Results tagged “OMG” from @Dexter's Blog
Hello everyone, it feels so good to be back :-)
I've finally fixed my MovableType instance after the upgrade to the 5.x series botched it up, mainly because of major incompatibilities with 4.x plugins. Other "interesting" things about MovableType are that it still does not support mod_perl 2.0 and that it shoves the Zemanta thingie up my throat without asking first.
Unfortunately for Six Apart (MT's developer), I am a programmer and I just cannot stand poorly designed code, especially in what is supposed to be a "successful commercial product, leading by excellence" ...
So, if I wrote NABPS ("New Aggregator Because Planet Sucks"), I'll just start writing NBCMTS ("New Blogger 'Cause MT Sucks") -- and, yes, you are all welcome to come up with a better name for it :D
I think I'll use many of the good things that MT4 had (e.g. templates) but I'll reimplement them in a very streamlined, fast and (most important of all) usable way -- the same thing I did with NABPS some time ago.
Stay tuned for the first ChangeLog entries ;-)
Good night,
@Dexter
I've finally fixed my MovableType instance after the upgrade to the 5.x series botched it up, mainly because of major incompatibilities with 4.x plugins. Other "interesting" things about MovableType are that it still does not support mod_perl 2.0 and that it shoves the Zemanta thingie up my throat without asking first.
Unfortunately for Six Apart (MT's developer), I am a programmer and I just cannot stand poorly designed code, especially in what is supposed to be a "successful commercial product, leading by excellence" ...
So, if I wrote NABPS ("New Aggregator Because Planet Sucks"), I'll just start writing NBCMTS ("New Blogger 'Cause MT Sucks") -- and, yes, you are all welcome to come up with a better name for it :D
I think I'll use many of the good things that MT4 had (e.g. templates) but I'll reimplement them in a very streamlined, fast and (most important of all) usable way -- the same thing I did with NABPS some time ago.
Stay tuned for the first ChangeLog entries ;-)
Good night,
@Dexter
Good evening everyone,
Moving on with the story, I've attended 7 motorcycle riding classes and 5 car driving classes up to now. I've never written anything about how my driving class is going for the simple reason that my focus (preference and passion) is mainly on (for) riding; nevertheless, there may be some of you out there wanting to know so here goes.
The driving class is held on a pool of Citroën C1s which, funny as it may look, seems to have been a wise choice because it handles very well and is very forgiving with the lack of skills usually found in a beginner.
The particular car I'm taking my class on has a clicky 2nd gear (it shifts smoothly into it while at rest but it produces an audible metallic click when shifting while rolling, even if the clutch is fully depressed), a stubborn 1st gear (again, smooth shifting when at rest but needs quite a push on the lever when moving) and a phantom clutch (there are two traction peaks within the pedal travel instead of just one).
Moving on to the good side, the servo-assisted steering has a very responsive and sturdy feel both while at speed and when creeping through back alleys. Strangely though, it feels like a motorcycle's handlebar when hitting potholes in the pavement al low speed :-) Another good feature is the servo-assisted brake which works smoothly in a linearly progressive way both when at speed and while coasting -- a very good thing for a beginner which tends to slam it every so often :-D
And what about me? Oh well, as I've mentioned previously, I'm not that much into driving as I am into riding. I'm making visible progress, I'm learning and I shall get my (car driver) license but my focus will remain with motorcycles and riding.
Speaking of which ...
And, last but not the least, I've found a good place to shop for equipment & apparel :-)
Finally, I would like to quote David L. Hough, the author of (among many others) More Proficient Motorcycling: Mastering the Ride, as he found the perfect way to describe the attitude of a good motorcyclist: "Motorcyclists, like pilots, put the priority on avoiding accidents rather than attempting to survive accidents. The energy is focused on doing everything right, rather than surviving the crash.". This also helps me with explaining my choice to various people concerned with the risks involved :-) ... and this will also help me explain my future choice (I expect it to happen next year, from February onwards -- but I'm not sure of my budget yet) of taking classes for a PPL+IR license.
That's all for tonight,
Sleep well and ride safe,
@Dexter
Moving on with the story, I've attended 7 motorcycle riding classes and 5 car driving classes up to now. I've never written anything about how my driving class is going for the simple reason that my focus (preference and passion) is mainly on (for) riding; nevertheless, there may be some of you out there wanting to know so here goes.
The driving class is held on a pool of Citroën C1s which, funny as it may look, seems to have been a wise choice because it handles very well and is very forgiving with the lack of skills usually found in a beginner.
