Tag Archive for 'Web'

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automagically

Published on October 28, 2007 in Photo, Web and Work. Closed Tags: , , , .

I was late for work this morning. My Emerson “SmartSet” alarm clock still believes that this is the weekend that we change the clocks… as does this computer, here at work, along with about half of the electronics of the members here at the YMCA that I’ve talked to. This automagical technology starts to lose its charm when it’s just plain wrong. Added a new clock to my amazon wishlist.

I want to start writing more. I used to use this as a journal, of sorts, and I kind of miss writing in a journal, but don’t want to actually carry one around with me. So there may be a whole lot more entries, here. And there may be some really short ones… which I may or may not try to designate as more of a note than an entry.

I’m also considering phasing out the existing photo gallery and going completely Flickr. I’ll have to move a few photos over, but I hesitate to move any that I don’t actually have the original, full-sized files for… or maybe I’ll put them in a special set – “Lost Originals” or something like that. Here’s my first attempt at flickr integration . There were a couple more snazzy plugins, but the server needs libcurl installed to use them, and apparently, it’s not installed.

Serenity

Published on June 15, 2007 in Computers, Family & Friends and Web. Closed Tags: , , , , .

In one week, Sarah and I are going to see Serenity in the theater. Every year there is a charity event called Can’t Stop The Serenity, and we’ve got tickets for the Chicagoland show. In preparation, we’ll probably be watching Firefly – The Complete Series. We were also waiting for the Serenity (Collector’s Edition) DVD to come out, and now we’ve got it pre-ordered at Amazon. I’ve learned to love Amazon. I used to boycott them, when they were still trying to enforce their patent on cookies (via the one-click shopping patent). Hopefully they won’t abuse the new patent they were just awarded. I’d hate to give up my Amazon fix.

Phase One of this week’s computer upgrade project is complete. I gutted the old Gateway that Frank, Sarah’s little brother, had been using and put in a new motherboard, CPU, RAM and hard drive. It took a little more work than I expected, due to the fact that gateway’s choice of case didn’t have all the right holes on the back for the motherboard ports… so some creative sawing was necessary. All that’s really left to do on that machine is add some front audio ports so frank can plug in his headset for his games.

Phase Two involves all the hardware we pulled out of the Gateway and a fish tank full of mineral oil. I’m following the specs detailed by Puget Custom Computers on this page. Fish tank and oil and random parts are all ordered and on their way. I’ll have to go to Home Depot to get the sheet of acrylic and all the necessary sealant. Wish me luck!

computers don’t have ADD

Published on March 27, 2007 in Random Thoughts. Closed Tags: , , , .

I love it when science says I’m right… or in the right… or at least not all that abnormal. The study that one of today’s ars technica stories talks about seems to mesh well with the way I operate and have always operated. Both consciously and subconsciously, I always try to finish what I’m doing before letting anything distract me, crimethinc addbecause I know that letting those distractions in will make whatever I’m working on fail, or at least become half-assed, in comparison to what it could have been. I’m extremist, obviously, in that I purposefully avoid such distractions and/or put off things that might be important when I’ve prioritized something that may be less important [in someone else's eyes]. While reading the article, I couldn’t help but think about the tests I took at UMASS, and my ADHD diagnosis (based on the fact that I prioritized the classes I liked to the point of ignoring the ones I didn’t, because they were distractions). I also thought of the brilliant Crimethinc poster about ADD.

paperwork

Published on February 5, 2007 in Random Thoughts, Web and Work. Closed Tags: , , , , .

This is the week that employment starts to shape up. Tomorrow, I go to one of the Ys that’s not too far to fil out some paperwork and get the scoop on whether some of the departments beyond the front desk could fit me in for some additional hours. Friday, I think we’ll start some of the paperwork for the adventure education job, and then head over to a training, allegedly with Karl Rohnke, games and ropes course guru, founder of Project Adventure. Exciting!

Wednesday, the HD DVR gets installed downstairs. That one day of HD service in Woonsocket was really good. It left an impression on me and now I really want to see a nice HD signal on that super TV again. I’ll have to get into the listings and see if any of my favorite shows are on in HD. I seem to remember Universal HD having some Sci-Fi program, like Battlestar Galactica, in HD, or something. And I know I found plenty to keep me interested on my one day with it.

