Ubuntu, NVidia and my Shuttle

I don't mind saying that adding the latest NVIDIA drivers to Ubuntu (linux in general) is a pain.

I picked up an 8400GS for my Shuttle, to free up some RAM being grabbed by the on board GPU. The board went in fine, and I was prompted to install non-free drivers (older ones) which went swimmingly well. My box was up and running even better than before. (I say better because while the Intel GPU did well, it often displayed weird artifacts a moment before refreshing a block of screen. Driver, probably, but annoying.)

I was not, of course, completely satisfied.

Desktop flavors of linux, Ubuntu in this case, are built with smaller, older machines in mind. Because of this, while the kernel supposedly sees 4.0 gigabytes of RAM, in reality you end up with only around 3.2 gigabytes to use. My machine has 4 gigs of RAM in it and I want to use it all. So, I rebuilt my generic kernel, turning on CONFIG_HIGHMEM64G and CONFIG_X86_PAE to make use of my memory. It took a couple of tries, mostly because I was silly and named my new kernel the same as my old kernel, the first time. But an hour or so later I was ready for the next step: Installing the latest NVIDIA driver (1.80-18). This new driver is supposed to be head over heals better than the current driver (1.77-xx). I downloaded the driver installer[s], killed X Windows and installed the driver. Rebooted... KABOOM!

Not only could I not load the new driver, but the old NVIDIA driver was somehow toasted as well. Can you say REINSTALL? I reinstalled, rebuilt the kernel and am, at the moment, running with the older NVIDIA driver. I will have to do some more research before I try and install the newer driver. Too scary. Supposedly the next version of Ubuntu will be going with the 1.80 series from NVIDIA. I suppose I can wait until then.

Anyway, all's well that ends well.

Diarrhea and Ubuntu

I awoke to "Mike you have to get up and clean up this mess!" 2:30 AM is not my favorite time to clean multiple sites of dog poop.

So now I cannot sleep and am playing on my new PC. That's right, a PC. I still have my mac (how could I not) but my primary machine is a Shuttle "Glamor" model that I bought as a bare bones kit, added a core 2 quad, 4 gb of ram, a couple of 250 gb disks, a DVD burner and a BenQ 24" widescreen monitor. A nice little machine.

I am running Ubuntu 8.10 on it, had a dickens of a time getting PPTP to work, but in the end it turned out to be quite simple (just had to dredge through muck to get there). I am still getting configured to run all the stuff I need for work, but that should be completed soon (by the end of this week I hope, anyway).

Back to surfing until I grow weary again.

Week at work

Not much to blog on. I am in Massachusetts this week for work. A couple thousand miles from Phoenix and the nice and toasty sunshine.

It is actually not bad up here for this time of year. Today it is supposed to hit 50 degrees F., not bad at all.

Today I have a 5 and one half hour long meeting. I hope we can take a break or two.

More later, when I return home!

ARRR ME MATEYS! Piracy and the cycle of life.

What is up with all the piracy. I mean the real, old-fashioned kind of pirates in ships?

AP Top Headline: "DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Somali pirates hijacked a supertanker hundreds of miles off the Horn of Africa, seizing the Saudi-owned ship loaded with crude and its 25-member crew, the U.S. Navy said Monday...."

It couldn't have happened to a better entity. (Not fond of Saudi Arabia, and it irks me that our country has any relationship with them at all, let alone a good one.) Still, piracy! Insanity.

Is this a sign of the times? Are moving backwards instead of forwards? Civilization is failing, not progressing. I am not surprised, really. I mean, if you look back in history, all the way back to the ancient "Sumerians" you can see the rise and fall of civilization or empires time and time again. It's obvious we are heading that way again.

The good news is we seem to advance a little bit more whenever a fall occurs. So after centuries of misery, it will get better again for a few more centuries.

I think everyone should read Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible). It covers the rise and fall, cycles, etc. in depth. Everything man does comes and goes and comes again. Nothing under the sun is new, and all things repeat. Only that which God creates is eternal and lasting and eternally pleasing. Solomon was a deep thinker. He pondered and pondered and pondered the meaning of life, it was a torture to him. He saw the cycles, he saw the toil, he saw the toil of past empires and how there was nothing left of them now. He saw these things and it troubled him to some extent, including his own riches and the things he built (including the Temple).

In the end, he realized that a man must be content in living his life, in the day to day details of his life; it is in the details we will find God. God lives in acts of kindness, in love, in doing "the right things at the right time." And wherever God is in, you know it is something that extends beyond this world, this life.

No new Sheriff in town...

I am not a fan of Sheriff Joe.

I don't hate him or anything like that, he is just another bureaucrat in a sea of bureaucracy that is the government of Maricopa County. He does some good things, but he also does some very intolerable things. What made me think of this today is that I have an online friend in Pakistan who is experiencing very hard times. While we really are blessed in this country (USA), we have our own problems on many different levels. Politicians are politicians wherever you go, corruption included.

Back to Sheriff Joe. As I said he does do some good work, and he has a "presence" that intimidates. He has implemented things like the infamous "tent city" (google it for enlightenment - or google Sheriff Joe Arpaio) and SEEMS to be tough on illegal immigration (altho' there is some question as to how effective he has been, and whether or not his tactics are appropriate). But he also does some very very questionable things to show everyone "who da man!"

Examples of what irritates me most is his habit of revenge against anyone who questions him or his office. Seriously. Here in the USA, in Phoenix of all places... you question Sheriff Joe, expect retribution. He has struck back at investigations aimed at his office by the District Attorney investigating fund mismanagement and by reporters for doing stories with a negative view of his work. His revenge includes freezing assets, seizing computers and files, locking offices, etc. Crazy, isn't it? Since he does not target the general population, he continues to be re-elected.

I did not vote for him (his campaign ran ads of his opponents calling them very bad things, I cannot understand why they were allowed to be run) and will not vote for him in the future, unless he changes some of his strong-arm tactics.

Appreciation

My wife has been basically MIA (missing in action) every night for the past week and a half. She is involved in a musical (Oliver) and also belongs to a choral group. The play opens this weekend, so as you can imagine she has been extra busy with rehearsals and such.

This is not a bad thing because I like it when she gets out and does stuff like this. It makes her happy, and we get to see her act.

The bad part is she falls behind on things she would normally do around the house. I did not realize how much clothing we go through in a week. I managed to get the laundry done for her, and cleaned the bathrooms. I also managed to not lose our children and to get them to bed at a decent hour each night.

But I forget that she does these things, along with feed all the pets, vacuum, mop, sweep, pick up after the little ones, shop for food... the list goes on and on. I fear we do not show nearly enough appreciation for all the things she does.

In other news, the transition period for the presidency has begun. I think it is a relief to all involved, including the current president. I think he can't wait to be out of the White House and back to his ranch in Texas, full-time.

I will be heading up to Boston for work for the first week in December. Yay. (I am very happy to HAVE work, just don't like traveling much. Also, it will be COLD in Boston in December. Brrrr!) I will miss the kids and my wife.

On Monday we are traveling up to Flagstaff to see the Mars 3D exhibit. Should be interesting. We'll take the dogs and stay overnight in a motel near downtown, that way we can walk around and visit all the touristy shops.

That's it for now!

Disappointment in the rest of the world...

During the election I jumped from channel to channel, mostly CNN and BBC.