The particular car I'm taking my class on has a clicky 2nd gear (it shifts smoothly into it while at rest but it produces an audible metallic click when shifting while rolling, even if the clutch is fully depressed), a stubborn 1st gear (again, smooth shifting when at rest but needs quite a push on the lever when moving) and a phantom clutch (there are two traction peaks within the pedal travel instead of just one).
Moving on to the good side, the servo-assisted steering has a very responsive and sturdy feel both while at speed and when creeping through back alleys. Strangely though, it feels like a motorcycle's handlebar when hitting potholes in the pavement al low speed :-) Another good feature is the servo-assisted brake which works smoothly in a linearly progressive way both when at speed and while coasting -- a very good thing for a beginner which tends to slam it every so often :-D
And what about me? Oh well, as I've mentioned previously, I'm not that much into driving as I am into riding. I'm making visible progress, I'm learning and I shall get my (car driver) license but my focus will remain with motorcycles and riding.
Speaking of which ...
- I learned how to lean the motorcycle in a controllable fashion while taking a turn, much like I had been able to do with my bicycle before
- I learned how to apply gentle throttle while taking a turn to stabilize the motorcycle's posture and trajectory
- I learned how to prop it up its center stand without hurting anyone (myself, bystanders and motorcycle included)
- I learned how to push it around without straddling it, without dropping it (or making a mess out of my arms in an attempt to keep it from falling) and without the help of the engine (it may sound funny but it's a mandatory examination item, just as propping it up/taking it off the center stand)
- I started practicing riding in zigzag through a string of traffic cones spaced 2m apart (another mandatory part of the examination). It works, but I need some more practice to iron out any hesitation while shifting my weight from one side to the other
- I started practicing quick stops ;-)
And, last but not the least, I've found a good place to shop for equipment & apparel :-)
Finally, I would like to quote David L. Hough, the author of (among many others) More Proficient Motorcycling: Mastering the Ride, as he found the perfect way to describe the attitude of a good motorcyclist: "Motorcyclists, like pilots, put the priority on avoiding accidents rather than attempting to survive accidents. The energy is focused on doing everything right, rather than surviving the crash.". This also helps me with explaining my choice to various people concerned with the risks involved :-) ... and this will also help me explain my future choice (I expect it to happen next year, from February onwards -- but I'm not sure of my budget yet) of taking classes for a PPL+IR license.
That's all for tonight,
Sleep well and ride safe,
@Dexter
Moving on with the series, the 3rd day at motorcycle school went as follows:
See you all soon,
@Dexter
- the bad throttle on the GZ125 magically fixed itself over weekend, I had the smoothest ride with it in the beginning of the class
- feeling confident with the GZ125, I quickly switched motorcycles and took the GZ250 out for a ride. It was a lot better this time, no jerks, no surprises, not even on the sandy parts of the riding court's concrete floor. At first, the extra weight of the GZ250 felt scary as it seemed harder to move from side to side, but as I set myself in motion it actually felt much more stable and even easier to control (less prone to "it doesn't go where I want it to" surprises) than the GZ125
- also, the 250cm3 engine behaves differently (i.e. better) in that it has enough power to move the motorcycle steadily forward while at idle without strange sudden changes in rpm. Moreover, it keeps that steadiness while opening the throttle, making it a lot easier for me to control the overall speed of the motorcycle and to apply power when needed (e.g. when riding up a bump). I wonder how a 535cm3 feels like ...
- the front brake behaves just like sixx commented a few days ago, thanks again for pointing out the engineering details that escaped me.
See you all soon,
@Dexter
As promised, here is what happened in day two at the riding school:
Moving to issues of a more tangible nature, I have done some research in what the motorcycle itself is concerned and hit a dense wall: the utter stupidity of Romanian dealers :-( I still have some to check out the next week, but the situation is quite grim, as I have previously mentioned when replying to a comment here.
Anyway, here is my shortlist, sorted in decreasing order of preference (all are 2009 model):
The second-best option (if no dealers are to be found here that are willing to sell one of the cited models) would be to ship it by special order from Germany ...
