Sorry, the future isn’t here.  Please try back in another decade.

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Last night’s sleep was brought to you by the letters: woke up fifty times.

While an exaggeration to some extent, I did manage to wake up after every single dream throughout the night.  Typically, I would realize it was a dream and hit the eject button.  One dream I had the characters arguing with me that it wasn’t a dream!

“Here’s this large complicated washer/dryer combo with two consoles.  It’s really neat!”

“Wow.  That’s something.”

“It even gives you an inventory of all materials used and a receipt for the washing.”

“Why would I want that?”

“Because…”

“I could understand if this were some sort of commercial washer/dryer combo, but this is for home use.”

“Uhh..  Well look at this over here.  Home stereo stuff!”

“Why is it on the same aisle with laundry crap?”

“Uhh..”

“And seriously, why does the washer have two PCs in it?”

“Because it has two consoles!”

“The one on the left cuts into the area where the washing machine’s tub lies, which should reduce it’s height by 60%, but if you look inside it, it’s full capacity.

“That’s just how great it is!”

“Laws of physics are being ignored.  This is a dumb dream. I’m out.”

“But…”

*wake up*

The dream where the characters argue was even weirder, and involved a few real individuals, so I’ll keep that one to myself.  The curious part is why I was looking for a new washing machine in a dream.  Does my subconcious mind know something I don’t?

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For my own reference…

Outlook and Outlook Express are complete junk.  They require the LOGIN SASL mechanism for smtp authentication which is unsupported and non-standard according to Cyrus SASL.  So, all you have to do is build sasl with –enable-login and all will probably be fine.

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So Marshall has been cleaning up the Pearl office, and brought over an IBM clicky keyboard.  I laid claim to it immediately.  Threw the Type 7 in the store room.  I now make loud clicking noises when I type.  It’s great!

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The Texas Instruments TI-nspire calculator has a large screen and interchangeable keypads that also change the personality of the device.  Unforunately this means the calculator itself has to be large.  It’s literally the same shape as a Sunset T1 test set, although only a fraction as thick.  So it’s large and probably won’t fit in you pockets.  They actually make a nice padded carrying case that probably has a belt loop, if you’re feeling especially nerdy.  Anyways, if tiny is what you want, look elsewhere, and I even have recommendations for that.

So you have this nice and neat calculator with high-resolution display, natural “text book”-style entry, and all of that, but you need TI-84 compatability for some reason.  Maybe it’s nostalgia.  Maybe you need a -84 app.  Maybe you prefer the layout of the 84’s keypad.  Maybe your teacher wants you to use a TI-83, 84, or 89 and nothing else.  It doesn’t really matter.  The fact is, you can swap out the keypads and switch over to TI-84 mode.  The emulation is COMPLETE.  You don’t get nice beautiful text, you get huge ugly pixels.  As I highly doubt anyone would prefer this mode after using the nspire native mode, they provide a carrying pouch that will fit nicely in a three ring binder or perhaps a Trapper Keeper sporting kittens and palm trees and ALF.  Also, it should be noted that it uses the classic TI-84 keypad and not the newer curvier crap.  In other words, they made it right.

Next up is the nspire keypad.  With this, you get the nspire OS and its high resolution display, multiple shades of gray.  The keypad has your usual keys, and in between them tiny buttons for all the letters of the alphabet and a few other symbols.  If there’s one thing they missed, it’s a one-touch way to take the multiplicative inverse/reciprocal of a number.  Rather, you’re expected to do it the “hard” way.  Either do 1/x or x^-1.  Oh the horror.

The screen is beautiful and is the highest resolution they offer in any of the TI calculators.  When graphing, you get to see fine details that just aren’t possible with less resolution.  The calculator mode is nice.  It uses natural “text book” style entry, which makes it easy to enter those formulas for RLC circuits or just finding the ERP of a given transmitter setup.  The 99 previous calculations are available simply by scrolling up.  If you can figure out how to program the thing or can manage to keep notes using the non-QWERTY keypad,  you have 16MB of storage at your disposal.