I was very disappointed that every other sentence out of the mouths of everyone reporting on BBC was how "America elected an African American into the White House." On CNN, CBS, etc. that was maybe mentioned twice the entire night. Why is it that the rest of the world is apparently obsessed with the color of our President elect's skin?

Look, America is a MELTING POT. We have always been proud of this fact even though it was a long and painful struggle to enable the same rights for everyone. I honestly don't care, and I don't really think the vast majority of Americans care, that Obama has dark skin. Don't get me wrong, I understand this is HUGE for African Americans, and that there are people who carry prejudice with them. But honestly, I think the reason more people voted for Obama is because he is calm, stately, and very intelligent. He is an intellectual with good organization skills and while he is rather stoic, he is also charismatic. People chose Obama because they really do believe he will have the skills necessary to help us "fix" our country.

So to the rest of the world, please don't view this as election as the end to prejudice in our country, but to the fact that we can still come up with a good candidate and have the sense to elect him or her as the POTUS.

And so it begins!

After spending hours watching the returns pour from all the states last night I can safely say that the end of the election was the best part. I am referring to the concession and victory speeches. Could they have been more different? Yet both were moving.

John McCain gave the most powerful and gracious speech I have ever heard from any presidential candidate. He is a good loser. If he had spoken like that during the presidential race I have no doubt the outcome would have been different. I can only hope that his followers and all the people of this great nation listened well to his speech and adopt his stance to work WITH the new president.

Barack Obama, our president elect, gave a different sort of speech. Mr. Obama is not an emotional man and the tone of his speech reflected the seriousness that I have come to admire throughout his campaign. What I particularly liked about his speech, and what first turned me on to him during the race, was his call to all Americans to start BEING true Americans, for individuals and churches and organizations to start reaching out and helping one another. I believe this is the ONLY way we can move on and regain our stature and hope. Barack knows this, he wants US to drive the change, not him. This insight is what drew me to him like a moth to the fire.

I have a problem...

Oh yes, I have a problem. My problem is my pokie.

I hear you ask "Your WHAT?!" A pokie is an ornamental Tarantula from the Indian subcontinent (for the most part). My particular pokie is a Poecilotheria regalis. He/She is a beauty too. Pokies are known for three things: 1. They are very very fast; 2. They are very defensive and 3. Their venom is particularly painful to people. Pokie movement is often attributed to "teleporting." Now you see it, now you don't. Their defensiveness tends to manifest itself in bites if one is not careful and relaxed. Finally, from bite reports i have read, their venom causes muscle spasms that lasts for days.

So what's my problem? My pokie has been eating very well and has molted several times since I purchased her. She has grown much more than I expected with each molt. The problem is: I need to move her into a larger cage.

When I first got her home, I moved her into her current cage with some difficulty. I wanted her to march right into her new home, she did not want to march into her new home. After several tries I managed to get her into her new cage and was able to slam the lid shut before she could zip right back out (again). Now she is several times the size, and no doubt can cover a lot of ground with her long legs, and she is manifesting more defensive behavior now that she is older. I fear that I am doomed.

I have been putting of moving her, but it really has to be done. I will figure something out. I could try refrigerating her for a little while, that would cool her off and slow her down quite a bit. But I also don't want to harm her. *sigh* Any suggestions out there?

Religious Right and Christopher Hitchens

I was just reading some Facebook comments on a note written by someone on my friends list.  He was talking about how he was leaning in the presidential election when someone responded with this:

i have a thought.. Barrack is a socialist, anti american muslim. His hatred for this country, constition are second to none. In his home stat IL a father shot an scum bag home invader just after tucking his kids into bed. he father gets arrested for shooting the low life. The state legislater tries to write new legislation to help the father and ... Read Moreprotect american familes from future breakins from degenerate crooks. barrack HUSSAIN (i'm not a muslim) yobama (his name doesn't deserve to be capitalized) voted down this legislature 4 SEPERATE TIMES! barrack would rather you lay down and have your childer slaughterd and property stolen then given the right to be an AMERICAN and defend yourself. This radical muslim should be SHOT. We have a patriotic duty to defend out constition from all enimies both foriegn and domestic. there is not greater threat to the WORLD WIDE EMULATED way of life then this racist muslim (i'm a christian yet i sat and listend to the Rev. jeremaih wrong for 20 years) loser.

This is the kind of stuff that really frightens me.  This is the kind of thing that the left rails against as the "religious right" and what I sometimes get automatically wrapped into simply because I am Christian.  This is not reasonable, it is not Christian.

On another note, I feel badly for atheists of late, not because of their lack of faith, but because they have their own clown in their corner:  Christopher Hitchens.  Has anyone seen any of his recent debates?  They are ridiculous.  He seems to show up under the influence of alcohol, and instead of debating with his opponents he simply tosses off insults and sarcastic retorts which are, I assume, meant to be funny.  That man needs to find God.

Atheists have to find someone better to represent their position.

GET OUT AND VOTE!

Vacation, Politics and my shoulder...

We recently returned from New York.

We visited Sandi's relatives in Suffern.  It was a nice visit.  We tried to plan a day in NYC, but we ended up picking the only day it rained, AND we had less time than we had expected.  So we visited the Museum of Natural History and hit a few exhibits that we thought the kids would enjoy.

Sandi and I voted early.  Arizona allows early voting so we took advantage of short lines and got it done a week ahead of Election Tuesday.  I went prepared for all the propositions, but neglected to read up on our judges and about 4/5's of the ballot consisted of keeping/not keeping existing judges.  I went status quo and said keep them all.  Some people just did not answer those questions.

A year ago this past June, I injured my left shoulder, popping it in/out of socket in the famous "squirrel maneuver of 2007."  It hurt a lot, but I did not go to the doctor because I thought "what could they really do about it?"  I still feel this way, but last Sunday on our flight home my daughter fell asleep and fell over on the man next to her.  I reached out with my left arm and hauled her up and onto me, but in doing so I "popped" my shoulder again.  Wow did that hurt and still hurts.  I finally went to the doctor, got an x-ray as a prelude to an MRI.  Should hear back from him on Monday.  He gave me pain relievers and muscle relaxers.  Helping, but my arm still cannot perform better than about 40%.  Even so, what can they do about it?  Nothing really... just let it be and hope it recovers again to about 70%, until the next time I pop it.  Oh well.

Friday was Halloween and also a field trip for my kids' (school).  I was a chaperone.  It was a zoo!  We visited a farm in Glendale and it was kind of wide open and the kids were drawn here and there.  It was difficult to keep track of them all.  It was fun tho'.

See our gallery (link up top) if you so wish.

Old age strikes again...

I walked around like an old man with bad knees all afternoon; they still ache.

I decided that it was a nice day and I should do something outside.  I noticed our car and our truck were both pretty grimy so I decided to wash and wax them both.  It was not a quick process.

I listened to the entire Cardinals/Cowboys game and the post game show before I had finished both the Avalon and the F-150.  Now every major joint in my body is calling, no SCREAMING out "what the heck where you thinking?!"

Church was good and bad today.  I messed up twice running the sound today.  First screwup was deciding to "go with the current battery" in our remote mic.   Unfortunately I asked the praise team to practice quite a bit before Church began so I could make some sound adjustments... by the time Church actually started the mic was down to its last bar for power.  I snuck up during communion to swap out the battery.

THEN...  then I noticed that sound seemed to be coming from only one side of the gymnasium... looked at the other speaker and DOH!  Forgot to PLUG IT IN!  Yeah.  I was sure to adjust the volume and turn it on, but that doesn't do much if you don't plug the thing in.  So I had to run up, hunt through a supply box for a cord, then plug it in.

