254/365 Invalid Image
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
Spent most of the day trying to recover data after accidentally blowing away all of my pictures from 2008. (mainly because I was trying to move pictures to our new network storage drive and was wrangling with Adobe Photoshop Organizer to try and get it to recognize the new location of the pictures.) I had some backups, but only through August.
So frustrating.
So stupid.
So much for the new graphics card. I've since reinstalled Ubuntu, and will try loading the drivers again...later.
239/365 Double FAIL
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
Still not having any luck getting the second display to operate as an independent workspace. I'm glad I found the 1920x1080 monitor because it's a lot easier to troubleshoot a screen just to the right than a projected image that's behind and over your shoulder. (plus, it's not burning minutes off our projector lamp)
Nevertheless, it would be nice if I could get it up and running. Sadly, I don't feel like I'm really going to learn much from this exercise other than how to get two displays with separate workspaces running in Ubuntu. I guess it's learning, but it's specialized but probably not applicable elsewhere.
complete with thermal gel... putting together the HTPC -- I was able to boot Ubuntu, but didn't have time to figure out appropriate partitioning to finish the installation.
225/365 Jaunty Installation
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
Worked on some trial installs of Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu 9.04 (codenamed "Jaunty Jackalope") in preparation for our new HTPC, on my old AMD Athlon PC I bought back in 2001.
Nothing like a long day sitting in front of multiple computers constantly googling on one and rebooting the other. But hey, it auto-mounts the network drive now, so, y'know, progress.
3 miles this morning. Average pace a little below 8:30 minute miles. Max heart rate somewhere around 169*.
It's still not where I'd like to be, but it felt a lot better than a week and a half ago. And it's progress.
*
Within the first 1/2 mile, I checked the monitor and it read 176. Then 179. Then 181. I definitely didn't feel like I was working that hard so I tried adjusting the strap of the sensor and the reading shortly dropped down to 156. *phew* For the record, I don't think this had anything to do with the high reading from the last 3 mile run, and I really did feel like crap at the time.
I thought I got off on the right foot this morning -- I woke up without much effort by around 6:45AM and lazily got up around 7AM to get ready for my run.
Not a bad start really. Especially considering yesterday's rude awakening to the alarm at 7:30AM (I almost never use an alarm) -- a gym workout, an overall zombie day at the office with a tic developing in my left eye late in the afternoon. I only made it through a late-evening massage session with the aid of a 30-minute power nap in the comfy chair.
A lot to do today, though. Laundry, dirty dishes, errands, packing. And, of course, work. But I'm getting a massage this afternoon and some friends are getting together after work so there are a few things to look forward to.
And no problems this morning. Things seemed grand...
...and that lasted for all of maybe an hour, or about halfway through the run.
A bit under 6.4 miles today; I figured I'd bump up the tempo a bit to push that "lactic threshold." Perhaps, a mistake. A little too ambitious. I ran out of gas about halfway through mile 5. (Note to self: let's try working on starting slow and hitting negative splits next time, m'kay?)
It was also cold this morning. The numbers didn't suggest anything unusual (27°F), but maybe because I was running harder, it just felt worse than it normally did. Or maybe because it was still kinda dark. (I'm pretty sure the sun was supposed to be up, but it seemed pretty gray.) So at the end of the run, my head was cold. It actually kind of hurt. Blargh.
Stretched, the core-strengthening thing (I was actually doing the plank variation to help the hamstring), shower, breakfast, then work.
No wait, I tried to sync my GPS to download info from the run...and my computer wouldn't recognize the device anymore.
Computer: What is this thing? Whatever you are, you DEAD to me.
Me: Dude, this worked, like, 2 days ago. WTF?
Microsoft troubleshoot failed to find the problem for the millionth time. (Has anyone EVER successfully gotten a problem resolved using this POS piece of software?) It ended up forcing a reboot of the machine. And then it's all kittens and puppies again.
Computer: Oh, hi GPS! How's it going? Wassup? Where ya been?
Me: *sigh*
Ok, I can sync my GPS now. After the reboot, Windows takes the volume control icon off my taskbar. (This is an on-going problem.) I go into the control panel and put it back in by "removing" it and then replacing it. It gets old, but at least it still works. Sort of.