@Dexter
- Unquestionable evidence to the fact that CyberDyne 7s do have at least one background process dedicated to continuous self-improvement, balance was not an issue anymore :-) Neither when moving slowly, nor while speeding and not even while taking a turn or stopping (needless to say, the "right foot on the pedal, firmly!" difficulty disappeared as well)
- Having my mind offloaded by all those, I could concentrate on other things such as making the physics work to your advantage when taking a turn, working with (as opposed to against :-)) the motorcycle when riding on and off a bump in the ground and coping with a bad throttle:
- Probably owing to its age (bad/sticky cable) and the colder air (different combustion behaviour) this morning, the GZ125's throttle behaved in a very devilish, 2-stroke-like, quite erratic way. It was bad, but I was a lot more relaxed and self-confident than in the first lesson so I could take my time with it such that I never managed to stall (or completely stop) the engine, nor choke it by opening the throttle abruptly while at low rpm and under torque. I have to say it was a very interesting experience (riding with a bad throttle, that is) from which I learned a lot about how the engine reacts when faced with sudden changes in torque and throttle gauge; I think it has helped me understand a lot more than if everything had worked fine, as I now know what to expect from an erratic engine and how to persuade it, nicely, to go my way ;-)
- Since everything was going so well, I was just about to ask the trainer if I could switch motorcycles (I must have my rematch with the GZ250 after what she did to me in the first class!) OR if I could try the second gear as well :-) but I quickly realized I should not hurry things up, even if my mind is quite restless about it :-) So, at the next class, on Monday morning, I'll try and do both.
Moving to issues of a more tangible nature, I have done some research in what the motorcycle itself is concerned and hit a dense wall: the utter stupidity of Romanian dealers :-( I still have some to check out the next week, but the situation is quite grim, as I have previously mentioned when replying to a comment here.
Anyway, here is my shortlist, sorted in decreasing order of preference (all are 2009 model):
- Kawasaki Ninja 250R, MSRP: 4000USD
- Yamaha V Star 250, MSRP: 3800USD
- Honda Rebel 250, MSRP: 4000USD
- Yamaha YBR250, MSRP: 4300EUR (seems to be EU-only)
- Suzuki GZ250, MSRP: 3800USD
- Suzuki TU250X, MSRP: 3800USD
- Kawasaki Eliminator 125, MSRP: 2800USD
The second-best option (if no dealers are to be found here that are willing to sell one of the cited models) would be to ship it by special order from Germany ...
@Dexter
Following up on my previous post, I'll let you all in on what I've learned after the first day of hands-on motorcycle training :-)
I just loved it and the next lesson is on Saturday morning, from 9:00EEST onwards. I'll be sure to follow up with thoughts and things I've learned after each one :-)
Finally, for completeness, the motorcycles used at the class are Suzuki GZ125 and GZ250s.
Until next time,
@Dexter
- Forget all you've learned (and taught your mind and body to do) while riding a bicycle -- the motorcycle physics are mostly the other way around
- Static equilibrium is harder to achieve than dynamic equilibrium -- it is even harder to persuade your mind to drive your muscles the way it needs to do so to achieve that
- While it's very easy to drive a bicycle slowly, it's harder to do so with a motorcycle -- in that the bicycle part comes naturally but the motorcycle part is an acquired skill
- While you would dismount your bicycle and stand next to it as a "safe posture", you would firmly mount (straddle) the motorcycle, putting most of your weight on the saddle and keeping your legs on the ground for balance. It's a bit counter-intuitive but quite essential as the motorcycle is some 10 times heavier than the bicycle ...
- The bicycle is lighter than you, therefore you control it and it will go where you want it to. The motorcycle is heavier than you, therefore you have to persuade it to go where you want it to. It's always a good idea to know you motorcycle very very well, in what it's physics are concerned, at the very least
- The motorcycle's engine is always more powerful than what your legs used to be on the bicycle AND it's something you do not control with your mind, but rather with the throttle -- a lot of kinky things happen because of that. As such, knowing (or getting used to) the way your motorcycle behaves in real life situations is quite important
- There is a huge difference between 125cm3 and 250cm3! While I could get to a point of common understanding with the former at both low and medium rpm, both when driving straight and while taking a turn; it was nearly impossible to cooperate in a fully deterministic way with the latter, at least not in the first half hour or so. I don't even want to imagine how something like 1400cm3 feels like :-) Not yet, at least :-D
- Stepping on the brake pedal with your right foot while you are moving, riding on something, is a very mind-boggling experience :-) especially when you've ridden a bicycle for years before. Speaking about brakes, it is a very good idea to assume the front brake does not exist, to simply erase it from the landscape :-D just to be on the safe side.
I just loved it and the next lesson is on Saturday morning, from 9:00EEST onwards. I'll be sure to follow up with thoughts and things I've learned after each one :-)
Finally, for completeness, the motorcycles used at the class are Suzuki GZ125 and GZ250s.