I was thoroughly embarrassed and humbled today.

Ah well!  :)

1st Presidential Debate, Sept. 2008

The debate was alright.

This debate was primarily about foreign policy and both candidates were ready for that.  They were not, however, ready for the initial questions regarding the current economic crisis.

I want to see my president thinking on his feet, come on guys, show us what you got!

Regarding foreign policy, Obama clearly had the edge.  His policy makes sense, diplomacy over brute strength, but have the muscle and will to back it up when needed.  Diplomacy garners more support and helps strengthen and legitimize your position.

I think McCain came off as condescending with all his "he just doesn't understand" jabs, while Obama came off as gracious with his agreement on points his opponent made.

I think it is time for an intellectual in office.  No more knee-jerking.  I want someone who DOESN'T make snap decisions but ponders consequence.

Anyway, I REALLY wanted Ron Paul, but I think I will be going with Obama this year.

Cough Cough

The little germ spreaders brought home a cough.  Daughter got it, I got it next, followed by wife.  For some reason my son has not come down with it.

Speaking of germs, my poor baby-girl had to get FIVE SHOTS at the doctor today.  FIVE.  Well, technically they called them FOUR shots and a TB test, which was actually a shot.

Does the word "Jaboobala" mean anything to you?

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Sweet Mail

I think I forgot to mention this, but awhile ago I posted a lament about SweetMail being closed sourced and that if it were open sourced someone else could pick up and work on that fine product. 

Well, last month someone who claims to be the author responded and our conversation went like this:

---

Type: Developer
Author: SUGIURA

Hi, I'm author of this email client. sorry for no response. I'm trying to make time for developing the intel version of Sweetmail.
best, (8/4/2008, Version: 2.2r6)

---

Type: Comment
Author: Tuishimi

Are you serious? Or is this a cruel joke? I would be SO HAPPY if you really are doing this!! :D I would use it over Apple Mail and GyazMail (as well as Thunderbird) any day!

Let us (community) know if there is any way we can help. (8/5/2008, Version: 2.2r6)

---

Type: Developer
Author: SUGIURA

I'm writing codes to convert endian between PowerPC and Intel. It's may be not so difficult. I know how to make it. But, Plz wait some months with your patience. because I'm sunday developer have a few minutes to write.
best, (8/6/2008, Version: 2.2r6)

Operating Systems

I am an OS enthusiast.  That means while I might be partial to one or two operating systems over others, I see the beauty and elegance in every operating system and enjoy them all.

At home we own all Apple products and Mac OS X is the primary operating system.  At work I use Windows XP and RedHat for development.  In the past I have used OS/2 as well.  My FAVORITE operating systems are VAX/VMS (OpenVMS these days) and BeOS. 

VMS is a mainframe operating system, really, but the DEC Vice President of VMS many years ago is the same person who founded the "Windows NT" operating system group at Microsoft.  While NT/XP/Vista is its own OS, you can understand that it shares some features with my old favorite VMS.  Windows NT is, in effect, VMS for the personal computer.

BeOS was an OS written from scratch by Be, inc. initially to show off their hardware.  The Operating System itself became more popular than the hardware but due to competition with Microsoft and bad executive decisions, Be, inc. went away and the BeOS has languished for years.  There IS a project called Haiku that seeks to faithfully reproduce the BeOS as open source software.  It is in an Alpha state and every BeOS user in the world is on the edge of their seat in the hopes that THIS year a Beta version will be released.  If that comes to pass, Mac OS X will no longer be my primary operating system.

The forums and web logs out in cyberspace are chock full of articles denouncing various operating systems for various reasons.  The biggest target over the past year has been Windows Vista.  I recently found this article on OSNews.com (a site I frequent).  It is an excellent article and I recommend that anyone who has fallen into the trap of repeating the same, tired Vista complaints read it.

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Politics and Artwork

A fellow dA-er recently created several posters for a college class (in Greece) depicting how many foreign people/nations view the USA. Apparently she caught some flack for it and posted a note explaining the project and assuaging people by noting that it is our government and not the people that the posters depict, etc.

She received strong support on the other spectrum as well because freedom of expression, freedom of speech, free exchange of ideas, etc. are all very important and should always be upheld and encouraged. These are the engines of (hopefully positive) social change.

It is always interesting to see the reaction people have when political or religious statements are made through the wonderfully communicative method of visual art.

Tattoos and Tarantulas

Finally got my tattoo!

My tattoo is of a Mexican Red Knee Tarantula and it is positioned on my right shoulder.  The artist did a fantastic job with the detail, color and shading.  It is, however, still in the painful healing process.

I have added 4 new Tarantulas and a Scorpion to my collection of beasties.  I had to beg my wife to let me keep the scorpion (she really does not like them).  I won a Salmon Pink Birdeater sling in a raffle.  Real cute one with attitude.  I purchased an Ornamental Indian Tarantula (a pokie), a Trinidad Chevron Tarantula, a Curly Hair Tarantula and an OBT (Orange Baboon Tarantula, or Orange Bitey Thing).

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Busy Times

Last week was the ATS Conference, this week (and next) is work back East.

The conference was a blast. Found tons of cool invertebrates, only kept one: a Diplocentrus scorpion. She is SO CUTE, like a miniature emperor. I also won a Salmon Pink Birdeater sling in a raffle, and purchased a Trinidad Chevron and ... drum roll ... my FIRST POKIE!

Yes, I bought a regalis and she is gorgeous. I had quite a time getting her into her new cage, it was very amusing. My wife made me do it outside while she watched behind the sliding glass doors. Everytime the pokie (haven't named her yet) zipped in, then out of her cage my wife jumped and screamed. It was very amusing. I was laughing too. I would like to note that despite her zipping about (I understand the reference to teleporting now) she never once acted aggressively.

The Trinidad Chevron (a beautiful, olive green arboreal Tarantula) acted a bit defensively at the conference but once she was out of her container she was nice enough. She was not defensive at all moving her into her new cage. She dutifully marched out of the old into the new.

I will take some pictures for my gallery next week or the week after. But I am still excited about owning a pokie. It was a big step for me.

Sensationalism in Science

Today I was reminded about what is wrong with science:  Sensationalism.  I understand that magazines geared toward the lay person are trying to sell subscriptions and keep science interesting, but it also damages the very nature of what science should be.

The particular article that caught my eye was titled "What would Earth look like to alien astronomers?"  I thought, "well this sounds interesting."  Fortunately this particular article did not waste too much of my time because it noted in the very second sentence that pictures taken by an Earth probe show the Earth as it *might* appear to aliens who had "telescopes far more powerful than our own."

This sort of sensationalist reporting is rampant in science.  The article itself was not a bad one, but the fact that they provide a title that really has nothing to do with the underlying science is irritating and misleading.

The title, by the way, should have been "Telescopic filters could help map extrasolar planetary surfaces."

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Development woes

Coding on VMS was a wonderful experience.  Writing simple utilities was as easy as pie.

Not so on UNIX-like systems.  For example, I wrote a program that I called "to" on VMS.  It was sort of like a super-duper "chdir" on UNIX.  It had short term memory (remembered the last couple places you defaulted to) and long term memory (you could create aliases on the fly, shortcuts).  When you said "$to disk:[dir]" you were there.  You could add aliases like "$to add home sys$login" and from then on you could say "$to home" to get there.

