a baby and moving out of the house it appears the show is all but dead, at least that is what the rumor mill is saying.
Goodbye, all, and God speed.
I wish the show could continue but with Big Black having a baby and moving out of the house it appears the show is all but dead, at least that is what the rumor mill is saying.
Goodbye, all, and God speed.
Great quote of the day
"Macs are no longer just the computer choice of artists and unemployed writers." - Popular Mechanics.
Some more interesting Mac news:
"IBM Research is running a pilot program to gauge the interest in and feasibility of moving its employees from PCs to Macs. So far, the response appears to be an enthusiastic, "Yes, please! Is this PC recyclable, or should I just dump it out back?"" - CNET
Some more interesting Mac news:
"IBM Research is running a pilot program to gauge the interest in and feasibility of moving its employees from PCs to Macs. So far, the response appears to be an enthusiastic, "Yes, please! Is this PC recyclable, or should I just dump it out back?"" - CNET
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Today is the day
As many of you know I spend a great deal of time on the North Carolina Outer Banks (though not as much time as I would prefer (though I greatly prefer to keep my current job)). A minor battle has been brewing between the citizen of the Outer Banks and the Defenders of Wildlife regarding the best use of the Hatteras National Seashore. For as long as there have been residents on the North Carolina Outer Banks there have been vehicles that have used the sand as a means to get from point A to B. People first walked on the beach, then used horses, then horse drawn carriages and later automobiles. In fact it was not until 1962 that a road was built on what is known as the North Carolina Outer Banks. Before 1962 people got around using the beach and North Carolina's traditionally excellent Ferry Systems.
Fast forward some 46 years. For all this time North Carolina's beaches on the Outer Banks have been free and open for all visitors. We aren't talking about being able to simply turn off the existing highway at any point, plow over the dunes in your Hummer to a point where you would like to stop for the day and let the children destroy everything in sight. No, no, no, no, no. There are designated beach access points for vehicles and you must use these access points to get out on the beach and you cannot drive through the dunes. Doing so will raise the ire of locals and guarentee your picture will be taken and forwarded to the National Park Service who will happily deliver a hefty fine to the offender.
In this way the beaches have policed themselves for decades. Groups such as the NC Beach Buggy Association, among others, have help keep the beaches clean and ready for use for fishermen, families, locals, out-of-state visitors, in fact any person who wanted to enjoy some of the best stretches of undeveloped protected seashore left on the East Coast.
All that is about to change. Last summer an idiot from Virginia decided they wanted to get out on the beach and get drunk; ship of fools, carload of idiots, what can do you? In doing so these people from up North were arrested and charged with Driving under the Influence. Being as these people were arrested within the boundaries of a National Seashore a Federal Judge, also out of Virginia, simply decided to shut down all access to North Carolina's beaches because the National Park Service "did not have a plan to deal with these contingencies".
The NPS scrambled, filed and injunction, and kept the beaches open. However environmental groups sensed blood in the water and went for the throat. Knowing they could close the beaches for good, probably without ever having set foot on these beaches themselves, money started pouring in to the fight from "green groups" looking to try to make a difference so they can feel better sipping their lattes and eating their tofu.
Ok, so maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but being a citizen of the Outer Banks, this is how it feels. The locals are trying to fight the good fight and keep the beaches open as many towns such as Buxton and Hatteras are defendant on tourism that open beaches bring. Every year local fishing tournaments bring in thousands of people and millions upon millions of dollars.
Perhaps this was our undoing. The beaches have steadily increased in popularity; I have seen increases in traffic and beach uses in the decade I have been enjoying the outer banks. Ten years ago it was rare to see a license plate from out of state. Now you can't turn around without seeing a tag from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, etc, etc.
While the "green groups" would like to portray us, the citizens of the outer banks, as heartless bastards foaming at the mouth to dig up and crush developing baby turtle eggs the truth is, as usual, a bit more complex. Are birds disappearing from the Outer Banks? I'm not sure. Birds were here a decade ago and they are here now. Besides if I understand things correctly, birds nest in the dunes, not directly on the beach (below the high tide line? Come on, get serious. That's a hell of a fast developing bird to build a nest, lay and hatch an egg, and raise young in the six hours between high and low tide).
The same goes for turtle nests. And nothing makes mention of how nesting areas are protected. Many people, myself included, enjoy the wildlife and biodiversity of our state - including species found on the shore front. When turtle nests are identified they are roped off and closed. I am totally in support of this.
But today looks to be D-Day. Both "sides" in the argument have "reached and agreement". Some of the beaches are going to close; there is no way around this and no stopping it now. The only question is what stretches of beach and how much? "The Word" should be coming down shortly and I am quite sure the fallout will be swift and scorching. Problem is most of the hard-core fisherman on the Outer Banks see any closure as "the first of many". I tend to agree.
