I'm slowly recovering my hard drive. I transfered almost 15GB of stuff to a desktop via Firewire, which was countless times faster than trying it via 10BaseT. Then I did a clean install of OS X.2. I decided not to install Classic, since I can't remember the last time I used it. Now the root level of my harddisk seems bare, there's only four folders when there used to be eight or nine. After the install, I started copying files back to my hard drive. I put my music back in the music folder and pictures in the pictures folder. I saved my Library folder, but didn't move it directly into my new Library. I'm slowly grabbing stuff that I need, like my Mail mbox files and Address Book files, but I know there's probably a bunch of stuff that won't be missed. It's going to be a while before the machine is where I want it, but I would say that I'm probably three-fourths of the way there, if not further. It's kind of a long process, but it feels good to have a clean system.
I was under the impression that in order to take a screenshot in OS X, you had to use the Grab application. Then I figured out that the old-school key combo cmd-shft-3 will take a screen shot and save it to the desktop. That's much easier.
No, not that Panic, the bad kind: a kernel panic. It's happened twice in the past week, which has prompted me to back up my stuff and do a clean re-install of my OS. We'll see what happens.
In today's Wall Street Journal there's a story about Uncle Sam giving tax breaks for small business owners who buy a truck weighing over 6,000 pounds, which includes luxury SUVs like the Cadillac Escalade. This doesn't quite mesh with Bush's promise to reduce dependence on foreign oil, since the fuel economy of some of these vehicles is barely above the single digits.
PS2 supercomputers. One hundred Playstation2's with Linux kits have been linked together to create a supercomputer, the NYTimes reports (free registration required). Because of their limited bandwidth and memory, they aren't going to be replacing Crays anytime soon, but they can be used for a narrow set of applications and are relatively inexpensive.
Running total. At left is a running total (pun intended) of the miles I've traveled as part of my marathon training. It will grow slowly at first, but in a few weeks it will pick up as the daily distances grow longer. I just hope this soreness goes away soon.
Week ½. I just finished my first three days of marathon training. Although it says to run three miles, each of the first three days, I actually ran almost 3.5 on two of the days. The other day I ran a different route, which I estimate to be about 3 miles, but I need to double check. I'm looking forward to my day off tomorrow. My legs could use a bit more time to recuperate. After my day of rest, though, I get to run six miles. Before I know it, I'll be ready to run 26... that's the plan, anyway.
Efficient drugs. In this article about Chatt Otterstrom's suspension from snowboarding competitions because he tested positive for Ritalin, for which he has a prescription, it says, "The USADA not only provides athletes with wallet-size list of prohibited substances that specifies not only the urine concentration levels that would cause a positive test, but also what drugs are classified as restricted (allowable by prescription)."
So, someone just needs to develop a drug that is more efficient. Urine is waste--excess materials the body no longer needs and can't store. We need drugs that the body doesn't waste, which will keep any concentration from occuring in the urine, thereby eliminating positive test results. There must be something that the body already stores, or at least excretes through another channel, to use as a model.
Mic Check. Listen to my show on KSUA, College. Mondays 7-8 p.m. ADT (GMT -9). It's all good.
Bulgaria. A high-school friend of mine, recently entered the Peace Corps. He's in Bulgaria teaching English and posts to his blog from an internet cafe. It's great to read about his experiences in Bulgaria, probably even moreso for me because I know him reasonably well.
Best trailer ever. Well, maybe not ever, but the trailer for Comedian is quite good.
Exercise. Next week I start training to run a marathon. It amazes me that I can start by running 3 miles at a time, and end up running over 26 miles at once. Anyway, it happens to be one of the toughest marathons in North America because of its dramatic elevation changes. It's not like I'm actually trying to win, though, I just want to finish without dying.
Photography on drugs. Serrated Image has applied synchroballistic photography technique to skateboarding, with some truly surreal results.
Done. School is finally over. Well, for about two weeks anyway. I finished my final project today, which is just in time because professors have to turn grades in tomorrow. My final project can be seen here. It's the bottom link (titled "A Chilling Effect?"), and you can choose between Flash and HTML versions. The Flash version is about 5.7 MB. The HTML version was completed with XHTML and CSS. It doesn't quite validate, and I know why, but my deadline was fast approaching and it isn't being graded on validation, so I let it slide.
Bling, bling! I got a letter in the mail yesterday. It was informing me that I have been awarded a $2,500 scholarship for next school year, which will pretty much cover my tuition so all that's left will be books and fees. The only thing keeping me from dancing everywhere I go is the fact that I've been getting very little sleep since I've been working on a final project all week. I think we might be able to be finished today, if all goes well.
Orange. No, it's not the terror alert status, it's the new flavor of Mountain Dew. According to news reports Pepsi plans on introducing Mountain Dew Live Wire this summer. I just hope it's better than Code Red and Pepsi Blue.
Workaround. I don't know what the problem was, but I got it to work by downsampling my audio before importing it into Flash. The manual says it can import AIFF and MP3 files, both of which I tried as Stereo, 16-bit, 44kHz. Since they're just voice files, I downsampled to mono, 8-bit 22kHz AIFF, which import and play just fine. Whatever works.
Flash sucks. For some reason, the sound file that I've embedded in my Flash document doesn't work outside of the Flash application. When I'm in FlashMX, and press return, the program plays through each frame like you'd expect. When it comes to the frame with the sound event, the sound plays just like it should. However, when I publish the file and view the .swf from within a browser, the audio is just quiet static. Even when played straight through FlashPlayer without a browser, the audio doesn't work. I don't get it. It should work. It needs to work because this project is due in less than 24 hours. Back to the web to search for documentation...
For Real? I hope this is a joke, but I get a sinking feeling these kids are not trying to be funny.
No service, no shirts. Lost the championship game, 2-0. The first goal, I just got outplayed. They were taking shots and I couldn't move around fast enough on the freshly Zam'd ice. The second goal I should have stopped, but I couldn't see the ball until it went through my defender's legs and I couldn't get down fast enough. Our offense was trying, but couldn't make anything happen. The other team was quite a bit quicker than we were. We had a few shots on goal, but couldn't get them past the keeper.
Shorts. It's almost summer, but those aren't the shorts I'm talking about it. Fox Searchlight has monthly shorts on their web site. It doesn't look like you can view previous month's shorts, but check out this month's and then go back in 30 days.