In UNIX every program runs in its own process space (as it did in VMS) but does not have direct access to the environment variables of the shell from which the application was executed, at least not in a simple, callable method that I have yet to find.

I really want to write my own "to" program for mac os x, since I do a lot of bopping around via terminal.  It would be nice to have it contained in an app with a little SQLite db instead of creating a billion bash aliases.

Oh well.

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Just a quickie about Flock

I've blogged about it before but I just wanted to spout the good news that Flock 2 beta 1 is out!

Flock 2 is based on Firefox 3.0.  Very very very much improved browsing experience.  Still in beta but it is working well for me so far.

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My insanity has struck again.

I have never denied that within my feeble mind lurks a terrible monster that drives me to do foolish things when it comes to automobiles.  It has struck again.  I have gone back from a fuel efficient sedan to a gas hog of a beast of a pickup truck.  Why?  I really like pickup trucks.  I can't help it.  I enjoy sporty cars, small cars that handle well and are fun to drive but... when it comes down to the nitty gritty a pickup truck just CANNOT BE BEAT in regards to versatility.  So there you have it.

I am back (I say back because I once owned one, years ago) in a Ford F150.  XLT.  Nice machine.

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COX

I have a love-hate relationship with COX Communications.

For the past two days connectivity has been intermittent. Sometimes you can get to your favorite site, other times you cannot. I called COX and they had one of those prerecorded messages stating that they know the region is having these connection issues and they are trying to figure out what is causing it.

Of course I NEED the connectivity NOW. These sorts of things only happen when I actually need to get something done. This is the reason I shifted from COX to QWEST two years ago. But eventually I drift back to COX.

The thing about COX is that they have THE fastest upload/download speeds bar none. When it is working I can get downloads up to, hold your breath here, over 2 MB/s! That's right. Last speed test I saw 24018 kb/s download and 1089 kb/s upload. That's pretty quick.

So, there it is. When it works, it is great, when it breaks, it is broken for days at a time.

Firefox 3.0

I have had trouble lately becoming attached to any one browser. I think Firefox 3.0 might be the cure.

My usual browser, one I bought and have used for 5 years now, is OmniWeb. Great browser, great functionality but lately there have been all sorts of minor issues that seem to plague the software.

Camino is another good browser, very simple, clean and the trunk builds use the latest mozilla rendering engine. There is also Safari. Safari is nice, it too is simple and it still has a few quirks that you need to get used to (for example, the latest Yahoo mail works with it, but sometimes complains about it, also deviantArt works best with a mozilla product).

Another browser I like a great deal is Flock. Flock is basically Firefox with predetermined add-ons. It is a "social browsing" focused application. It is very useful. But... the current version is still based on Firefox 2.0 with all the lovely memory leaks associated with it, and odd font rendering issues. There ARE trunk builds based on Firefox 3.0 but they are still a bit buggy. While I was browsing around with the alpha version of Flock the other day I thought, "HUH! Why not Firefox 3.0?" So, I downloaded Firefox 3.0 (Beta now) and began the process of customization.

Firefox 3.0 by itself is a good browser. The latest version of the ghecko rendering engine is fantastic. It is faster than ever, and very easy on memory. It also fixes all the weird font rendering issues suffered by the previous version.

I wanted something that would have SOME of the cool functionality of Flock as well as some other cool gadgets (I mean extensions) that I have found quite useful. These are the extensions that I use:

CustomizeGoogle
ScribeFire
DownloadHelper
Hyperwords
Interclue
ScrapBook
Shareaholic
Web Developer

These are GREAT plugins. They are fairly streamlined, quick and so very very useful. With these plugins I often can do all sorts of research and other "work" just in Firefox alone, without hopping about from application to application or having to have 8 tabs open in the browser. Good stuff.

If you are looking for a browser, I think you might want to download the latest Beta version of Firefox 3.0. I think Firefox has once again stepped up to the plate and is ready do battle with any other browser available.

A mouse, a port and underpants...

Sheepishly I admit that I was imbibing whilst working on my computer. The inevitable happened, I spilt my beverage all over the desktop. The keyboard was spared but the flow drenched my mouse in a sugary, tasteful carbonated beverage. At first all seemed alright. I shook the mouse out, it worked fine. The next day the wheel stopped clicking; it turned smoothly but as if it was immersed in tar. Thus began the end of my faithful and most cherished Si670m.

I was saddened of course, because this is, was, the best mouse I had ever used. I reverted back to the mighty mouse I had bought with my mini, but it just wasn't the same. After a day or two of soul searching, I pulled the trigger, browsed to Amazon.com and purchased another Kensington Bluetooth Wireless mouse: the Si670m. I am now happy again with my shiny new mouse by my side working as flawlessly as ever. This mouse is a great buy if you are looking for a bluetooth mouse that isn't the size of a walnut like some of the "portable" mice out there. This one is hand-sized and made of very nice materials. The optical port has excellent tracking and movement is quick and precise. The wheel is also left/right clickable to scroll horizontally. The wheel spin clicks lightly, almost luxuriously. It's just a great mouse.

While I was at it, I picked up a 7 port USB hub. Now I have several free USB ports for plugging in cameras and other temporary peripherals as needed. The USB hub is a "Cables To Go" brand, powered USB 2.0 unit. So far it works well and its bright blue light matches the lights on my USB MyBooks (tho the Firewire MyBook has a white light). So far it is performing well and the ports themselves are snug, which I like.

You are wondering about the underpants? First, have you ever worn bamboo clothing? It sounds awful, I know, but bamboo fiber is the silkiest, softest material you can wear. The only bad part about it is that it is somewhat expensive because most of it is imported and the demand has not yet gone crazy enough to generate large quantities of items to be shipped to the states. Anyway, Google "ShirtsOfBamboo" and check out some of their clothing, pick yourself up a shirt or something. You won't regret it, I am serious. It is wonderful material and feels very nice to wear, it also wicks AND has natural anti-bacterial properties so you won't stink as much on a hot day. :) That's all for now. Bye!

Obama vs. Hillary

It is beginning to look like the mainstream Democrats are leaning toward Obama and their support for Hillary is declining. At least that is the impression I am getting from the "press."

People seem concerned that Hillary is fracturing the party because this is dragging on so long. Hardly. It isn't even the summer yet, and how much stumping do they expect Obama will need to run against McCain? I guess a lot of the concern arises from the fact that McCain can go about at will hobnobbing and such, garnering the trust and support for the presidential elections while Obama is hogtied in his battle with Clinton. Again, all this does is provide more time for the real McCain to be revealed, his mistakes, his bad associations, his limitations.

People need to chill out a little. Let the process go as is. There is plenty of time, the shorter the campaign I think the better. It will let Obama address the issues with renewed vigor, and allow him to break away from some of the debates he has had to face with Hillary, and outshine McCain in many regards.

Does anyone remember SweetMail?

GyazMail is my primary email application on OS X.  But from time to time I find myself mysteriously drawn back to an old email application:  SweetMail.

SweetMail was a very good email application from the OS 8 and 9 days.  When Apple went to OS X, the developer of SweetMail did his best to provide us a Carbon/Mach-O version before he dropped off the face of the Earth.  This was several years ago.  Guess what?  SweetMail STILL WORKS.  I am running it right now on Leopard.  It has not been updated in years, lacks features that it sorely needs (IMAP for one) and of course uses the old Carbonized widgets.  But it still sends/receives email and does a good job in organizing your messages for you.

