reading frenzy April 23, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : Castle, Izzy, Friends, Reads , 2commentsIn the last few months I’ve been on a reading kick, reaching out into literature I wouldn’t normally devour. NY Times best sellers and those kinds of books that make you relate to the feeeeelinnngs, wants and desires of characters. Characters that at no point in the story are doing anything with political intrigue, nano tehcnology, super-viruses, secret societies, or variations of the space-time continuum. Lets just come out and say it. I’m reading chick books.
I’ve dabbled before in this area, always something lent to me, nothing I’d pick off a shelf and purchase willingly. Except now, with some suggestions from my friends, that’s exactly what I’m doing.
In fact, I’ve recently finished The Life of Pi. Boy was that a rough start. Slow, uninteresting dialog and only a few religious observations that made me chuckle. The middle of the book got more interesting. It was survival against a superior killing machine, granted not a Kzin, but a tiger nonetheless. This I can relate to. Since as most of you know I often battle Izzy in a fight to the play death. The last third of the novel was exciting, I had trouble putting it down, and with an ending that left me wondering.
In case you’ve stayed up late at night, staring into the blackness, fantasizing about what my book reports were like as a child. Well now you’ve seen one.
This month I think I’ve spent almost $200 on books. A few computer programming, a couple older Frank Herbert sci-fi genre I’ve been looking out for, and a few of these “others”.
Now I have this huge stack of books on my desk and frankly it’s a bit overwhelming. All of them call to be thumbed through and started. I think I should put them away on the bookshelf except for the one I’m actually going to read now. Yes. Yes, that would make things easier.
For my fellow book worms, regardless of genre preference, may I suggest setting up a free account on Shelfari. It’s really a great site from some local Seattlites. Perhaps my favorite feature is the ability to export your library in full to a spreadsheet. Unlike most sites, whether they are social media or not, the information you provide for your accounts/profiles isn’t generally exportable to take with you. In this case, you own your own information and I think that’s worth supporting.
Baiduspider grab the bandwidth plug? April 22, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : Puter Stuff, gnash-teeth, OSX, Castle , add a commentThis spider from Baidu (translated by google - hence the blog title) crawls my site religiously and feverishly from a dozen different IP’s. I really doubt anyone in China cares about what I have to say. They should, especially with the Olympics coming up, but I know they don’t.
So with that I’m blocking you Baidu. I’m not editing my robots.txt, no not for you. All your various IPs will reach nothingness as my firewall goes ninja on you - mexi style.
字
(Chinese for “word”).
i don’t even know french April 21, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : gnash-teeth, Castle , add a commentI was driving this afternoon when I suddenly realized I’d been listening to a French Canadian radio station for about 10 minutes.
I’m a lot more tired than I thought. I also feel dirty.
redneck laptop hacks April 21, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : Puter Stuff, Squirrels, Picture of the Day, Friends , add a commentI was talking to a friend of mine last night and he was telling me how the backlight for his laptop went dead. This is the light inside of the laptop screen (monitor) that illuminates it and lets you actually use / see the items on the screen.
He’s a technician and not afraid to take anything apart. He’s also evidently quite crafty as you can see from this picture he sent me.
Click on the image for a larger view.
He’s removed the cover from the laptop, and then placed an industrial shop light behind the screen, with a flap of tinfoil over to act as shield and prevent the user from having their retinas burnt out. I’ve detailed some of the finer points of the picture so be sure to check it out.
iPhone running AFP April 20, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : Puter Stuff, OSX, Picture of the Day, Castle, iPhone , add a commentA screenshot of my Macbook Pro connected via AFP (Apple Filing Protocol) to my iPhone with a ClamXav scanning the files for giggles.
See this post at Modmyifone for more information on doing this.
adult spider bot poking my web April 20, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : Puter Stuff, Squirrels, TimeWaster, Castle , add a commentI tend to keep a tail open to my web logs, much in the same way I usually keep the TV on as background noise. My highly tuned Über brain keeps a look out for odd traffic for me to go easter egg hunting with.
Just a minute ago I saw three unusual direct hits, no referral, no other requests.
64.27.21.2 “GET /2006/10/15/crossover-revisited-osx/ HTTP/1.1″ 200 23337 “-” “Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)”
64.27.21.2 “GET /2006/12/18/cowboy-al HTTP/1.1″ 200 24358 “-” “Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)”
64.27.21.2 “GET /?attachment_id=79 HTTP/1.1″ 200 21207 “-” “Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)”
A whois gives us this.