One neat feature is the ability to hook up the nspire to a PC or Mac.  There’s only one problem.  The Windows driver doesn’t support 64-bit vista.  As such, any computer of recent vintage is left out of the fray.  Either Microsoft made it too annoying to develop drivers for the OS, or various companies are lazy.  As even some high-end, high-profit hardware doesn’t support 64-bit Vista, I’m willing to be the problem is Microsoft.

By now you’re asking, “Is this calculator right for me?”  Let me ask you a few questions.  Do you like pretty displays? Do you like or need a graphing calculator?  Can you deal with a large device?  Do you like natural input style?  Do you have $135 or more budgeted for your calculator?  If so, go ahead and buy it.  If all you want is a calculator with natural entry, pocket-sized, no graphing capability and you want to spend $20, then the Casio FX-115ES and FX-300ES will probably suit your needs.

BIG FAT EDIT

Turns out, they do support 64-bit machines.  You have to dig into the install directory to get the 64-bit driver.  For whatever reason, the 32-bit driver is installed by default and will cause massive failure when you try to use the calculator with the computer.

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Passed the test to get my general class ham license.  Although Rob’s new license was granted in just a couple of days, both of us that tested for our upgrades from tech to general have yet to see the FCC ULS database updated.  I guess new licenses get priority as upgrades have temporary authority to work under the new license class for as long as the CSCE is valid.  I’m attempting the Extra test in June.  Let’s just say this test is actually difficult.  So difficult I had to buy a calculator!

Speaking of which, I bought and really like the Casio fx-115 ES.  For $17 you get something that can do weird complex things and a nice display to boot.  It’s not a graphing calculator, nor is it programmable, which is perfect for test situations.  Also, I’m not spending more than $100 on a calculator.

The next couple of weeks at work are going to be a drag.  Turn ups are everywhere.  I even have two projects that will use the same hardware in a short period.  Several late night tasks, weekends will be worked, and all that.

The drawing thing is just… going.  I’ve made progress on a few techniques while drawing a character, but still haven’t gotten to the point where I can consistently draw characters, much less draw them in any given pose.  At least I try to match the rest of the head to the lopsided head shapes. Also, I’m actually drawing the heads with knecks, as it matters with hair.  Sometimes I even draw (disproportionate) shoulders when needed.  I haven’t scanned anything in the past few days as I’ve sort of slacked off.  Tonight I sketched a few heads, but nothing worth showing to the world.  I’ve almost regressed in some ways.

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Security is an illusion, so buy the lock with the neatest key.

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1 601-845-2632

Large file collection!  Doors will slowly trickle in.

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I’ve revived RetroGrade BBS.  Turns out with the DSL package, phone lines are 50% less than they’d normally be.  It won’t be such a financial burden.  Another big change: no telnet access.  Also, certain doors will not be put on the bbs.  The two doors32 doors will not be moved over, as they require windows.  On the up side, the doors that tended to bring the bbs to a crawl won’t be an issue as we’ll be running on a non-multitasking operating system.

I want to add a local node for myself and a couple of non-public telnet nodes for people that are known to me personally or at least have known them on irc for a decade or so.  The local node is a priority, secret telnet nodes, not so much.  For all this to work I’ll need to get microsoft networking for dos functioning. Not a fun task.

So, for those that are interested, the BBS will be available at 601-845-2632 once the phone company moves.  Estimated turnip date is between monday and the 14th.

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I can’t even pick the No. 3 tonight.  I just can’t find the right grip.  The pick just falls over in my fingers and wobbles in the cylinder instead of pushing on pins.

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So the crazy buying spree that ended last week left me with a set of lock picks.  Over the past week I’ve picked up a few locks, mainly padlocks, and got to picking Friday night.  First off was a Kwikset deadbolt.  It fell to raking with a half diamond pick.  It took a minute or so.  A Masterlock No. 3 and a cheap Chinese knock-off fell quickly to jiggling a long jag pick and raking with a half diamond.  Both fall as soon as the pick is fully inserted.  A Brinks-branded brass body lock was a little more difficult.  I actually had to do single pin picking, but it fell within a couple of minutes.  Bored with these I got to picking on this infinitely rekeyable practice lock I purchased.  I was able to pick it up to five pins without much difficulty.