The thing I liked most about it, and what I miss in email applications today, is that the interface is broken into objects.  Each mailbox is its own window, each message its own, etc.  Many people would complain that it causes clutter, but I enjoy it and I work in that manner anyway, always having many many applications and windows open at the same time.

SweetMail is quick.  It's connections and processing of messages are no-nonsense, fast.  It does not really do HTML mail (it recognizes HTML, but makes you open it in another application), but I like that too, I prefer to send and receive email in plain text format.  It also recognizes links and other bits of information in mail messages and highlights or acts upon them according to their meaning.  For example, URLs are clickable.

I am running version 2.2r6, if you can find it anywhere, it is worth downloading and taking for a spin.  To minimize the font shock on your eyes, I recommend installing Silk, a haxie from Unsanity.  That's all for now!  Have a wonderful evening!

Why?

Today our neighbor was visiting and she happened to look on the counter where she was sitting and noticed Zippy Bling Bling (my Avic. versicolor).

Her first question was "What [pause] is THAT?" After we told her the next question was "WHY?!"

That is a good question. Why? Why do I keep nearly a dozen Tarantulas in my house? It has been said on the Tarantula forums I frequent that keeping Tarantulas is an addiction. It's like collecting stamps, but these stamps are alive and you can hold them, feed them and they do interesting things. They are certainly not snuggly, nor are they affectionate. But they represent something wild and potentially dangerous. Something that sits in the back of our minds (I think everybody, even hobbyists, have that instinct or have been taught to be wary of spiders, snakes and other potentially harmful animals) makes it "exciting" to care for and handle these giants of the arachnid family.

Beyond that I cannot explain. Here are the things I like about them:

• They are fascinating to watch.
  
• Their anatomy is alien and interesting.
  
• They produce silk with ease, just part of their daily life.
  
• They are fierce predators.
  
• They can walk on walls and ceilings.
  
• They are very colorful.
  
• They are fuzzy.
  
• They do odd things in captivity (trying to figure out the why's is fun).
  
• They are still not very well understood.
  
• You CAN handle them and it feels cool.

I guess that is about it. They also DO have personalities. They have generic, species personalities (at least a consensus among hobbyists of how certain spiders behave) and they have individual personalities that sometimes go against the grain for their species. There are even funny acronyms and nicknames for different Tarantulas that have become infamous, such as the OBT (Orange Bitey Thing). This refers to a Tarantula from Africa.

In fact, let me steal this list of Tarantula Slang words from the tarantulas.us forums:

T = Tarantula

AGE, SIZE
L'eggs = "Eggs with legs", the 2nd molt after the egg stage for a pre-sling
S'ling = Spiderling
Juv = Juvenile, between sling and adult
Instar = The number of the molt the T is on, after hatching into a sling. 1st instar, 2nd instar, etc.
Post-ultimate = When a male T has molted for the last time before his death
LS = Legspan

SPECIES
NW = New World Species - Urticating hairs!
OW = Old World Species
GBB = Greenbottle Blue (Chromatopelma cyanopubescens)
Blondi = Goliath Birdeater (Theraphosa blondi)
Genic = Brazilian Whitebanded (Acanthoscurria geniculata)
OBTs/Orange Bitey Things/PTerrors = Pterinochilus murinus RCF. Known for their BAD attitude!
RCF = Red Color Phase
PZB = Pink Zebra Beauty (Eupalaestrus campestratus)
Pokie/Poke/Poec = Poecilotheria species
Rosie = Chilean Rosehair (Grammostola rosea)
Versi = Antilles Pinktoe (Avicularia versicolor)
Curly = Curlyhair (Brachypelma albopilosum)

PARTS
Palps = Pedipalps
Boxing gloves = Enlarged, bulbous pedipalps of a mature male
Exuvia = The skin that's left after the T molts
Opisthoma = abdomen

CONDITIONS, BEHAVIOR
UADS = Up And Die Syndrome or death of unknown cause
Dessicated = Dried up, dehydrated
Gravid = Pregnant
Death curl = Pose a T assumes when it's dying, upright with legs curled underneath
On it's back = Molting
Pre-molt = The period before molting when the signs are readily apparent, i.e. going off food, darkened abdomen, sluggish behavior, etc.
Post-molt = The period just after molting while the exoskeleton and fangs are hardening up.
Flick = The act of using the rear legs to spread the itchy (urticating) hairs towards a threat
Threat = When your T stands up on hind legs, with front leg spread wide and straight up in the air, often with fangs bared.

HOUSING, FOOD
Substrate = What is on the bottom of the habitat, i.e. potting soil, peat moss, vermiculite
Verm = Vermiculite
Hidey hole = Burrow
Pinkie = Newborn mouse
Crix = Crickets

OTHER STUFF
Hammock method = A method of "cradling" an eggsack after it's removed from it's mother
Sperm web = A tent shaped web the male uses to deposit his sperm and collect it in the bulbs on his palps

Personality Plus

As with all animals, Tarantulas have "personalities" that differ from species to species and often from individual to individual.

In my collection of Tarantulas I have 3 classes:  Sweet, questionable and mean.  The sweet Tarantulas, as one might expect, are docile and can be handled without fear (although I must caution anyone reading this that ANY wild animal should be treated as such, with caution).  I have several "sweet" Tarantulas that I don't fear handling, although I admit they do make my heart race a bit whenever I take them out.

The "questionable" Tarantulas are those that are not mean spirited, or super defensive, but that are naturally a bit quick to bite first and ask questions later.  Not in a defensive manner, but in a more "hungry" manner, if you catch my drift.  These are spiders that you worry that they might mistake you for fodder, not for a foe.  I have a couple of these and I am sorely tempted to handle them but I have not yet done so.

Finally there are the "mean" Tarantulas.  These are Tarantulas that always seem to be on the defensive or, in the case of at least one of my two most aggressive Tarantulas, on the "offensive."  These are spiders that when you intrude on their space, turn right at you and lunge.  They might give you a warning, but one is all you get.  My Sun Tiger is pretty defensive.  She will lay back, stick her forearms waayyyyy up and act like she will eat you alive... but that is usually the extent of it.  My Grand Canyon Black on the other hand has no stops.  Just today as I was mucking in her cage she came OVER to the tool I was using, raised her forearms, her abdomen, then without much more warning than that struck it, fangs out.  Made a nice clacking sound on the wood.  I had to remove the tool because she was going to attack again and I really did not want to stress her out or even cause her injury (a broken fang is a serious wound).  This is a spider that I would never even consider handling.

People might wonder "why?"  "Why spiders, and why BIG HAIRY spiders that can and will bite you?"  Honestly, most Tarantulas are sweet as pie.  These are arch predators on THEIR level (not in the food chain of course, but in their category, they are the big guns).  They have LONG life spans.  Even the males can live 10 years.  Females are known to live up to 30 years, possibly longer.  That's old.  My poor faithful dogs cannot expect to live that long.  These are venerable creatures.  Predators.  Yet they can be handled, allowed to walk about on you, as long as you treat them with respect.  They are alien as well, they are nothing like us.  The way they move, the way they process food and waste, the way they breath, etc.  And, believe it or not, they come in some pretty incredible color variations.  I have not yet seen a Tarantula that could be called "ugly."  They are each a little work of art in patterns and coloration.

I would like to see more people warm up to keeping these giant spiders.