Until next time,
@Dexter
Hello everyone,
This is just a short note to let you all know I shall be leaving for Sibiu and Cluj-Napoca tomorrow at 07:00 EET for a classified work-related mission -- however, the time not spent on the mission itself is as free and open as I have accustomed you with ;-)
If there's anyone of you located in (or passing by) my path (or one of the cities thereof), I will be available for a get together on Monday evening -- feel free to get in touch with me, I welcome any kind of company :-)
Internet accesibility prevailing, I shall edit this post as I move on through the week and as my schedule stabilises so there are chances I shall also be available for get-toghethers at other times than those announced as of yet.
(later edit at 20:32EET on Monday, January 12th, 2009)
It would seem the plans have changed and we made a straight run for Cluj-Napoca where we are also spending the night. Tomorrow will most probably end with a trip to Sibiu so I'll make the next post from there.
(later edit at 19:04EET on Tuesday, January 13th, 2009)
We have left today for Sibiu where we arrived at about 14:30. I am now writing from Hotel Silva via 802.11 and I will be here tomorrow as well, probably just until noon when I shall again leave, this time for Curtea de Argeş. Plans dictate we shall spend the night there, only to return to Piteşti on Thursday morning and, finally, return back home by Thursday evening.
(later edit at 12:15EET on Thursday, January 15th, 2009)
There was no Internet access at the lodging facility in Curtea de Argeş so I was unable to make a final status update last night. The mission ended well (including the last stop in Piteşti) and I am now writing from home.
As for the trip itself, I shall be manning a reduced NavCom position as my partner will handle Intelligence services. This will, however, not affect the mission's overall importance as it also happens to be my new Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx's maiden flight :-)
Speaking of communications, I shall be taking my HAM rig with me and keep a constant ear on 2m (145.250MHz and 145.225MHz, NFM, voice) so, if there's anyone of you out there wishing to CQ YO3HVT, I'd be glad and honoured to reply and consequently QSL ;-) I will also CQ 2m at each stop so watch out if you happen to be in (radio-)proximity of A1 as you might just catch me on air :-)
See you all on air or at destination,
@Dexter
This is just a short note to let you all know I shall be leaving for Sibiu and Cluj-Napoca tomorrow at 07:00 EET for a classified work-related mission -- however, the time not spent on the mission itself is as free and open as I have accustomed you with ;-)
If there's anyone of you located in (or passing by) my path (or one of the cities thereof), I will be available for a get together on Monday evening -- feel free to get in touch with me, I welcome any kind of company :-)
Internet accesibility prevailing, I shall edit this post as I move on through the week and as my schedule stabilises so there are chances I shall also be available for get-toghethers at other times than those announced as of yet.
(later edit at 20:32EET on Monday, January 12th, 2009)
It would seem the plans have changed and we made a straight run for Cluj-Napoca where we are also spending the night. Tomorrow will most probably end with a trip to Sibiu so I'll make the next post from there.
(later edit at 19:04EET on Tuesday, January 13th, 2009)
We have left today for Sibiu where we arrived at about 14:30. I am now writing from Hotel Silva via 802.11 and I will be here tomorrow as well, probably just until noon when I shall again leave, this time for Curtea de Argeş. Plans dictate we shall spend the night there, only to return to Piteşti on Thursday morning and, finally, return back home by Thursday evening.
(later edit at 12:15EET on Thursday, January 15th, 2009)
There was no Internet access at the lodging facility in Curtea de Argeş so I was unable to make a final status update last night. The mission ended well (including the last stop in Piteşti) and I am now writing from home.
As for the trip itself, I shall be manning a reduced NavCom position as my partner will handle Intelligence services. This will, however, not affect the mission's overall importance as it also happens to be my new Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx's maiden flight :-)
Speaking of communications, I shall be taking my HAM rig with me and keep a constant ear on 2m (145.250MHz and 145.225MHz, NFM, voice) so, if there's anyone of you out there wishing to CQ YO3HVT, I'd be glad and honoured to reply and consequently QSL ;-) I will also CQ 2m at each stop so watch out if you happen to be in (radio-)proximity of A1 as you might just catch me on air :-)
See you all on air or at destination,
@Dexter
Today's topic in this category: Internet Protocol, Version 6. Pure perfection but, sadly, no one cares :-(
Just compare, this (using IPv6):
with this (using IPv4):
And you tell me which you like better!