Hollywood Interactive, Inc. HOLLYWOOD-INTERACTIVE (NET-64-27-0-0-1)
64.27.0.0 - 64.27.31.255
AirlineReservations.Com, Inc. HWLD-AIRRES-005 (NET-64-27-21-0-1)
64.27.21.0 - 64.27.21.255
Yeah. Right. AirlineReservations is a great domain name, but it’s just a series of Google Ads pages with nothing of its own. More of a ruse than anything.
Accessing 64.27.21.2 on port 80 gives us a page titled “Adult Search”, without any search functionality, just a list of adult sites with thumbnails.
What’s funny is look at the pages they wanted from me. I’m guessing these are quality adult keywords?
- crossover-revisited-osx
- cowboy-al (this could also be a regex looking for cowboy-gal?)
- attachment_id=79 (not sure on this one. My page is about Audio Hijack so who knows).
Nothing terribly exciting for a lazy Sunday morning.
bellingham public library audiobooks block ipod users April 20, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : Puter Stuff, gnash-teeth, Must Listen, OSX, Travel, Web Design & Dev, iPhone , 1 comment so farThis evening I finished reading a book and was investigating whether the next book I’d like to read is available from the Whatcom County Library. I notice on their horrifically designed and sluggish website a blurb about audio books, now available. It is with some joy that I follow the link to Northwest Anytime and read more. Then the let down comes crashing down like a Bengal tiger to the groin.
At this time, OverDrive Media files cannot be used on iPods or Mac computers.
Our media titles, provided by OverDrive, Inc., use DRM (Digital Rights Management) protection technology from Microsoft Corporation. Unfortunately the iPod (and Mac) currently support neither DRM-protected Windows Media Audio (.wma) files nor Windows Media Video (.wmv) files.
OverDrive, along with hundreds of online media providers, is hopeful that Apple and Microsoft can reach an agreement that would enable support for Microsoft-based DRM-protected materials on the iPod/Mac.
To review a list of devices that are compatible with OverDrive Media, click here.
You may also want to check device documentation to determine if a device supports DRM-protected Windows Media content.
Reading through their FAQ…dear god. This wonderful software that you are required to use supports everything from Windows 98 on up. Oh, and in case you didn’t catch it, the company/product name for this wonderfully backward media software is called OverDrive. Is this a joke? Someone has to be playing an elaborate joke on me.
OverDrive has this tidbit on its website.
The OverDrive Team is a group of innovative, passionate masterminds who build and distribute technology solutions for the real world.
What twisted dimension did these guys crawl out of? Ok, I’m straying a little here. Back to the Library and its suckiness.
Ah here we go, apparently iPods are far too modern. Lets support the Palm!
Can I use OverDrive Audio Book titles with my Palm device? OverDrive Audio Book titles may be transferred to certain Palm devices with the help of a third party application called Pocket Tunes….
The iPod (& iTouch, iPhone, Shuffle) is decidedly the most prevalent portable music listening device on the market. Why then is the Bellingham Public Library, choosing to use a Windows Media Audio format and DRM solution that locks out the most widely used device for Mac and Windows users?
Yes, I would agree that Windows is what is running on the majority of desktops, but who really listens to audio books at their desktop? In your car and on your mp3 player are the more likely of places. Why the sites main blurb contains this statement.
Transfer audiobooks to your MP3 player or burn selected titles to a CD for listening on the go.
The press release for this service has this mention.
“This service is great for travelers, commuters, and for those who like to listen to books while they exercise,” said Joan Airoldi, Director of Whatcom County Library System. “With so many best-selling titles available, there’s sure to be something for every listener.”
Again, the majority of people are using iPod family products. The release goes onto say,
Beth Farley, Head of Information and Reader’s Services at the Bellingham Public Library, listens to audiobooks when she goes on vacation. “No more piles of CDs to keep track of on the airplane,” she enthuses, “I’ll be able to fit several entire novels on one tiny MP3 player.”
Alright, what the hell? I fly a lot and I’ve never seen anyone with a stack of CDs on a plane. And please tell me Ms Farley what sort of MP3 player do you have? Sounds to me like most bureaucratic organizations and companies, someone out of touch with the market and technology is making the decisions.
I really wish I wasn’t so agitated and it wasn’t so late. Otherwise I’d write a more coherent piece on why not only this is a very poor implementation of great idea, but also on the correct course of action the library, publishers, and most importantly authors should have taken.