The wii continues to be fun. There is that trap that comes with all video game consoles, of course… that you need to buy or rent new games to renew your interest and get your money’s worth. The new game this week has been Elebits. I was skeptical, at first, since it looked far too cute to be fun, but it turns out to be one of the greatest new games that I’ve played on the wii. It really makes good use of the Wii-mote and doesn’t ramp up and get to difficult for at least 6 or 7 levels, depending on how awake I am. I even re-played a bunch of levels on the second Wii, downstairs, and it was still fun… so good re-play value.

The webserver got a processor upgrade. I noticed that this site and Wormtown.org were moving a little faster (most noticable on Wormtown.org), so I asked. I figured since that would make backups and such a little faster, I’d upgrade the code for the site. It was a little tedious, but it wasn’t terrible. More new features and code tweaks than I expected between versions 2.0.3 and 2.1, but no really big complaints.

employment

Published on February 1, 2007 in Web and Work. Closed Tags: , , , .

I have officially been offered a position doing adventure education with high school freshmen in Chicago. It seems like a good position at a good company with some steady hours until May … and there’s a position opening at their ropes course, too. I’m excited. It’ll be good to be working again and I’m glad I found some work in my favorite field. The position might require some new clothes, since most of it is in the schools. Now that I’ll have some income, I’d like to reward myself by getting HD service for the HDTV. We think there might be some sort of sale starting tomorrow, so we’ll make the call then, I think.

February is upon us; I dunno what I want for my birthday. The Dell laptop is getting less and less reliable/usable, and I think I’d like to replace it in the Spring with a MacBook Pro (when OS X 10.5 comes out)… so, Apple Gift Cards would be more than welcome, and there’s always the old Amazon wish lists (books, DVDs and games & tech/toys/expensive stuff). I’ve also been thinking about getting a real razor, but I’m sort of afraid of using a real blade and have no experience with anything beyond beard and mustache trimmers (Remington MB-300 Precision Titanium Mustache & Beard Trimmer). I like the idea of the self-cleaning ones, I guess. Anyway, that’s just sort of an afterthought, the apple gift cards and wish lists are always safe bets. If I think of anything else, I’ll try to add it to the Amazon list(s).

Speaking of Amazon, and Buy.com and Google… you may have noticed (unless you have Adblock, which you should) that there are some ads over in the sidebar [of the pages that have one]. While I do have a job, now, there’s no income yet; officially start work in a couple weeks. So, this is my silly attempt to make some money back from all the various webhosting costs over the years. Most of them are referral based, so if you’d like to help a friend out and you’re going to make a purchase through Amazon or Buy.com, anyway, I’d love it if you used my links to get to the site. The google links are pay-per-click, but I’m not allowed to ask people to click them… so, uhh, pretend I didn’t say anything about them.

Cleaning, packing, cleaning, packing, etc…

Published on December 11, 2006 in Web. Closed Tags: , , .

Last chance for cheap tees at threadless. I think the sale ends at midnight tomorrow… or thereabouts. They’ve released some pretty awesome prints over the last 30 days and a slew of great reprints, too. There’s a nice selection of hoodies and a few long sleeve shirts, too. Go check it out and buy some last minute gifts for yourself… or other people, I guess.

I’ve got my car almost packed for the drive west. I’m taking care of some trash from the apartment, and then I’ll come by to get a few things tomorrow morning, before work. Luckily, it’s not too cold, so it shouldn’t be too bad taking the walk to the dumpster.

Okie. Break’s over… back to work.

warm weather, mmm

Published on November 7, 2006 in Computers, Family & Friends, Music and Web. Closed Tags: , , , , .

Doing lots of cleaning and packing this week. Gonna pack up the mac and zombie (which now has a legal copy of Windows on it, due to a find while cleaning a closet) as well as a couple basses, and at least the top half of my bass amp. Those things plus most of my clothes and maybe all my movies/books/etc. will come in the car with me, out to Chicago, and stay out there. I’ll come back after Thanksgiving and clean out everything else that’s here. Looks like that means everything, too, cause nothing seems to be happening on the sublet front. I got an extra day to clean due to a day of work being rained out. It’s decreased the pressure of the whole cleaning/packing situation, and made it seem a lot easier to accomplish. It’s been pretty easy so far, but there’s definitely a lot to be done.

Hey look! My girlfriend’s a model (perks of working for Threadless, I guess):

Sarah models threadless shirt

I’m very excited about being with Sarah, and the job hunting, and the trip to Florida for Thanksgiving… should I try to contact my brother and see him while we’re there? Or my uncle? or both? I’m not sure.. brother Ernie is not really good at keeping in touch. It could prove to be more trouble than it’s worth. I’ll give it an honest attempt.