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On the importance of Fonts

I am a programmer so I stare at an editor much of the day.

I have recently discovered what I consider to be the perfect programming font:  Inconsolata.  It is a font reminiscent of the massive old line printers from the 70's and 80's that were hooked up to your mainframe.  The beauty of the font is that it looks the same on paper as it does on your screen.  It is also quite easy on the eye.

Check it out here: http://www.levien.com/type/myfonts/inconsolata.html

That let me to think how important a font can be in any presentation.  Fonts in conjunction with the proper use of white space are very important as the proper fonts can reduce eye strain.  Fonts are also important in conveying worth, luxury, importance, etc.

More links:

http://www.avidwebdesign.com/andrew/font.shtml
http://www.atalasoft.com/cs/blogs/stevehawley/archive/2007/02/14/the-importance-of-fonts.aspx
http://www.coolhomepages.com/cda/kerning/

Next time you are designing a site or document take a little time to fool with your font choice, and font parameters to see what you can do to make your creation easier on the eye.

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Cheesy Horror Movies

I started grabbing a bunch of cheesy horror movies off Netflix created for the "Masters of Horror" program on Showtime.

These two movies are pretty clever.  The first is of a woman driving in the country, gets in an accident and encounters a twisted serial killer who lives out in the middle of nowhere.  She has flashbacks of her boyfriend teaching her how to survive, he was apparently a militia man.  She ends up dealing the murderer some damage but is finally captured.  During this time she continues to have flashbacks of how her relationship with her fiance was going bad.  Finally she gets free, kills the serial killer, goes back to her car and opens the trunk to reveal:  her ex-fiance dead in the trunk  - and she has the final flashback showing how she killed him.

The second movie was about a woman who leaves a broken down bus and hikes it to a motel some 12 miles away.  In the meantime not one, but TWO serial killers come down on the people in the bus (at separate times, one takes some of the people, the other takes the rest).  The two serial killers end up taking the adjacent rooms to the girl in the motel.  She decides they are both creepy so she packs up and starts down the road.  Both killers start after her, the truck driver-killer tricks her into his truck, picks up the other serial killer, they end up fighting and crashing the truck.  An ambulance picks them all up and it turns out the two ambulance drivers are also serial killers who kill the other two serial killers leaving the poor girl screaming as the the movie ends.

Both not your typical horror movies.  Not bad, short, only an hour each.  Not sure what is coming next but I am sure it will have some entertainment value.

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Flock

Flock is a relatively new browser on the scene, fully derived from Firefox.

So what makes Flock different? It is a social networking dream come true. By using a unique set of plug-ins the browser is able to communicate with almost every social network site, making it easy for the user to monitor and update said sites.

Flock version 1.1.1 is out but I am using the nightly builds called "Sulfur." I chose to use the nightly builds because they use the latest Gecko rendering engine which eliminates many rendering glitches that drove me nuts with the current, released version.

The drawbacks are that Flock takes up literally twice the amount of hard ram than OmniWeb or Safari does. At least 50% more than Camino. It also seems a little slower with all the plug-ins constantly at work for you to keep you up-to-date. Finally, the bookmarking implementation, while powerful, takes getting used to.

Still, it is aesthetically pleasing, very functional and generally well thought out. If you are a social network addict, Flock is definitely the browser for you!

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On the "Religious Right"

A good friend and I had an argument the other day about the "Religious Right."

It started with a post in a forum we both frequent.  Someone said they know no group of people more dangerous in the United States than the "Religious Right."

I posted a ridiculous troll of a post stating "except for the extremely liberal left."  My friend called me on it (as he should) and our war of words began (and lasted, I might add, for at least 1/2 hour on the phone).  In the end it came down to this:  I simply don't like the choice of words used to label the group of people who represent the "Religious Right."  Why?  Because a) I am religious and b) I am conservative.  Ergo, I am a part of this "Religious Right" simply by the connotation based on the meaning of the words that comprise this label.

If you are a person who does not keep up with the times and does not know the meaning of this label, you too would be offended.  I suspect many people are and this actually helps to sustain the current left-right conflict in this country.

In the end we both agreed that, as usual, I got worked up over nothing but also he conceded that the label is not the best.  I believe Chris Hedges calls these people "Dominionists," which I much prefer.

Apple Wireless Keyboard

My Apple Wireless Keyboard has arrived.

After being forced to relinquish my $150 Tactile Pro 2.0 keyboard because my rapid-fire key clicking was keeping my wife up at night, I settled on one of the new aluminum USB keyboards (the one that came with my 24" iMac). The keyboard itself was not bad, but it was too long for my tiny workspace.

My workspace consists of a small area carved out of our walk-in closet. I have had it wired (and recently re-wired on its own circuit due to a power hungry laser printer) and build a small surface for junk, and added a keyboard drawer underneath that. The total width of the space is 30 inches, the width of the keyboard drawer/surface is 26 inches. With a mousepad and a keyboard next to each other the mouse pad actually had to hang over the edge, and the keyboard was shifted over to once side (although the major keys were more or less directly in front of me). This lack of space prompted me to think smaller.

I ordered my new keyboard about a week ago with some trepidation. I was already having a hard time adjusting to the new USB aluminum keyboard, and this one would be smaller and missing many keys. My keyboard arrived in short order and I marveled at how small it was as I unpacked it. I held it up next to my wife's macbook, it was the same exact layout.

I did the usual, simple bluetooth configuration and was using my new keyboard in no time at all.

So far I am pleased. The keys, while not as firm and feedback full as my Tactile Pro keys, are sufficiently substantial to be pleasing to use. The angle of the wireless keyboard is ever-so-slightly higher than the USB model and it feels better to me - especially since my keyboard sits higher than it should.

I have found that I do not miss all the extra keys. I guess I rarely used the keypad and the home/end/page up/page down keys and can compensate with the mouse. I am now completely wireless, running an Apple wireless mouse alongside the keyboard. It is nice to have fewer cables winding about.

The keyboard is responsive and Apple claims 6 months of use on a set of (3) batteries under typical usage. I do not turn my mouse or keyboard off, so it will be interesting to see how long it really lasts.

I would have to say that Apple has once again hit the nail on the head with this keyboard.

Odd Pets

Tarantulas are a funny thing.  I mean, how many people would want large, hairy spiders in their house?  Most people would be sick with the thought of it.  But honestly, they are incredible animals.

Our Tarantulas really have become pets.  Some are more loved than others, but that is mostly because they were our first and they are kept in a prominent place where everyone can see and (sort of) interact with them.  Charlotte and Zippy Bling Bling are the two most watched and they are interesting and beautiful.

Charlotte was a surprise because she is loaded with personality.  She is not a "pet rock" as many of her particular species are referred to.  She is not a Tarantula you want to handle, but she is active, unwaveringly brave in the face of my maintenance tools and very very colorful.

Zippy is cute, fuzzy and metallic blue/green and she is finally (as she ages) beginning to show her pink hues as well.  Zippy we DO handle on occasion.  She is not aggressive at all and we are comfortable with her crawling all over us.

Sounds odd letting a spider, especially a large metallic blue, green and pink spider, crawl all over you.  It feels neat though.  Most people probably think "ugh, bug creepy crawlies!"  Tarantulas are both surprisingly substantial, yet feathery light at the same time.  It is difficult to explain.  They also have sticky feet.  Yeah, as they walk on your skin you can feel each foot stick then lift off...  it is a cool and strange sensation at the same time.  The only other issue with letting a spider crawl around on you is you are bound to find some webbing on you.  That is only natural since spiders frequently drop "drag lines."