Fast forward some 46 years. For all this time North Carolina's beaches on the Outer Banks have been free and open for all visitors. We aren't talking about being able to simply turn off the existing highway at any point, plow over the dunes in your Hummer to a point where you would like to stop for the day and let the children destroy everything in sight. No, no, no, no, no. There are designated beach access points for vehicles and you must use these access points to get out on the beach and you cannot drive through the dunes. Doing so will raise the ire of locals and guarentee your picture will be taken and forwarded to the National Park Service who will happily deliver a hefty fine to the offender.
In this way the beaches have policed themselves for decades. Groups such as the NC Beach Buggy Association, among others, have help keep the beaches clean and ready for use for fishermen, families, locals, out-of-state visitors, in fact any person who wanted to enjoy some of the best stretches of undeveloped protected seashore left on the East Coast.
All that is about to change. Last summer an idiot from Virginia decided they wanted to get out on the beach and get drunk; ship of fools, carload of idiots, what can do you? In doing so these people from up North were arrested and charged with Driving under the Influence. Being as these people were arrested within the boundaries of a National Seashore a Federal Judge, also out of Virginia, simply decided to shut down all access to North Carolina's beaches because the National Park Service "did not have a plan to deal with these contingencies".
The NPS scrambled, filed and injunction, and kept the beaches open. However environmental groups sensed blood in the water and went for the throat. Knowing they could close the beaches for good, probably without ever having set foot on these beaches themselves, money started pouring in to the fight from "green groups" looking to try to make a difference so they can feel better sipping their lattes and eating their tofu.
Ok, so maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but being a citizen of the Outer Banks, this is how it feels. The locals are trying to fight the good fight and keep the beaches open as many towns such as Buxton and Hatteras are defendant on tourism that open beaches bring. Every year local fishing tournaments bring in thousands of people and millions upon millions of dollars.
Perhaps this was our undoing. The beaches have steadily increased in popularity; I have seen increases in traffic and beach uses in the decade I have been enjoying the outer banks. Ten years ago it was rare to see a license plate from out of state. Now you can't turn around without seeing a tag from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, etc, etc.
While the "green groups" would like to portray us, the citizens of the outer banks, as heartless bastards foaming at the mouth to dig up and crush developing baby turtle eggs the truth is, as usual, a bit more complex. Are birds disappearing from the Outer Banks? I'm not sure. Birds were here a decade ago and they are here now. Besides if I understand things correctly, birds nest in the dunes, not directly on the beach (below the high tide line? Come on, get serious. That's a hell of a fast developing bird to build a nest, lay and hatch an egg, and raise young in the six hours between high and low tide).
The same goes for turtle nests. And nothing makes mention of how nesting areas are protected. Many people, myself included, enjoy the wildlife and biodiversity of our state - including species found on the shore front. When turtle nests are identified they are roped off and closed. I am totally in support of this.
But today looks to be D-Day. Both "sides" in the argument have "reached and agreement". Some of the beaches are going to close; there is no way around this and no stopping it now. The only question is what stretches of beach and how much? "The Word" should be coming down shortly and I am quite sure the fallout will be swift and scorching. Problem is most of the hard-core fisherman on the Outer Banks see any closure as "the first of many". I tend to agree.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
A very cool feature in OS X Leopard
Tabs in terminal. Yup, just click Apple-t while in Terminal and get a new tab. Cool!
Yesterday the world of consumer video changed
Did anyone notice? I sure did. Red unveiled two products at the National Association of Broadcasters convention on Monday (I wish I could have been there). Red was founded by Oakley founder Jim Jannard with the intention to bringing the best digital video camera to the market. The company's first offering, the Red ONE camera, shot at variable frame rates up to 4k resolution. Cameras in this range, such as the Sony CinaAlta, can cost well over $80,000.00. The base price for the Red ONE camera came in at a very wallet-friendly (to serious indy filmmakers) $17,500.00 for the camera body. Very inexpensive when compared to the competition though not at a price point that could be considered for the "prosumer" market.
Steven Soderbergh, who might remember as director of such films as Sex, Lies and Videotape, Oceans 11 and Solaris, recently did the heretofore unthinkable by ditching film and shooting with the Red ONE cameras for all future productions. To say the Red ONE was well received is a dramatic understatement.