$10 sale at Threadless

Published on October 24, 2006 in Web. Closed Tags: .

early holiday shopping time?

check these out:

basement of the alamowar against workraygun eyesfast supper

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: stuff sells out fast there, especially during sales. Go buy!

photo updates

Published on October 19, 2006 in Family & Friends, Photo and Web. Closed Tags: , , , , .

in case you don’t browse my photo gallery every day, I’ve caught up on a lot of photo uploading lately:

I made a gallery from some pictures I took during Sarah’s visit. We really did a lot during her visit, but I only took pictures on a couple occasions… It’s mostly from the aquarium visit with my nephews and cousin Mark, and a few shots from our candlepin bowling adventure with Mom. I forget what distracted me and made me take so long to get them up. We also went to see some music at The Space in Hamden and I took some pictures of The Accident and Jerry. I put a couple of those in the Rock gallery.

Also added a gallery with some assorted foliage shots, since the leaves didn’t cooperate and turn early, while Sarah was here. The leaves have been turning quite slowly, actually, way too gradual to turn a whole hillside into a vibrant new england fall scene worthy of a jigsaw puzzle. I don’t think there’s anything spectacular in the gallery, but I’ve never been a huge fan of landscape-type work, not even my own. It has made me appreciate and enjoy the foliage here, though, especially since I don’t know how much of it I’ll see next year.

I’ve added a few shots to the Objects gallery over the past couple months. A couple of these are being used in the calendars I’ve got up at Cafepress. Still looking for more suggestions on photos that would make good magnets.

and this morning, I took a picture right outside my front door. There’s been a lot of construction on the street out front over the past four or five years. I thought I knew my road fairly well. They’ve cut a variety of holes in it… left it as a half dirt/half paved road for at least three months last year… and each of construction projects have left the road bumpier and more messed up than the last. I was sorta excited to see them scarifying the crappy pavement for a nice fresh layer. Then I was a little shocked when I saw the portion of exposed cobblestone right in front of my door. I shouldn’t have been surprised, I guess, all the roads out in these old broken down mill towns are probably old enough to be cobblestone down deep… makes me wonder how old my building is, and what kind of history it might have.

I heard it snowed in Chicago, already

Published on October 13, 2006 in Family & Friends, Photo, Random Thoughts and Web. Closed Tags: , , , , , .

I found out, from my high school’s myspace group, of all places, that the [principal and then] superintendent from my days there has died. He was a pretty awesome guy, and I’m kinda sad. He was the guy, right when he got that acting superintendent position, that me and my friends went to after we got guns pulled on us on school property. He took care of us and made sure that whole situation worked out for us and we felt safe and got an acceptable resolution. My favorite memory, though, was one morning, during my senior year, when a couple of friends and I skipped our morning classes and went to a breakfast buffet with him… and he paid! I also remember helping Stew, our band director, stage a silly slideshow and ceremony, including embarrassing presentation of cake and t-shirt, complete with smoke machine and lights… all for his 50th birthday, and we brought a whole lunch period into the auditorium as an audience.

Speaking of social networking sites, I’ve signed up for a Facebook account. The threadless group is what originally drew me there, but I’m actually fairly impressed with the features that set it apart from the other popular ones. Any of you on there? Add me as a friend, I only have one, right now.

I’m going through another Vonnegut reading fit. It’s all re-reading, but it’s been many years since I’ve read most of them. The plan was to read a few Vonnegut books, to get me back into reading, since I know I like them… and then read some new stuff. I haven’t made the switch.. I’ve got some ideas and suggestions, but I haven’t gone out to pick up anything new, yet. I’ve devoured four Vonnegut books, now. A couple more couldn’t hurt, before I start something else, right?

Sara (the roommate) has found a new place to move into with her boyfriend… so I am going to be roommateless very very soon. Sarah (the girlfriend) would love it if I moved out to Chicago with her; I would love it, too. So I’ve started the tedious task of figuring out how much of the ridiculous amount of stuff that I’ve accumulated while living in Woonsocket is going to come with me. Sarah’s parents’ place doesn’t really have enough extra room for all of it, and I certainly don’t need all of it… until we get a place of our own. So, I’m starting to make lists: Things I can move out there soon, stuff that has to wait until the last trip, things Sara (the roommate) will take with her to her new place and “borrow” until I need them, stuff that should be stored at Mom’s or somewhere out by Chicago, etc., etc., etc. I’m also asking around amongst my friends to see if anyone wants a super cheap apartment in Woonsocket… including a bunch of furniture. Any takers?

woot