And THEN work.
And then, some belly unhappiness which has been creeping around the edges since I finished the run. Gastro-intestinal distress. It's been a while since I've had this problem after a run. *sigh* Probably again with the running harder than usual and the cold weather.
Not too much progress with work -- a bit stressed, actually, trying to get things done before heading out of town tomorrow. But finally got some momentum after moving downstairs for a change of scenery. Somehow I seem to work better in the kitchen or at the dining table. (better writing surface? Better light? Dunno.)
Stressed and getting cranky. I bag the get together, head out to run errands and get the massage. I hit 5 of 5 red lights on the way to Petco, and 5 of 6 on the way to the massage.
Pause.
Exhale.
Yay, massage.
Highly recommended. All the craziness seems like yesterday.
It's a fresh start.
A new day.
I'm putting things into perspective -- if I hadn't hit all those red lights, I would have been crazy-early to my appointment. I had no issues at Petco. The craziness forced allowed me to pick my priorities, decommit so I had time to deal with the important things.
I'm in and out of Trader Joe's in maybe 10 minutes. Feeling good. Efficient. Thinking about the work problem I've been puzzling over -- I think I can be productive. This'll be awesome.
I grab the grocery bag in one hand, the small case of cat food balanced on the bucket of cat litter in the other. Close the trunk. Nice. Efficient.
And three steps later, all the cat food is on the sidewalk.
Calm.
I over-committed. That's a lesson. We're cool. Bring the other stuff in. Go back out and collect the cat food.
Sit down at the computer and...
Why is the computer off?
don't worry, it's just because you set the power mode to hibernate after prolonged inactivity.
Ok, cool. Um, so why is that amber light lit up?
La, la, la, not listening... just turn the computer back on. It'll be fine!
Um, it just shut itself off again.
WTF?!
Dude, you're supposed to be the calm one here.
...
So, apparently... apparently the outlet I used for the computer is dead. So I'll just go and grab an extension cord and plug it in over here and it'll be ...
Ok, so my computer performed a hard shutdown.
...
Well, at least the auto-save should mean that I won't lose too much work.
Hello?
Auto-save?
Remember auto-save? Piece-of-shit auto-save that interrupts my work half the time? WTF is the recovery file that you keep auto-saving?!
Computer: Yeah, uh, so do you remember that time when you found out that your copy of Visio that you bought and paid good money for was actually a pirated copy?
Ok, so I did finally scream at my computer. Once.
It didn't make me feel any better.
I started reconstructing my work, but I couldn't stay focused.
And that is why I've just burned an hour and a half blogging.
I still don't feel any better.
And now I'm hungry.
Fuck.
Bah.
I guess I shouldn't care too much that my Combo DVD/HD-DVD discs don't play well in our A3 HD-DVD player. I can file them with my old Betamax tapes when we eventually replace them with Blu-ray.
Still gonna hold off on a blu-ray player for a while -- prices are still high, and even if we get past that, I'll want to wait for either the studios to drop the whole region-encoding bullshit (unlikely) or for the release of a true region-free player.
We're looking into getting a HD front projector for our new "playroom" instead of one of those buhgiant flatscreen LCD TVs. I've been cruising some of the online forums and review websites, so I feel like I have a pretty good idea of what's out there and what our options are. The hard part now is figuring out which one to get.
Traditionally, you'd go to the store, compare how things looked on the different models, weigh the costs and then make a decision. The problem being, where do you go to actually SEE what the projected image looks like?
Ugh.
So, does anybody know how one can actually see how well these things perform? Do people who buy them just buy them sight unseen and rely on the "expert" discussion in the online forums or online review sites? Are we being just soooo last cenury? Do these things not matter to "normal" consumers? Was the BestBuy guy actually speaking truth when he said the different models were all basically the same and we should just make a decision based on price?What's the standard operating procedure these days for the modern consumer of the high definition front projection system?
Inquiring minds want to know.
UPDATE 01Sep2007: Did some Googling today, and this looks promising... (too bad their website doesn't actually tell you when they're open)
It is perhaps ironic that I have to log into my Google account in order to access my Blogger account in order to bitch about how my online identities are converging. Or perhaps it is simply telling. Or appropriate.