@Dexter
Just compare, this (using IPv6):
# traceroute6 download.wikimedia.org traceroute to download.wikimedia.org (2620:0:860:2:230:48ff:fe5a:eb1e), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets 1 atlas.linux360.ro (2001:5c0:9a05::1) 0.285 ms 0.279 ms 0.279 ms 2 2001:5c0:8fff:fffe::79a4 (2001:5c0:8fff:fffe::79a4) 147.944 ms 149.277 ms 150.772 ms 3 * * * 4 if-5-0-1.6bb1.mtt-montreal.ipv6.teleglobe.net (2001:5a0:300::5) 193.968 ms 195.987 ms 201.568 ms 5 if-1-0.mcore3.mtt-montreal.ipv6.teleglobe.net (2001:5a0:300:100::1) 195.907 ms 195.897 ms 200.469 ms 6 if-13-0.mcore4.nqt-newyork.ipv6.teleglobe.net (2001:5a0:300:100::2) 206.977 ms 206.969 ms 206.930 ms 7 if-4-0.mcore4.pdi-paloalto.ipv6.teleglobe.net (2001:5a0:1200::1) 275.155 ms 267.837 ms 267.607 ms 8 2001:5a0:1200::6 (2001:5a0:1200::6) 267.070 ms * * 9 2001:5a0:1200:100::e (2001:5a0:1200:100::e) 266.977 ms * * 10 (2610:18:10a::2) 346.465 ms 346.458 ms 346.426 ms 11 (2610:18:10a::2) 347.111 ms 347.096 ms 342.075 ms 12 2620:0:860:2:230:48ff:fe5a:eb1e (2620:0:860:2:230:48ff:fe5a:eb1e) 342.051 ms 341.723 ms 341.700 ms
with this (using IPv4):
# traceroute download.wikimedia.org traceroute to download.wikimedia.org (208.80.152.183), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets 1 gw.dexter.linux360.ro (192.168.10.1) 0.396 ms 0.384 ms 0.395 ms 2 (89.37.42.1) 1.096 ms 1.523 ms 1.754 ms 3 79.134.34.217 (79.134.34.217) 1.200 ms 1.661 ms 1.862 ms 4 79.134.32.137 (79.134.32.137) 1.160 ms 1.102 ms 1.852 ms 5 rc1-buc-uplink2-rd1-buc.airbites.net (195.170.181.169) 1.525 ms 0.981 ms 1.414 ms 6 GigabitEthernet2-1-106.ipcolo2.frankfurt.level3.net (62.67.38.185) 219.299 ms 219.417 ms 219.401 ms 7 vlan89.csw3.Frankfurt1.Level3.net (4.68.23.190) 46.631 ms 46.562 ms 46.577 ms 8 ae-81-81.ebr1.Frankfurt1.Level3.net (4.69.140.9) 59.094 ms 58.886 ms 59.033 ms 9 ae-2.ebr2.Paris1.Level3.net (4.69.132.141) 65.521 ms 65.465 ms 65.631 ms 10 ae-41.ebr2.Washington1.Level3.net (4.69.137.50) 149.641 ms ae-43.ebr2.Washington1.Level3.net (4.69.137.58) 149.121 ms ae-42.ebr2.Washington1.Level3.net (4.69.137.54) 147.043 ms 11 ae-62-62.csw1.Washington1.Level3.net (4.69.134.146) 139.431 ms 136.973 ms ae-72-72.csw2.Washington1.Level3.net (4.69.134.150) 137.448 ms 12 ae-81-81.ebr1.Washington1.Level3.net (4.69.134.137) 137.381 ms ae-91-91.ebr1.Washington1.Level3.net (4.69.134.141) 141.602 ms ae-61-61.ebr1.Washington1.Level3.net (4.69.134.129) 141.883 ms 13 ae-2.ebr3.Atlanta2.Level3.net (4.69.132.85) 152.735 ms 165.104 ms 165.049 ms 14 ae-62-60.ebr2.Atlanta2.Level3.net (4.69.138.3) 157.452 ms ae-72-70.ebr2.Atlanta2.Level3.net (4.69.138.19) 153.395 ms ae-62-60.ebr2.Atlanta2.Level3.net (4.69.138.3) 162.608 ms 15 ae-1-6.bar1.Tampa1.Level3.net (4.69.137.113) 170.868 ms 170.782 ms 170.258 ms 16 ae-5-5.car1.Tampa1.Level3.net (4.69.133.49) 171.663 ms 171.380 ms 171.518 ms 17 ae-13-13.car3.Tampa1.Level3.net (4.69.133.54) 170.908 ms 171.654 ms 171.454 ms 18 e1-11-level3.co2.tpax.as30217.net (4.71.0.10) 170.310 ms 169.683 ms 169.681 ms 19 ge8-1.csw5-pmtpa.wikimedia.org (66.113.197.94) 170.530 ms 170.073 ms 170.015 ms 20 storage2.wikimedia.org (208.80.152.183) 170.670 ms 171.357 ms 169.819 ms
And you tell me which you like better!