So along comes the 2008 NAB convention and all the rumors surrounding the Red SCARLET. What was it? What is it? It turns out that the Red SCARLET is a smaller hand-held video camera that records to compact flash at 3k resolution - with a price point of less than $3000.00! Amazing. In 2009, if you are an indy filmmaker, you are either going to have a Red SCARLET or you are going to want one. Sure, people will keep their Panasonic HDC-2000s and their Sony HVC-1Vs and the like, but many more will gravitate to the SCARLET as the camera of choice? Why? How about greater than 1080i (or p) recording? That's one reason. Variable from rates from 1-120 fps with 180 fps burst? There's another reason.
This little camera looks like a major hit. And the price is dead-on perfect. Let's wait and see until the camera is released in 2009 to pass final judgment. It has been stated by Red over and over, this is a mock-up and changes are likely to occur.
Also released at the NAB show was the Red EPIC, a camera that shoots at a whooping 5k resolution. Unheard of. This is a professional level camera, no doubt about that. The starting price tag is rumored to be around the $40,000.00 mark so I don't think I'll be seeing any of these cameras in the hands of amateur filmmakers in the near future (who didn't rent them).
But bring on the Scarlet! I was saving my nickels and dimes for a Sony or Panasonic prosumer camera. If the Scarlet is delivered in 2009 with the specs listed today I'm in.
Steven Soderbergh, who might remember as director of such films as Sex, Lies and Videotape, Oceans 11 and Solaris, recently did the heretofore unthinkable by ditching film and shooting with the Red ONE cameras for all future productions. To say the Red ONE was well received is a dramatic understatement.
So along comes the 2008 NAB convention and all the rumors surrounding the Red SCARLET. What was it? What is it? It turns out that the Red SCARLET is a smaller hand-held video camera that records to compact flash at 3k resolution - with a price point of less than $3000.00! Amazing. In 2009, if you are an indy filmmaker, you are either going to have a Red SCARLET or you are going to want one. Sure, people will keep their Panasonic HDC-2000s and their Sony HVC-1Vs and the like, but many more will gravitate to the SCARLET as the camera of choice? Why? How about greater than 1080i (or p) recording? That's one reason. Variable from rates from 1-120 fps with 180 fps burst? There's another reason.
This little camera looks like a major hit. And the price is dead-on perfect. Let's wait and see until the camera is released in 2009 to pass final judgment. It has been stated by Red over and over, this is a mock-up and changes are likely to occur.
Also released at the NAB show was the Red EPIC, a camera that shoots at a whooping 5k resolution. Unheard of. This is a professional level camera, no doubt about that. The starting price tag is rumored to be around the $40,000.00 mark so I don't think I'll be seeing any of these cameras in the hands of amateur filmmakers in the near future (who didn't rent them).
But bring on the Scarlet! I was saving my nickels and dimes for a Sony or Panasonic prosumer camera. If the Scarlet is delivered in 2009 with the specs listed today I'm in.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Internet possession state: Favorable
Hard to find fault with that. I'm not getting my 1 meg up, but I don't care as I'm not currently hosting any services from the condo.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
The Internet remains possessed on Hatteras Island
Our cable-based ISP, Charter Communications, has been upgrading the infrastructure on Hatteras Island during the off-season and thus has brought about some instability during the upgraded (as one would expect). For the last month of so Internet over cable down here has been very hit-or-miss; long pauses during downloads, very odd "bursty" throughput and occasional blackouts have all been part of the fun.
Don't get me wrong, this is not a complaint against Charter. They are dumping a lot of money into a small area of land with limited ROI. They could have easily kept everyone capped at 3 meg/384 k and called it a day but the are trying to upgrade the network to bring higher speeds to the area and I applaud their efforts. Their actions are more laudable when you keep in mind they really have no competition down here. DSL service south of the Bonner Bridge is horrible at best and WiMax providers are non-existent, at least for now.
Last night, upon arrival to the condo in Rodanthe I cranked up the network gear and ran a speed test to see what I could expect as far as weekend Internet service. All priase Saint Isidore of Seville! 10 meg down, 1 meg up?!?!?!? Could this really be? Last night it was, that much I can tell you. Absolutely blistering fast transfers. Last week we started an album download from iTunes that lasted 26 hours. Last night I downloaded the rather funky song Hocus Pocus by Focus in mere seconds!
And what about today? What kind of bandwidth am I getting this morning? 3 meg down, 384 k up. Go figure! But the 3 meg I am getting is solid with no pauses. I can't be happier about that. Well I could, if I were still getting the 10 meg down like I was last night.
Don't get me wrong, this is not a complaint against Charter. They are dumping a lot of money into a small area of land with limited ROI. They could have easily kept everyone capped at 3 meg/384 k and called it a day but the are trying to upgrade the network to bring higher speeds to the area and I applaud their efforts. Their actions are more laudable when you keep in mind they really have no competition down here. DSL service south of the Bonner Bridge is horrible at best and WiMax providers are non-existent, at least for now.