Regardless, I'm annoyed.
Flickr wants me to link my account to my YahooID, and frankly, the idea makes me a little uncomfortable. I remember back when they first announced that this was happening that there were some people making a stink about it in the forums, and others who couldn't see what the problem was.
Perhaps it's just more evidence of the generation gap that was described in a recent New York Times magazine article -- the gap between those who try to keep a certain amount of privacy online and those who put themselves completely online, their private life, public.
Sure, to be wholly anonymous nowadays, you pretty much have to be off the grid entirely, but I'd like to think that there's still a middle ground somewhere in there that I can carve out, with a little anonymity through obscurity and obfuscation, at least. I probably want people to find me if they're looking hard enough, but I don't really want to just drop it in their lap. A bit paradoxical, I suppose. Or like the article says, maybe I'm just fooling myself:
And after all, there is another way to look at this shift. Younger people, one could point out, are the only ones for whom it seems to have sunk in that the idea of a truly private life is already an illusion. Every street in New York has a surveillance camera. Each time you swipe your debit card at Duane Reade or use your MetroCard, that transaction is tracked. Your employer owns your e-mails. The NSA owns your phone calls. Your life is being lived in public whether you choose to acknowledge it or not.
So it may be time to consider the possibility that young people who behave as if privacy doesn’t exist are actually the sane people, not the insane ones. For someone like me, who grew up sealing my diary with a literal lock, this may be tough to accept. But under current circumstances, a defiant belief in holding things close to your chest might not be high-minded. It might be an artifact—quaint and naïve, like a determined faith that virginity keeps ladies pure.
Back in the day, I only set up my Yahoo account so I could sign up for online stuff without getting my "real" email address spammed. Then my YahooID got tied to a bunch of my mailing lists when Yahoo! assimilated eGroups. That was the beginning of the end, I think. When that happened, all of a sudden my hidden email address was mapped to my "real" address and could be seen by groups of people that I actually interact with in the real world.
So now, if I attach my YahooID to my Flickr account, all those peeps will probably be able to see my photostream. Which seems pretty benign. Except, my Flickr account also links to this blog. And somehow, I've always thought of this blog as being a separate sort of thing. So if I link the ID, the connection's made. Probably fine, right? What's the big deal?
Well, if it's done, it's done. The internet sticks around.
And then how easy is it to out the SOOTTAD, who is fiercely protective of her personal information to the point that there are no unprotected pictures of her on our *private* online photo gallery. I don't even post many pictures of myself in order to reduce the odds of her being identified by association.
Except that the information is already out there. There is a picture of the SOOTTAD out there on the interwebs, with her real name attached to it even. And the Yahoo email address has always been tied to the Blogger account. It just didn't have the reverse mapping from Yahoo to Blogger is all. Oh, F. I already linked to the blog on that stupid Yahoo360° page.
Dumbass. (F'ing Yahoo, pushing and pushing and pushing to continue the convergence. At least I'm not bumping into the namespace issue that other people are having.)
Like I said, maybe I'm just fooling myself.
So, I just switched over to Vonage last week. I've been really happy with the service so far -- cheaper with more features. I get voicemail notices via email. I can check my messages by calling in or online via the web. And I had totally forgotten that my phone supported caller-ID. Schweet.
So, what happens one week later?
Vonage Owes $58M in Patent Case
In a ruling that could have wide-ranging consequeces for the entire competitive voice replacement market, a federal jury Thursday found Vonage guilty of infringing several patents held by Verizon, and awarded $58 million in past damages and imposed a 5.5 percent royalty fee on future Vonage operations. ...
I see that things are operating business-as-usual around here.
On the non-technology front, we're hoping to be largely moved into the new house later this month. There's still lots of little stuff that needs to get carted over or triaged, but I was thinking that I'd finally have some more time to refocus on work, get more wedding planning completed and maybe even hit some side projects I've been setting, er... aside. But I forgot that I got called for Federal Jury Duty at the end of March through mid-April.
As always, perfect timing.
I expect we'll end up closing on the old house right around mid-June, just to properly gum up the works.