@Dexter
I know I owe you, my most discerning audience, a post covering the recent upgrade of heracles.linux360.ro in great detail which I shall write and post upon returning from this mission.
Thank you for your patience and understanding for my rather hectic schedule these days.
Hello everyone,
This is just a short note to let you all know I shall be leaving for Iaşi tomorrow at 05:45 EET to participate as keynote speaker at this event. At the time of this writing, the event agenda was still not updated as it is I who will hold the presentations originally booked by Daniel Ilieş and Mihai Rauţă.
If there's anyone of you located in (or passing by) the area at that time, I will be available for a get together on Thursday evening and Friday afternoon and evening -- feel free to get in touch with me, I welcome any kind of company :-)
As for the trip itself, I shall be manning the NavComTel Officer position (as usual) providing navigation (both GIS and tactics; via GPS/Magnetic Compass and GIS data); communication (making sure all team members stay in touch and get an accurate and fresh copy of essential mission data) and intelligence (location liaison; remote logistics etc.) services to the team.
Speaking of communications, I shall be taking my HAM rig with me and keep a constant ear on 2m (145.250MHz and 145.225MHz) so, if there's anyone of you out there wishing to CQ YO3HVT, I'd be glad and honoured to reply and consequently QSL ;-) I will also CQ 2m at each stop so watch out if you happen to be in (radio-)proximity of E85 as you might just catch me on air :-)
See you all on air or at destination,
@Dexter
Thank you for your patience and understanding for my rather hectic schedule these days.
Hello everyone,
This is just a short note to let you all know I shall be leaving for Iaşi tomorrow at 05:45 EET to participate as keynote speaker at this event. At the time of this writing, the event agenda was still not updated as it is I who will hold the presentations originally booked by Daniel Ilieş and Mihai Rauţă.
If there's anyone of you located in (or passing by) the area at that time, I will be available for a get together on Thursday evening and Friday afternoon and evening -- feel free to get in touch with me, I welcome any kind of company :-)
As for the trip itself, I shall be manning the NavComTel Officer position (as usual) providing navigation (both GIS and tactics; via GPS/Magnetic Compass and GIS data); communication (making sure all team members stay in touch and get an accurate and fresh copy of essential mission data) and intelligence (location liaison; remote logistics etc.) services to the team.
Speaking of communications, I shall be taking my HAM rig with me and keep a constant ear on 2m (145.250MHz and 145.225MHz) so, if there's anyone of you out there wishing to CQ YO3HVT, I'd be glad and honoured to reply and consequently QSL ;-) I will also CQ 2m at each stop so watch out if you happen to be in (radio-)proximity of E85 as you might just catch me on air :-)
See you all on air or at destination,
@Dexter
Two weeks after having issued an open invitation to a local dance class I find myself facing the gruesome reality of not having it accepted (or even answered, or even commented upon) by anyone.
Anyone save for Syl (which, obviously, is a guy) which makes me face another gruesome mind challenge, this time a dilemma:
Either way, things are not looking good.
At all ...
_dexter
Anyone save for Syl (which, obviously, is a guy) which makes me face another gruesome mind challenge, this time a dilemma:
- Syl is gay and I did not know it, or
- I should turn gay and I don't know it!
- There are no more ladies in this world or those that remain are either too old or too technologically challenged (or isolated) to read this blog; hence (for the purpose of our reasoning) they are extinct.
This is probably the most gruesome hypothesis as there is no use whatsoever for a gentleman in a world that has done away with ladies -- therefore my existence is obsolete and it's only a matter of time until nature will optimize it out - All ladies that existed in this world and were able to read this blog decayed to the form of piţipoance, rendering their mind and soul useless for such a profound and passionate pursuit as dancing is.
Either way, things are not looking good.
At all ...
_dexter
Owing to some strange course of events at work and to a SMALL bit of mis- (or, rather, total lack of) -communication, I find myself facing one more EDP instance, this time all the way to Cluj-Napoca.
As always, I shall be taking up Navigation & Communications Officer duties while my colleague Sin will do the Pilot & Logistics Officer's part (he is renown as professional driver, always keen about the passengers' security).