Last night, upon arrival to the condo in Rodanthe I cranked up the network gear and ran a speed test to see what I could expect as far as weekend Internet service. All priase Saint Isidore of Seville! 10 meg down, 1 meg up?!?!?!? Could this really be? Last night it was, that much I can tell you. Absolutely blistering fast transfers. Last week we started an album download from iTunes that lasted 26 hours. Last night I downloaded the rather funky song Hocus Pocus by Focus in mere seconds!
And what about today? What kind of bandwidth am I getting this morning? 3 meg down, 384 k up. Go figure! But the 3 meg I am getting is solid with no pauses. I can't be happier about that. Well I could, if I were still getting the 10 meg down like I was last night.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Before you continue..
I'd like to annoy you. Would you like to continue? This page contains both secure and non-secure items. Would you like to continue? You are navigating away from the page you were just reading, would you like to continue?
And so it goes. I am working in a differnet facility today and using a Dell desktop with the standard company build, i.e. I'm stuck with IE. No Safari. No Firefox. No nothing. And these machines, unlike the ones built for IT people like myself, are locked down so you can't install Firefox or Safari or anything else for that matter. Using Internet Explorer as a browser is downright painful. I have forgotten how annying it can be to surf the Internet using IE. No tabs (in this release). Dialog box and dialog box. No built-in spell check (thank you Firefox). Colors are all screwed up. It never ends.
The Dell itself is rather cute for a desktop. The footprint is small yet there is a DVD player. Several front facing USB ports are a welcome sight (but forget about doing anything fun with them, like booting into a different OS - the BIOS on this machine is locked down and I'm not cracking the case to drain the battery). In fact this machine would make a fine Ubuntu desktop were I not so entrenched with OS X at home.
So today I suffer along with the standard software build. Why not use my laptop? Good question with a stupid answer: I left the power supply at home and can't find a spare. D'oh.
And so it goes. I am working in a differnet facility today and using a Dell desktop with the standard company build, i.e. I'm stuck with IE. No Safari. No Firefox. No nothing. And these machines, unlike the ones built for IT people like myself, are locked down so you can't install Firefox or Safari or anything else for that matter. Using Internet Explorer as a browser is downright painful. I have forgotten how annying it can be to surf the Internet using IE. No tabs (in this release). Dialog box and dialog box. No built-in spell check (thank you Firefox). Colors are all screwed up. It never ends.
The Dell itself is rather cute for a desktop. The footprint is small yet there is a DVD player. Several front facing USB ports are a welcome sight (but forget about doing anything fun with them, like booting into a different OS - the BIOS on this machine is locked down and I'm not cracking the case to drain the battery). In fact this machine would make a fine Ubuntu desktop were I not so entrenched with OS X at home.
So today I suffer along with the standard software build. Why not use my laptop? Good question with a stupid answer: I left the power supply at home and can't find a spare. D'oh.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Intel Apples and 802.11n
I have a Macbook with a Core Duo Intel processor. From what I understand any Mac with a Core Duo, as apposed to a Core 2 Duo, processor cannot be upgraded to 802.11n while Core 2 Duo Intel laptops can be upgraded to 802.11n (and now ship with 802.11n active). All this said why is it my supposedly non-802.11n capable Core Duo Intel Macbook can see my 802.11n/a Time Capsule using wireless stumbler programs? Really, if my wireless can't support 802.11n/a why can I "see" n/a only devices?
I'm confused.
I'm confused.
Movie Watched: Powaqqatsi
2nd of the three part "Qatsi Trilogy" from director Godfrey Reggio. If the first installment of the trilogy, Koyaanisqatsi, sat at the intersection of "genius" and "madness" Powaqqatsi is a bit further into the madness part of the spectrum (though still genius).
There is no way to describe this film just as there is no way to describe Koyaanisqatsi before it. They aren't even movies in the traditional sense. What are they? Um, good question. "Experiences" perhaps.
Three and one-half bizarro stars out of five
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
my command line
Tanner, Cristóbal, Jim and maybe others have posted theirs, so here it goes:
Home "server" (rarely do I actually log in via the command line except to clean up files and directories, etc):
159 ls
119 cd
40 exit
18 du
14 mysqldump
12 wget
12 sftp
9 history
8 rm
6 whois
Work server:
170 ssh
131 ping
97 exit
64 cat
60 ls
56 su
42 history
36 screen
33 vi
26 cd
One of my "remote" machines on the Internet:
130 ssh
121 exit
39 sudo
39 ping
35 screen
28 ls
10 cd
9 set
7 drutil
6 which
Home "server" (rarely do I actually log in via the command line except to clean up files and directories, etc):
159 ls
119 cd
40 exit
18 du
14 mysqldump
12 wget
12 sftp
9 history
8 rm
6 whois
Work server:
170 ssh
131 ping
97 exit
64 cat
60 ls
56 su
42 history
36 screen
33 vi
26 cd
One of my "remote" machines on the Internet:
130 ssh
121 exit
39 sudo
39 ping
35 screen
28 ls
10 cd
9 set
7 drutil
6 which
No bull!