Saturday, I picked up another brass-bodied Made-in-China generic brand padlock.  It too failed to yield to jiggling with the jag, but it was about as easy to pick as  the Brinks.  I soon grew bored and hit up the lockpicking101.com forums for ideas.  The suggestion?  Load up the practice lock with spool pins, a type of “security” pin designed to make picking a little more difficult.

I repinned for six pins, five with spools, and got to picking.  A few hours later, and I’m entrenched in the battle.  Minute movements bind half the pins, backwards movement caused by one of the spools makes everything else reset.  I eventually grew frustrated and removed one of the pins, but another two hours later I still couldn’t get it.  With the cylinder at body temperature, I decided to give it a rest and do something else.

First off, to reinflate my ego I used the jag a few times on my No. 3 and the cheap knock-off.  Then I decided to do some single-pin picking on the thing.  It’s only four pins, but it’s more about honing technique instead of a major feat.  Consider it the same as weightlifting with low weight and high reps.  I spent an hour and a half picking and repicking the thing and I must say I learned quite a bit.  Things like knowing which pin I’m on, what I’m pushing on, the feeling of pins setting, and so on.  All really basic stuff when it comes to picking, but all very important.  Then, there’s that wonderful *click* when the lock opens.

I really like this new hobby.  It’s a weird mix of puzzle-solving, manual dexterity, and collecting.  That’s right, you’ll become obsessed with collecting locks.

Mirrored from JohnHavard.com.

So Apple is trying to make jailbreaking the iPhone a violation of the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA.  This ridiculous argument has no merit.  Jailbreaking the iPhone does not allow one to download pay apps from Apple’s blessed App Store for free.  It allows the iPhone owner to install non-blessed apps on the phone.  As such it is not copyright control circumvention, but a way of making the iPhone open to any developer without paying a “tax” to Apple.  It is a threat to Apple’s business model, not a violation of the law.  I would have expected such moves out of Microsoft, but it turns out they’ve realized a truly open development platform means more developers for their devices and even allow developers access to the source code to Windows Mobile with nothing more than an electronic agreement.

With that out of the way one would wonder if I have or will jailbreak my iPhone.  The answer is most assuredly NO.  I like the fact that the AppStore model requires developers to meet a minimum level of competency to have their app listed.  The Apple “tax” on developers is a meager $100, which is cheap considering you get a compiler, test environment, debugger,  tons of documentation, the ability to have your app distributed in the app store, and they don’t let your app into the app store if it’s complete crap.  Oh, did I mention you don’t even have to pay the apple tax  to get the development tools and you can toy around with development and install your apps on your own phone?

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Can’t say I didn’t try.

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For the past couple of weeks I’ve been on a rather annoying hyperness kick.  I’m hyper, doing some rather silly things, and often find myself not wanting to be in that hyper mood but not being able to do a thing about it.  My caffeine intake isn’t all that high, although I have had a need for ooey-gooey chocolate cake.

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I received response to both of my inquiries regarding the DFStudio service. First off, disk space.

The standard DF Studio account includes 100Gb of space for the jpgs
used in DFStudio.

If you also want to store full sized (jpg, tif, raw) files in our
archive system we charge an additional $0.05 per Gb/month for offline
storage and $0.50 per Gb/month for online storage. As many
professional photographer’s images are significant in size we have
developed the HardFilm network to help you get the images into our
archive system. Essentially, you can use our DF Studio LINK tool to
upload JPGs so you can see/organize/share your photos immediately and
then make an archive onto a HardFilm and ship it to us for storage
with the system (either online or offline).

If you have any other questions please let me know.

Sincerely,

John Supra

Next up concerns the Aperture plugin:

John,

First, our apologies for any confusion or inconvenience.  I took a
look at the account you created and you are using our new Version 5 of
DF Studio. Unfortunately we have not updated our Aperture plug-in to
work with our Version 5 solution yet and I know that our Web site/
information is not clear about that. We have put our effort into our
DF Studio LINK tool which is a stand alone upload tool and not yet had
a chance to bring our Aperture plug-in up to the new version of DF
Studio.  That is why you received an error about the job data not
being able to be loaded.

I encourage you to try our DF Studio LINK tool — available at http://www.digitalfusion.net/studio/dfstudiolink.php

Again, my apologies for the problem with using the Aperture plug-in
and if you have any further questions please let me know.