Standard procedures of the EDP apply, including live GPS assistance and track recording; and hourly radio check-ins via HAM (my callsign is YO3HVT, if you hear it in 2m it's a clear sign I'm still alive and on track).
Next blog check-in is tomorrow at 10:00EET (local time), hopefully I'll be fine then. Wish me luck and see ya all on the other side!
@Dexter
(Later on:) By some very nice twist of events, I got away easy: I'm going by train instead of by car ;-)
As always, I shall be taking up Navigation & Communications Officer duties while my colleague Sin will do the Pilot & Logistics Officer's part (he is renown as professional driver, always keen about the passengers' security).
Standard procedures of the EDP apply, including live GPS assistance and track recording; and hourly radio check-ins via HAM (my callsign is YO3HVT, if you hear it in 2m it's a clear sign I'm still alive and on track).
Next blog check-in is tomorrow at 10:00EET (local time), hopefully I'll be fine then. Wish me luck and see ya all on the other side!
@Dexter
(Later on:) By some very nice twist of events, I got away easy: I'm going by train instead of by car ;-)
Following up this entry on Sin's blog, it seems I have been tagged. (I never knew you could actually play tag on blogs -- learning seems to be a life-long activity).
First things first, let me follow tag's demands:
More to come, stay tuned,
@Dexter
First things first, let me follow tag's demands:
- The book (physically) closest to me (at all times) is the UNIX manual pages
- The 123rd (english manual) page on BeatrixKiddo is:
$ find /usr/share/man/ -wholename '/usr/share/man/man*' -a -type f | sort | head -n 123 | tail -n 1 /usr/share/man/man1/aimk.1.gz
- The 4 phrases that follow the 5th are, as follows:
aimk uses the value of environment variable $PVM_ARCH if it is set, otherwise it calls $PVM_ROOT/pvmgetarch to determine the architecture name. pvmgetarch is a script that sniffs at various parts of the system to determine the correct architecture name. It is updated as new PVM ports are defined, and can be augmented locally.
aimk determines the machine architecture and execs make, passing it the architecture and a configuration file along with arguments supplied to aimk. - I don't have (six) friends, or at least not the way the dictionary meant it. And from the few people I get along well with, a lot less have blogs that I know about so I think I've only got one victim to list: Starlog.
Later edit: sifting through my memory, I've come up with two more (possible) victims: Shoby and Foxy.
More to come, stay tuned,
@Dexter
Most entities nowadays seem to constantly perform better if moved (i.e. morphed) away from their creator(s) intent and design -- and I say that with a bitter note, engineering (A/V, IT, Tc etc. in particular) should be a very precise and predictable field where each step is calculated not only in what how is it going to be taken is concerned but rather in what what will the consequences be is. Sad ...
After many years of dreaming about it and three years after I first touched such a thing (I had to setup and fill one up for one of my highest-ranking bosses at that time), I got my hands on a 5th generation (improved) Apple iPod with Video (the black, 80GB version). Why? Because it's still the only portable music player with such a big hard drive -- I do not have access to the Japanese consumer market, mind you ;-) Yet ...
No, I would not call the feeling "love at first sight" -- that was years ago and by present times it'd already gotten stale (pretty much the same thing that happens with humans and feelings left unexplored/dreams that never came true) but I was pleasantly impressed, at least with the hardware (eye candy) part. Apple is renowned for "nice" (in a rather photographic way) products and the Video iPod in front of me proudly confirmed it. Unfortunately (for Apple), that's about all the good things that can be said about their iPod as a whole product: good looking, period.
Naturally, after cleaning it (it's a second hand issue), I thought I'd put all my music on it (about 18GB at present in some ~3800 files) and start listening, but Apple had many a surprise in store for me. In no particular order, here they are:
As with any open source thing (not necessarily Linux and RockBox is not Linux for example) I've ever laid my hands upon, quality, efficiency and a simple and clear design strike you the second you open the box/archive etc.
Installation is a 5 minute job, divided between getting the actual software on the iPod (just unzip a few .ZIP files in its root) and changing the boot loader (just run a simple program that does all the work for you). Extra GUI-art (fonts, skins etc.) is one download-and-unzip away.
After installation, you just reboot the device and there you go: Apple iPod running RockBox :-) Of course (if you were asking yourselves), the installation is non-destructive: you can always choose to reboot in the original Apple firmware -- but who would want that when RockBox is so much better than that crap? :-)
So, to sum it up in a few lines:
That about sums it up: if you get an iPod (less for the latest one, the "Classic" which has an encrypted firmware -- I really wish they'd rot for that) and want to actually use it, you should really give RockBox a try!