Spring has sprung in Durham. The Durham Bulls have taken the home field already this year making the start of the 2008 home season. The new bull presiding over left field is nearly complete though much work needs to be completed (both on the bull and areas surrounding that corner of the stadium).
Nearly perfect weather existed yesterday for a nice, long walk during lunch so I decided to walk through Durham to the old Durham Athletic Park (where the movie Bull Durham was filmed so many years ago (20! 20 years ago!!!). I wanted to snap a picture of the old Bull standing mute over and empty, unused field but I found the old bull missing too. Oddly enough I think I saw the old bull during the last World Beer Festival which was held at this facility but memory from that day is understandably fuzzy.
Below is the picture I snapped yesterday:
As you can see there is no bull. I wonder where he went and when he left.
On an equally sad note King's Sandwich Shop, a Durham landmark going back decades, appears closed forever. It was my hope that I would find King's resurrected following the colder than average winter but I'm losing hope. King's served some fine hot dogs, the best in the area (not including Wilson where you can pick up an aptly named Super Dog at Dick's Dogs). King's looks to be, at best, a parking lot for local businesses. See below:
Goodbye, King's, as a restaurant I shall miss thee.
Nearly perfect weather existed yesterday for a nice, long walk during lunch so I decided to walk through Durham to the old Durham Athletic Park (where the movie Bull Durham was filmed so many years ago (20! 20 years ago!!!). I wanted to snap a picture of the old Bull standing mute over and empty, unused field but I found the old bull missing too. Oddly enough I think I saw the old bull during the last World Beer Festival which was held at this facility but memory from that day is understandably fuzzy.
Below is the picture I snapped yesterday:
As you can see there is no bull. I wonder where he went and when he left.
On an equally sad note King's Sandwich Shop, a Durham landmark going back decades, appears closed forever. It was my hope that I would find King's resurrected following the colder than average winter but I'm losing hope. King's served some fine hot dogs, the best in the area (not including Wilson where you can pick up an aptly named Super Dog at Dick's Dogs). King's looks to be, at best, a parking lot for local businesses. See below:
Goodbye, King's, as a restaurant I shall miss thee.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Apparently Facebook isn't dead yet
"Facebook is a platform that allows people to connect in much deeper and more visceral ways than a standalone IM client ever could," he said. "Why just talk to someone when you can experience them? That's what Facebook allows people to do." - Patrick Thornton, as quoted from cnn.com.
I don't like Facebook, and never have. From day one I have never really trusted Facebook. A friend encouraged me to join and I did but was shocked, SHOCKED, to find that during the account setup I was asked to provided my e-mail account username and password! In today's world of easily stolen identities and rampant personal information hiding in every corner of the Internet an intrusion into personal information at such a level is not only uncalled for, it is irresponsible and vividly displays a level of product immaturity. Later came the well documented Facebook Beacon Fiasco and I'm sure we are all familiar enough with that disaster.
Facebook seems to have bounced back well enough. My account is still active though I never log in (I did today to see what has changed in the last two months or so and the answer is - not much). I still hate the tracking cookies that Facebook installs (and these are easily taken care of by simply closing Firefox IF you have the 'clear all private data' box checked as I do).
Still, I just "don't get it" when it comes to Facebook. Maybe I'm just an old fuddy-duddy now and can't see coolness a foot in front of me. Who knows what my problem might be but I still don't anticipate using Facebook in the future and I can't imagine why it or Zuckerberg are so popular (or how in God's name did he end up a billionaire?). Whatever the case, best of luck Facebook users. I think the platform have a LONG way to go before privacy concerns are no longer an issue with the site. Best of luck and keep your private data safe.
Oh, and kids, think twice before putting information on any social networking site that an have a negative affect on your career in the future, no matter how cool the wand.
I don't like Facebook, and never have. From day one I have never really trusted Facebook. A friend encouraged me to join and I did but was shocked, SHOCKED, to find that during the account setup I was asked to provided my e-mail account username and password! In today's world of easily stolen identities and rampant personal information hiding in every corner of the Internet an intrusion into personal information at such a level is not only uncalled for, it is irresponsible and vividly displays a level of product immaturity. Later came the well documented Facebook Beacon Fiasco and I'm sure we are all familiar enough with that disaster.