There are many interesting anatomical points of interest with Tarantulas (and spiders in general).  Tarantulas are not considered "true" spiders because of several features.  Their mouth parts (chelicerae) parallel to one another, while true spiders chelicerae move against one another.  Tarantulas also have 2 pairs of book lungs and NO trachea.  Trachea allow "true" spiders to mechanically breath, whereas book lungs are passive and simply absorb oxygen as it hits them.

Locomotion is another interesting facet of their anatomy.  Tarantulas only have muscles in their lets that can pull their legs inward toward their body, and forward and backward.  They have NO muscles to extend their legs.  So how do they do it?  Hydraulics.  Spiders maintain fluid pressures in their legs that are quite impressive and they extend their legs by increasing or decreasing their blood pressure.

What else... molting!  Watching a Tarantula (probably any spider, but Tarantulas are large and easier to watch) molt is impressive and a wonder in itself.  Prior to molting another, soft, exoskeleton forms inside the current one.  As the exoskeleton grows the spider exudes enzymes that eat away the connective tissues between the old and new exoskeletons.  Once that process is complete, the Tarantula flips over onto its back (usually) and begins the arduous and dangerous process of molting.

It is a very difficult process.  The spider literally has to split its old covering open, then squirm its way out (think about how you would get out of a wet suit if you could not use your hands).  The animal often has to rest and once the molt is complete will definitely rest for awhile on its back before flipping back over.

Molting can be dangerous too.  Limbs can get stuck, or if the enzyme phase did not complete correctly or wholly, parts of the old exoskeleton might stick to the new.  This is always tragic, and the tarantula often suffers severe injuries as it tries to escape its old skeleton.  It can prove fatal.

Another interesting fact:  when a Tarantula molts, it also sheds its esophagus and pumping stomach!  Thing about that!  Your esophagus and stomach pulled out through your mouth when you molt.  For this reason Tarantulas do not eat for several days after molting (they need to wait for all their parts to harden up).

After the molting process is complete, the spider grows quickly.  All the extra fluids stored in their abdomen is used to expand their now-soft exoskeleton.  Because of this recent molts often appear to have shrunken abdomens.

I could go on and on but I should probably stop here for now.  Hope you enjoyed my little post about my Tarantulas and if you are ever in the hunt for an easy to care for, mostly non-allergenic and clean pet, consider a Tarantula.  I don't think you would be disappointed.

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Weeding, reading and feeding...

Busy day today! 

Weeding.  I got a second letter from our HOA regarding weeds.  After the first letter we DID weed.  This letter was more specific and mentioned the "Desert Broom."  This particular plant was there from the day we took possession of the house.  We even maintained it, trimmed it, took great care of it.  Turns out it is an unapproved, desert weed.  Been in the yard for 3 years now.  I find that amusing.  So I have our HOA representative coming over on Monday, just to make sure we understand one another.

Reading. On Thursdays I volunteer at my son's school.  Not to worry, not really teaching.  I go in and listen to kids learning to read, and help them when they get stuck.  It is actually very fulfilling, especially hearing the change from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

Feeding.  My beloved wife picked up some crickets today while she was at Petco.  My tarantulas have been molting like crazy, with more on the way (getting ready to molt that is).  She picked up more than I had wanted but none were wasted.  5 Tarantulas were ready and willing to eat, and G (my osphronemus) gobbled down the leftovers.

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Visiting relatives and vitriol

My mother and Aunt are visiting...

It is nice to see them. The kids barely remember my mother, and definitely do not remember my aunt. They are only here for a couple of days but any time is good.

I find myself on another site arguing politics, religion and other topics that end up doing nothing but causing gastrointestinal cramping for all involved.

It got me to thinking about a basic premise voiced by the Apostle John and rehashed by our mothers when we were children: if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all.

It is good advice. I understand that sometimes things must be said that do not evoke happy thoughts and visions of fairies dancing in the sky, but in general, why say anything that spreads ill-will and negative feelings?

It is unavoidable of course, since we all have a tough time with policing our thoughts in conjunction with that idealistic, intrinsic right to "freedom of speech" which most people interpret as a license to spill vitriol.

Here is to hoping you have a wonderful day full of positive thoughts, or at least positive words.

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Torture and Terror

I have understood for some time now that we are ruled by terror.

But our terror is not what you might expect.  Our government has been so successful in its efforts to "terrorize" us, to paralyze us and motivate us with fear that this culture of fear has now become mainstream.

I find myself arguing politically that no, we need to focus on our people, on social issues, healthcare, poverty, etc.  In return I get "we need to go after bin laden."  And that's it.  For some people it is literally all about fear, fear of the unknown, fear of small, radical groups of muslims.

The other day I made someone so angry with me that the person flew off the handle simply because I felt that supporting acts of torture was wrong.  The inevitable argument I faced was "what if your family was in trouble and torture was the only way to help them?"  And then I was blamed somehow for the acts of torture the enemy has committed on our own boys in the armed forces?!

I abhor torture.  I don't like war, murder, oppression, slavery.  I don't like that my fellow men are so capable of resorting to such action simply because they want something they don't have.  I also don't like the fact that my fellow man might actually lack something they NEED to survive.  But I guess these days I am in the minority since I am not letting the fear mongering going on by our government, and other entities, penetrate that far into my life.  At least for the moment.

Am I a wrong?  Is torture justifiable?

Computer problems and God

Two nights ago I sat down at my computer and began to surf and post.  Suddenly my mouse died, then something else began to act oddly, then... well... nothing.

I quickly got out the Mac OS X boot disk and booted into it, fired up Disk Utility only to discover that my UsersHD (my external hard drive onto which I moved my /Users path) had completely died.  DU could not even see it.

So, at 10:30 PM I dashed out to WalMart and picked up another MyBook.  I already have a MyBook that I use as my Time Machine drive and it seems to work well enough (albeit loudly).  Got home, went to plug in my new USB (no more firewire I guess, at least for the moment) and I BROKE THE USB HUB CONNECTOR!  Somehow broke the solder points.

At this point I am wondering if I had offended God more deeply than usual.  So I got out my old USB 1.0 hub, hooked up the disks and began the restore.  I waited patiently as the restore began and noticed the time to completion estimate:  68 hours.  I let it run overnight and it had gotten almost nowhere.  At this point I scrapped the restore, unplugged the hub and plugged both drives directly into the iMac and did the restore (which went quickly) and while the restore was going  I zipped over to Radio Shack and picked up another USB 2.0 hub.

At the moment, all is well.  I have given thanks to God for Time Machine, backups and the fact that I was able to restore everything just as it was.  Still, hard drive performance is not fantastic.  I take heart in knowing that Applications, Swap and other functions (logging, etc.) take place on the iMac internal SATA 2 drive, while only /User data files exist on the USB drive.  The performance hit is not TOO noticeable.

I am now considering picking up a new miniStack 3.0 (Firewire 800/eSata) which would speed up data transfers considerably... but I guess I really cannot justify it, so I probably won't bother doing that and I will settle with the grinding MyBook concierto that goes on all the time I am at my computer (it is amusing when Time Machine kicks in and both drives start grinding away).