Pabst Beer April 19, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : Squirrels, Picture of the Day, Friends , add a comment
Add Your Wireless Node To Expand Skyhook Wireless April 18, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : Puter Stuff, OSX, Castle, Travel, iPhone , add a comment
Update: See the cool screen shot I took from my iPhone, using Capture. The pin represents the coordinates given by LocateMe to Maps. And the blue circle is the best Skyhook could do. Good thing I wasn’t really lost. At the time of the shot I was traveling north on the Guide at about 60 mph. Locate was a few blocks off to the west, but not too bad.
For those of us with iPhones and no GPS I tend to use the iPhone Maps built-in “Find Me” feature quite a bit. Although in some areas, especially north Whatcom County, it’s positioning is rather weak, usually providing a giant 10 mile radius that I might not even be in. Here’s a map of their coverage area.
I ended up installing an app called LocateMe on my iPhone which attempts to triangulate based solely upon cell towers. I can then hit the “Map It” button to have it load the longitude and latitude in Maps. This is usually closer, but provides only a specific map point and not an area.
As most iPhone users may know, Apple partnered with Skyhook Wireless for this positioning information which uses a combination of cell tower and mapped wireless access points (AP) to return results. Well now it appears you can submit your wireless access point for acceptance into their database.
I just submitted mine and received an automated reply.
Thank you for submitting a Wireless Access Point to Skyhook Wireless. The following information has been received and will be processed shortly:
MAC Address:
…blah….
Lat/Lon:blah, -blahIt can take up to a few weeks before you see your Access Point in some of our production systems. In the mean time you can download Loki to start using Skyhook’s Wi-Fi Positioning System on your laptop or desktop. Go to http://loki.com/download to start using Loki today.
Happy Mapping!
The Skyhook Team
I downloaded the Loki extension into Flock and after asking for permission to find my location it came up with nada. Instead asking me to enter my address, which it then displayed on a Google Map. That was big help.
Loki has a few demos and an API, none of the demos worked for me, but there was an embedded chat widget to speak with support. See screenshot. They never responded. So I’m uninstalling the Loki extension.
However, adding your wireless access points to their database will still help me out so have at it.
linux community gathers for annual spring fun April 17, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : Puter Stuff, Marketing, Castle, Travel, Friends , 4commentsEvery April, a growing number of people from all walks of life gather in Bellingham, WA to share in the experience that is LinuxFest Northwest.
Attendees, sponsors, lecturers and exhibitors come from all over the Greater Northwest, including neighboring states and Vancouver, BC. For many enthusiasts of computers, software and technology, this is an event unlike any others.
Every year since it’s inception LinuxFest Northwest has been the diligent and hard work of a core group of the Bellingham Linux Users Group (BLUG) who shake the branches of our community and organize the nuts that fall out. Together with the Bellingham Technical College a strong supporter, providing the facility, and access to it’s many resources along with other neighboring and contributing computer users groups, the annual event comes together.
This is what makes LinuxFest unique. Everyone involved is a volunteer and everything is accomplished by pulling together. It’s not as glossy and shiny as MacWorld, nor expensive. The event is put on at no charge to the public. (And there’s better swag than at MacWorld.)
Anyone from any walk of life, any age, is more than welcome. You can learn about Linux and open source software, speak to industry leaders, authors, local businesses, and the guy across town who built something really cool in his garage. It’s all about sharing what you know and having a whole lot of fun.
Having attended and presented at previous fests, I’ve had a chance to meet and speak with some highly intelligent and creative people. Some of them famous in the technical arena, some not. My first time attending I was expecting boring lectures and presentations about how buying some corporate software would make me a happier person in life. Or a few dozen 30-somethings having crawled out of their basement wandering about.
Instead I met and talked to all kinds of interesting people. I remember sitting on a couch talking to a plain clothed police officer from the city of Blaine. We randomly started up a conversation about recovering files from a “perps” computer. Having some experience using several tools to recover files, but by no means an expert, I believe I pointed him in the right direction. The number of women and children attending was also surprising. This wasn’t an event just for the geeks.
It’s a free social event with a simple goal of sharing what we know about a piece of free software called Linux and the concept of open source. You may not be aware of it, but these things have and continue to reshape everything in your life. From your Tivo, to the the technology companies in your mutual fund. You may not be a “geek” or even know how to send an email let alone understand what “open source” means, and that’s okay. Come anyways, get involved in your community. A little knowledge can go along way and be fun.
- LinuxFest Northwest 2008 is a two day free event. April 26th - April 27th.
- Directions to the Bellingham Technical College.
- List of LinuxFest exhibitors.
- List of LinuxFest presentors.
- Official Website with more information including lodging.