Facebook seems to have bounced back well enough. My account is still active though I never log in (I did today to see what has changed in the last two months or so and the answer is - not much). I still hate the tracking cookies that Facebook installs (and these are easily taken care of by simply closing Firefox IF you have the 'clear all private data' box checked as I do).
Still, I just "don't get it" when it comes to Facebook. Maybe I'm just an old fuddy-duddy now and can't see coolness a foot in front of me. Who knows what my problem might be but I still don't anticipate using Facebook in the future and I can't imagine why it or Zuckerberg are so popular (or how in God's name did he end up a billionaire?). Whatever the case, best of luck Facebook users. I think the platform have a LONG way to go before privacy concerns are no longer an issue with the site. Best of luck and keep your private data safe.
Oh, and kids, think twice before putting information on any social networking site that an have a negative affect on your career in the future, no matter how cool the wand.
Monday, April 7, 2008
I love my iPod and This American Life (and other podcasts)
I'm currently listening to This American Life show #323 - The Super. I just finished an incredible story about a NYC building Superintendent who told fantastic stories about killing people and, well, it turns out he really did - as a member of Brazil's famous Death Squad. Now, and I really can't believe the next story, something about a snowman that can bench press 400 pounds and an opportunity to invest in a variety show in Indonesia starring said snowman. It's so bizarre that I can't even get my mind around it.
Next I'm going to listen to a podcast with Joel and Ethan Coen talking about movies and movie making. That should be good stuff.
Podcasts make the day sail by.
Next I'm going to listen to a podcast with Joel and Ethan Coen talking about movies and movie making. That should be good stuff.
Podcasts make the day sail by.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Friday, April 4, 2008
Good news!
So I'm just back from the hand surgeon for my week after surgery checkup and it turns out that I did NOT have a recurrence of my Giant Cell Tumor that has been twice removed from my hand (from the fleshy part of my hand, not bone. If you google for G.C.T. you'll see they are mostly in-bone rather than fleshy but they can occur anywhere).
What was it you ask? Just a collection of scar tissue and blood vessels. Much ado about nothing, really. As the good doctor put it: "this is even less of a worry than having a fleshy giant cell tumor which really isn't much of a worry at all". Sweet! I'll take it! (for the curious here is a picture of a fleshy giant cell tumor of the forearm (not mine). Only for those that don't mind looking at such things.)
Where did this growth come from? It's hard to tell, but somewhere along the way I injured the soft tissue in my hand and that formed a small scar that later grew thanks to some blood vessels getting into the mix. They say this happens in extremities after being shot. Well, I wasn't shot, that much I do know and the "injury" probably arrived thanks for my old hobby of turning wrenches of old, rusted Jeeps. I used to bang my fingers all the time trying to free rusted bolts and so-forth.
In the end I've been giant cell tumor free for over a decade and given that time span it is not very likely to reappear so it appears the good doctor rooted it out completely back in 1997.
I'm giant cell tumor free!!! And I got rid of some extra scar tissue that could have stayed in my hand forever and not affected me in any negative way whatsoever! And I have a new scar with which I can further impress the ladies!
Today is a good day. And to top it off, it's Friday! Someone, get me a Dogfish Head 90 minute! Pronto!
What was it you ask? Just a collection of scar tissue and blood vessels. Much ado about nothing, really. As the good doctor put it: "this is even less of a worry than having a fleshy giant cell tumor which really isn't much of a worry at all". Sweet! I'll take it! (for the curious here is a picture of a fleshy giant cell tumor of the forearm (not mine). Only for those that don't mind looking at such things.)
Where did this growth come from? It's hard to tell, but somewhere along the way I injured the soft tissue in my hand and that formed a small scar that later grew thanks to some blood vessels getting into the mix. They say this happens in extremities after being shot. Well, I wasn't shot, that much I do know and the "injury" probably arrived thanks for my old hobby of turning wrenches of old, rusted Jeeps. I used to bang my fingers all the time trying to free rusted bolts and so-forth.
In the end I've been giant cell tumor free for over a decade and given that time span it is not very likely to reappear so it appears the good doctor rooted it out completely back in 1997.
I'm giant cell tumor free!!! And I got rid of some extra scar tissue that could have stayed in my hand forever and not affected me in any negative way whatsoever! And I have a new scar with which I can further impress the ladies!
Today is a good day. And to top it off, it's Friday! Someone, get me a Dogfish Head 90 minute! Pronto!