Sincerely,

John Supra 

So, I think I’ve received satisfactory answers within a reasonable period of time, inquiries sent late in the business day answered early the next business day.  For a $10/mo premium over LightBox, you get 100 times the space and a way to store your raw files at reasonable rates.  My critique of the web-based uploaders still stands.  That being said, DF Studio seems like it’s on target.

Mirrored from JohnHavard.com.

DF Studio is a service similar to the previously reviewed LightBox.  Where LightBox left off, DF Studio does exactly what I want it to do.  Projects are pretty much organized on a single level.  It’s possible to create public galleries.  It’s possible to create private galleries where a client can review and respond within the framework of DF Studio.  The web interface suffers from a few quirks.  First off, it often needs a bit more horizontal or vertical space than is needed.  Unfortunately it’s copious use of javascript, probably in an IE-specific manner, makes scrolling IMPOSSIBLE in both Safari and Firefox.  Fortunately it has a “full screen” mode that kills the horizontal areas that cause so much grief.

The standalone uploader for MacOS works fine.  The “advanced” web uploader suffers from the above-mentioned scrolling problems.  The simple web uploader suffers from a lack of progress notification.  The exporter for Aperture does not work.  It seems to want more data that I can’t give.

It is pricier than LightBox, but based on a little digging, it gives more disk space in the base package.  Sadly, one has to do quite a bit of digging to find this information.  In fact, I found it by accident.

To recap, so far so good.  It costs $10 more each month.  It has a plugin for Aperture that doesn’t work that also has a typo in its error message.  Other than that, it’s fine.

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While browsing the Apple downloads site, I stumbled across an exporter for my beloved Aperture that allows one to export photos to the LightBox service.  For $19.95 per month you get a gig of disk space, and access to the LightBox service.  First off, LightBox is great if you’re a photographer that needs a tool to let others view sets of your photos, rate them, and let you do whatever you need to do with those photos, or even allow them to download those photos.

It was immediately clear when I first logged into LightBox, the workflow was somewhat rigid.  You get Jobs, followed by Shoots, followed by Setups.  If a single tagging is all that you need, tough luck.  You do it the LightBox way, or nothing.  Then there are the lightboxes, which are galleries you pull from your setups that you can allow others to view.  You create accounts that can do various things with your lightboxes, such as comment, rate, or even download high-res originals.  I would say this is almost ideal for your typical wedding photographer, as it certainly was a great match for the few weddings I’ve shot.  Other scenarios, not so much.  Half the time, I need a two-level hierarchy of Event and Event at that Event.

One thing that would be nice is the ability to make a lightbox publicly accessible without a username and password.  While one can tag a lightbox as “public”, it remains to be seen if there is a way to make it a public gallery.  This is the gateway into LightBox’s two major problems.

First off, the online documentation is lacking.  One could easily get the impression that LightBox is an unfinished project based on the documentation.  The next issue is even more important.  Their support department does not respond to inquiries.  Not a good thing for something targeting itself to professionals.  Even Flickr can get back to someone in a day or two, and that’s a service for snapshotters.

Ultimately, I would say avoid LightBox until they have better documentation and their support department actually answers requests.

EDIT: I just cancelled my account.  They apparently care so little about cancellations they don’t even ask, “Why are you cancelling?”  If I were running a for-profit service, I’d certainly give my customers that question as they leave.

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Looking into desktop backup solutions, I stumbled across Mozy, and was certainly intrigued.  The price was on spot, $4.95/mo, unlimited diskspace, so I gave it a shot.  Even better, it has support for MacOS X.  I paid my dues, and downloaded the client and quickly had my backup profile ready to rock.  I clicked, “Backup Now” and was soon disappointed that I was getting a meager 1 Mbit/s upload speed, and that the backup client’s scan through all the files to be backed up was agonizingly slow.  When it eventually settled on 4 days 11 hours as the time to backup my files, I decided to give it a try with a smaller subset.  Once again, a 1 Mbit/s cap, and agonizingly slow indexing of files.  This clearly isn’t what I was looking for.  That being said, it’s an excellent deal if you can stand the wait.

Note: the MacOS X client is still in “beta” so the Windows client may work better.

Mirrored from JohnHavard.com.