Good night everyone,
@Dexter
After many years of dreaming about it and three years after I first touched such a thing (I had to setup and fill one up for one of my highest-ranking bosses at that time), I got my hands on a 5th generation (improved) Apple iPod with Video (the black, 80GB version). Why? Because it's still the only portable music player with such a big hard drive -- I do not have access to the Japanese consumer market, mind you ;-) Yet ...
No, I would not call the feeling "love at first sight" -- that was years ago and by present times it'd already gotten stale (pretty much the same thing that happens with humans and feelings left unexplored/dreams that never came true) but I was pleasantly impressed, at least with the hardware (eye candy) part. Apple is renowned for "nice" (in a rather photographic way) products and the Video iPod in front of me proudly confirmed it. Unfortunately (for Apple), that's about all the good things that can be said about their iPod as a whole product: good looking, period.
Naturally, after cleaning it (it's a second hand issue), I thought I'd put all my music on it (about 18GB at present in some ~3800 files) and start listening, but Apple had many a surprise in store for me. In no particular order, here they are:
- iTunes is a total pain in the rear. Huge download, ugly design (Windows -guidelines -wise!), bloated like hell (why would I need an extra music player? etc.), hard to control (seems like in Apple world concepts like "net-wise privacy", "slow connections", "off line mode", "pause current operation" etc. are totally unknown)
- it was absolutely impossible to use Apple software to perform a simple, atomic copy of one folder (containing music data) from my computer to the iPod (and have that data playable on the iPod afterwards)
- iTunes attempted to retrieve album art for no less than 2210 albums, most of which were named "Unknown Album", "new", "" (!) and "Album 1" -- without asking first whether or not I desire to access the Internet for that and without telling me what data exactly is being sent out. All that resulted in no usable album art being retrieved, 20MiB of HTTP 404 traffic (!) and 15 minutes of my precious time being lost
- iTunes installs QuickTime without letting me have a say (and the same applies for a couple of other obscure services that were added to my system and started without me asking for it). My use case is just copying music to my device -- no decoding or even playback -- so why should any of QuickTime be involved?
- iTunes barfed on the first of my few .WMA files and said it will convert it to .AAC because the iPod can't play it as is. Need I remind you this is the Windows iTunes (and a FAT32 -formatted iPod) version?! I don't think Bill Gates will be very happy to hear that his mind child audio format is "not playable" on a device made by a company on his own payroll ...
- iTunes totally ignored my .OGG and .FLAC files -- this is a bit fascist, don't you think? What we cannot understand, does not exist! I took great offense in that behavior ...
- iTunes renames and hides my music when "syncing" it to the iPod, leaving me with an ID3 Tag-based browsing view only -- of course, without asking whether I am ok with having my files maimed. I once again took great offense in that, especially when it comes from a company that claims the trend setter role in everything it does
As with any open source thing (not necessarily Linux and RockBox is not Linux for example) I've ever laid my hands upon, quality, efficiency and a simple and clear design strike you the second you open the box/archive etc.
Installation is a 5 minute job, divided between getting the actual software on the iPod (just unzip a few .ZIP files in its root) and changing the boot loader (just run a simple program that does all the work for you). Extra GUI-art (fonts, skins etc.) is one download-and-unzip away.
After installation, you just reboot the device and there you go: Apple iPod running RockBox :-) Of course (if you were asking yourselves), the installation is non-destructive: you can always choose to reboot in the original Apple firmware -- but who would want that when RockBox is so much better than that crap? :-)
So, to sum it up in a few lines:
- .MP3, .WMA, .WAV, .AAC, .OGG, .FLAC, .APE (and the list could go on), all supported and played back with no problem
- real graphic and parametric equalizer, fully tunable to your taste and including saving and loading presets
- fully skin-able GUI: just grab your preferred editor (including the one included in RockBox) and write a new skin :-)
- many many other nice goodies you would expect from an open source release ... hmm, if I'll tell you I can actually play Doom on it, would it be enough? :-)
- both ID3-based and directory-based music access
- powerful playlist management, including .M3U format support and on-the-fly playlist creation and saving
That about sums it up: if you get an iPod (less for the latest one, the "Classic" which has an encrypted firmware -- I really wish they'd rot for that) and want to actually use it, you should really give RockBox a try!
Good night everyone,
@Dexter
Without any further ado: that is what I would call an university (and most notably: a Computer Science -related one). (credits go to Fuzzy for posting the original photograph).
@Dexter
Powerplant