Hum.. my home 802.11a network isn't working
Turns out I have some more work to do on the Time Capsule. Time Capsule works just find as a "Time Machine Server" doing just what I want it to do but I just reconfigured the wireless end to act as a 802.11n/a AP over 5 Ghz. It was my hope this would allow me to run my work VPN over 802.11a and thus bypass any interference from the 1000 other devices in the 2.4 Ghz range but I was unsuccessful in pairing my laptop to the Time Capsule via 802.11a.
I'll dig deeper into this when I get home tonight. The only reason this came up is I have an appointment with the hand surgeon to remove my stitches. My finger is still swollen from surgery and there is a good bit of bruising where he really dug around but otherwise things are not so bad. I can't wait until I can get my hand wet again. Showering with one hand inside a plastic bag is getting old and I'd really like to take a dip in the hot tub.
I'll dig deeper into this when I get home tonight. The only reason this came up is I have an appointment with the hand surgeon to remove my stitches. My finger is still swollen from surgery and there is a good bit of bruising where he really dug around but otherwise things are not so bad. I can't wait until I can get my hand wet again. Showering with one hand inside a plastic bag is getting old and I'd really like to take a dip in the hot tub.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
A rather important question
Why should and why do intelligent people often limit themselves to jobs in business or accounting or engineering? So postulates Katy Murphy. Well, Mrs. Murphy, for quite a number of good reasons, actually. But don't listen to me as I didn't major in any of these three fields.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
To all the other cnn.com loyalists
Is it me or does cnn.com have a new editor with a major interest in Autism? For the last two weeks you can't escape a banner story, several different ones every day, about Autism. This is an important and not very well understood condition but does it trump all other news of the world each and every day over the past fortnight?
Grammar check
"Ten year's my junior" or "ten years my junior"? I'm leaning towards "year's" as the way it reads is somewhat possessive. I think. Maybe.
Another thing the Apple TV needs
I am really liking where the Apple TV is going. With the last major release of code it's almost like having "Apple TV 2.0" having the ability to rent content from iTunes, play content from machines on the same LAN (1.0 feature), sych with a primary iTunes machine on the network (1.0 feature), etc, etc.
We, like many people I know who own Apple TVs, use the device as a "DVD and music Suitcase" of sorts. Going on vacation? No need to pack a few dozen DVDs, just pack up the Apple TV and hit the road (and don't forget the remote). This is a great thing and something I've been wanting for a long time.
But there is a minor problem. What if I had children (which I don't) and they wanted to watch Disney content on the Apple TV that had been synched from Daddy's computer? No problem there, kids, go crazy and watch what you'd like. But what if Daddy also had, say, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover on the Apple TV as well? Adults might appreciate the intricate tapestry that is this fine piece or art but I would be called insane if I would suggest that any movie involving the gross mistreatment of women, forced eating of dog shit, full frontal male (and female) nudity, running over of dogs, rape (or sexual assault at the very least), forcibly choking someone to death using pages torn from books, murder and, ta-da, cannibalism as time well spent by youth.
So why can't I place a lock-out on the device that would force the entering of a PIN each time "protected content" wanted to be watched? Better yet, why not just display the names of movies that are NOT protected content unless the PIN is entered? I think the latter scenario is preferable because Daddy might, for reasons known only unto him, decided to load a movie or two starring his favorite actress. Maybe Jenna Jamison or Shayla LeVeaux. You certainly wouldn't want the kiddies getting into that content nor would you want to embarrass yourself at a dinner party by displaying titles of movies starring either one of these ladies.
But let's go back to the Disney analogy. My Apple TV contains Never Cry Wolf a fantastic and truly underrated movie of the 80s. It's even a Disney movie! And one where a man runs around naked for 1/3 of the movie (if you don't count his boots). So you got me, it wasn't 1/3 of the movie and it's tastefully done and woven into the script so it actually makes sense. The movie isn't even rated "R". But still I could understand a parent not wanting a young child to watch this movie.
Furthermore, if these protections existed it would be conceivable that a family could get rid of the DVD player. Now you would have to be very paranoid to worry about a child's friend bringing a DVD with them to play unreasonable content on your television but it does happen. This is how I saw my first adult movie. DVD players are more easily scurried away than VHS or Betamax players ever were and you can't play a DVD directly on the Apple TV (for some reason). Oh, and if you wanted to allow another machine to stream content? Sorry, not without the PIN.
Parental controls exist on the Mac, why not the Apple TV? Heck, perhaps you won't want you child surfing YouTube. What's to stop him or her from doing so on the Apple TV? Again, it's easy enough to block this using a Mac. The Apple TV should provide the same protections.
We, like many people I know who own Apple TVs, use the device as a "DVD and music Suitcase" of sorts. Going on vacation? No need to pack a few dozen DVDs, just pack up the Apple TV and hit the road (and don't forget the remote). This is a great thing and something I've been wanting for a long time.
But there is a minor problem. What if I had children (which I don't) and they wanted to watch Disney content on the Apple TV that had been synched from Daddy's computer? No problem there, kids, go crazy and watch what you'd like. But what if Daddy also had, say, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover on the Apple TV as well? Adults might appreciate the intricate tapestry that is this fine piece or art but I would be called insane if I would suggest that any movie involving the gross mistreatment of women, forced eating of dog shit, full frontal male (and female) nudity, running over of dogs, rape (or sexual assault at the very least), forcibly choking someone to death using pages torn from books, murder and, ta-da, cannibalism as time well spent by youth.
So why can't I place a lock-out on the device that would force the entering of a PIN each time "protected content" wanted to be watched? Better yet, why not just display the names of movies that are NOT protected content unless the PIN is entered? I think the latter scenario is preferable because Daddy might, for reasons known only unto him, decided to load a movie or two starring his favorite actress. Maybe Jenna Jamison or Shayla LeVeaux. You certainly wouldn't want the kiddies getting into that content nor would you want to embarrass yourself at a dinner party by displaying titles of movies starring either one of these ladies.
But let's go back to the Disney analogy. My Apple TV contains Never Cry Wolf a fantastic and truly underrated movie of the 80s. It's even a Disney movie! And one where a man runs around naked for 1/3 of the movie (if you don't count his boots). So you got me, it wasn't 1/3 of the movie and it's tastefully done and woven into the script so it actually makes sense. The movie isn't even rated "R". But still I could understand a parent not wanting a young child to watch this movie.
Furthermore, if these protections existed it would be conceivable that a family could get rid of the DVD player. Now you would have to be very paranoid to worry about a child's friend bringing a DVD with them to play unreasonable content on your television but it does happen. This is how I saw my first adult movie. DVD players are more easily scurried away than VHS or Betamax players ever were and you can't play a DVD directly on the Apple TV (for some reason). Oh, and if you wanted to allow another machine to stream content? Sorry, not without the PIN.
Parental controls exist on the Mac, why not the Apple TV? Heck, perhaps you won't want you child surfing YouTube. What's to stop him or her from doing so on the Apple TV? Again, it's easy enough to block this using a Mac. The Apple TV should provide the same protections.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Apple's Airport Setup Assistant
No, this is not an April Fool's Day Joke. For that I set a few of the company HP Laserjet Printers to change from reading "Ready" to "INSERT COIN" via a nifty perl script. :) (for the record only the older HP Laserjets with the small green and black LED screens say "INSERT COIN" the newer multi-function touch-screen HP LaserJets say "Insert Coin for Copies". I might change them later.)
Anyway, back to the story. I fired up a nifty spread spectrum 2.4 and 5 Ghz analyzer last night at the house and saw a bit of noise and interference on the channel were my Airport Express resides. "No problem" I thought, "I'll just fire up the Airport Setup Utility and quickly change the AP channel from 6 to 11" (more and more of my neighbors are getting on the wireless bandwagon, even out in the sticks. I could be forced to move to 802.11n on 5 Ghz shortly.)
Upon firing up Airport Setup Assistance I was most dismayed to find that, like the setup for Apple's Time Capsule, the Airport Express can no longer be directly manipulated with access to all the advanced features. You are first presented with the "dumbed down" setup and then only if you really know where to click can you get to the "Advanced" setup (which really isn't) where you can change some settings but others seem to have disappeared entirely.
I'm not a big fan of this change and I wish the good people of Cupertino would simply change things back to the way they were, or at least provide some kind of option for "Classic Advanced Setup" for those of us who know what we're doing.
Anyway, back to the story. I fired up a nifty spread spectrum 2.4 and 5 Ghz analyzer last night at the house and saw a bit of noise and interference on the channel were my Airport Express resides. "No problem" I thought, "I'll just fire up the Airport Setup Utility and quickly change the AP channel from 6 to 11" (more and more of my neighbors are getting on the wireless bandwagon, even out in the sticks. I could be forced to move to 802.11n on 5 Ghz shortly.)
Upon firing up Airport Setup Assistance I was most dismayed to find that, like the setup for Apple's Time Capsule, the Airport Express can no longer be directly manipulated with access to all the advanced features. You are first presented with the "dumbed down" setup and then only if you really know where to click can you get to the "Advanced" setup (which really isn't) where you can change some settings but others seem to have disappeared entirely.
I'm not a big fan of this change and I wish the good people of Cupertino would simply change things back to the way they were, or at least provide some kind of option for "Classic Advanced Setup" for those of us who know what we're doing.
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