Finally, the one thing about this that irritates me MOST is that the drive that died was barely 3 months old.  I have never had a drive die on my before, this was my first and the fact that it is so new was rather disappointing.  If the MyBooks last a solid year I will be pleased I think.  Anyway, enough of that.  Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

More Tarantula news

As I posted before, I recently acquired two new Ts:  A. metallica and P. irminia.

Bugbear, my metallica, had recently molted (before I purchased her) so she was refusing to eat. After a full week she finally took a cricket.  She is still pretty skinny so I picked up a few more for her and she grabbed another today.

She is a beautiful spider!

Also, Dash, my Greenbottle Blue, molted today.  He is still on his back resting after the ordeal.

Personality Plus

Our favorite Tarantula here at the zoo is Charlotte.

Our very first Tarantula was a gift from our in-laws.  She was a Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula.  She was nice and could be handled without fear, but she passed away within two weeks (never found out why).  After she passed we decided that Rose Hairs are so nice (and indeed do have a reputation as being docile and easy-going) that we would replace her with another.

Tarantulas are not tame pets.  The "wild" is never purged from their systems.  They can become tolerant of certain stimuli but basically, they are instinctual beasts.  Charlotte, the "replacement" Tarantula is a good example of the unpredictability of such creatures.

Charlotte is a terror.  To be fair she is also our most amusing and entertaining Tarantula, always out, frequently moving about doing interesting things.  But she is NOT what the Tarantula hobbyists term "a pet rock."  If she were in the wild I am certain her spiderlings (aka slings) would live on forever.  I need to clarify what "terror" means to me.  I guess I would categorize Tarantula personalities in three major groups:  docile, defensive and aggressive.

Docile Tarantulas don't seem to care about anything.  You can poke them, prod them, pick them up and they let you do it with seemingly little concern for their own well-being.  Defensive Tarantulas rear their abdomens, kick urticating hairs and sometimes even rear up, ready to strike.  Aggressive Tarantulas just don't seem to have fear.  They are always on the offensive.

Charlotte is an aggressive Tarantula.  Aggressive does not necessarily translate to mean, but more like fearless.  Anything that enters her cage is fair game.  She grabs the baster (I use it to give her water and as a blocker when I have to reach in there) or anything else you poke into her cage with, and doesn't let go.  When I drop water in she attacks the water.  It's as if she is always hungry, yet I know that isn't the case because I've seen her eat until she refused to eat anymore.  One day, for fun, I reached in with a plastic strip (I did not poke her or prod her).  She grabbed it with her palps and chelicerae and would NOT let go.  I dragged her up the side of her cage and ended up proffering a cricket (via tweezers) which she grabbed, finally releasing the plastic strip.  This is a Tarantula you don't mess with.  I think my geniculata is more tame (genics have a reputation for aggression).

But, despite her aggressive attitude she is part of the family.  She sits out in a prominent place in the house, in the middle of all the action and never seems frazzled or disturbed.  She has molted twice for us, right out in the open in the middle of the day (not in her hide), she grooms out in the open for us and performs all kinds of other spidery actions as well.

Finally let me say that even tho' I define her as "aggressive" she is just a spider.  Spiders know what they know and do what they do and even tho' most Chilean Rose Hairs are deemed as docile you NEVER CAN TELL when a docile Tarantula might be in a "bad mood" and decide to give you a good poke.  I also don't want people to be afraid of Tarantulas.  I have 10 Tarantulas and have handled half of them without any sign of aggression on their part.  But, as with any "wild" animal you need to learn to read their signals and use caution.  I would not recommend handling Tarantulas frequently (others may disagree) because the more often you handle them the more confident and less cautious you become.  And, while Tarantulas are not particularly dangerous to humans, the bite of a juvenile or adult Tarantula most certainly hurts and if you are bitten, your first reaction will likely be to fling the Tarantula... which will likely end in its death (they are actually fragile creatures).

...More in the future...

Tarantulas

I find tarantulas to be beautiful animals.

Tarantulas have a certain grace about them as well as aesthetic beauty in their shape, color and other interesting physical attributes.  I have 10 tarantulas, having just picked up two new ones (which are adorable).

My two new Ts (short for tarantulas, if you didn't get that) are tree tarantulas.  One is an Aviculara metallica (metallic pink toe) and the other is the Psalmopoeus irminia (Sun Tiger).  As with other tree tarantulas (like my Aviculara versicolor, Zippy Bling Bling) they have graceful legs with their tarsal and metatarsal segments having a wider than normal appearance.  It makes them look like they have big feet.  I know it sounds silly but this feature makes them look almost cartoon-like and gives you this disarming feeling about them.  They are cute.  Arboreal Ts are also fuzzy.  All Ts are fuzzy, but the arboreals are EXTRA fuzzy which adds to their charm.

Yeah, they are cool animals, tarantulas; each one has a unique personality too.  I'll write more about their individual personalities later.

Back to politics

Well, the Democratic debate held on the 26th was interesting.

I actually think that Hillary made a good showing, at least in her answers.  Unfortunately she also left a bad feeling in my mouth with the tone of her voice and the constant jabs at her opponent, no matter what question was asked.

Mr. Obama tended to answer the question asked of him and did so with fewer references to his opponent.  He also remained calm, and seemed to be more capable of reasoning on the fly.  That being said I am not sure that either of the candidates said anything worth while, but Mr. Obama has that ability to come off as competent, self-assured, but not snotty, whereas Hillary tends to come off as somewhat vindictive and defensive.

I've said it before, none of the men or woman who will be running for the office of POTUS are my first, second or even third choice.  On the other hand, I have to admit that I am being wooed by Obama and suspect some form of psycho-hypnotic signals emanating from my television set.

Ah well.  The coming months should prove most interesting.

Conspiracies

If you look hard enough you can see a conspiracy in just about everything. A friend and I enjoy having discussions along these lines because not only can you see conspiracy in just about everything, but you can satisfactorily prove them and summarily dismiss any lack of hard proof as part of the conspiracy.

Another fun thing to do is to contemplate the origins of our belief systems. I've stated before I am a Christian, but I have friends that think it is more likely that aliens have landed and created us from genetic experimentation with apes. That of course leaves the rest of the animal and plant kingdoms to have derived from a series of random molecular mutations.

Anyway, things to watch for in the near future will all be related somehow to the coming elections. I think that perhaps some of the things may not be pleasant, but we shall see (and I won't say what is on my mind just now as I think it would be too shocking).

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24 Inch iMac

My 2.4 GHz, 24 inch iMac arrived yesterday, along with its VESA adapter!

I am thrilled with it so far!  One thing I will say is the display is very bright.  I have the brightness almost on its lowest setting and the whites dazzle.  The speed is comparable to my Mac mini (which I had upgraded to 2.33 core 2 Duo), but in the graphics department the iMac blows the mini away.  For example, playing the game "Prey" on the mini with the graphics settings at all their lowest values, the game still stuttered and sputtered.  On the iMac, with the game at its highest settings across the board, it was smooth as silk.  I play on playing Civilization IV tonight.

My wife complains about my $150 Tactile Pro 2 keyboard so I decided to try the keyboard provided with the iMac (tho' I kept my wireless Kensington mouse).  This isn't a fair comparison because the Tactile Pro is simply a superior keyboard... the Apple keyboard is quiet, I'll give it that, and the keys do provide some feedback, but they are flat and featureless and I find myself having a time of determining where one key ends and another begins.  Still, it is only the first day of use so I suppose I should cut it some slack and give it a chance for a week or so.

I ordered a stock iMac.  Cheapest 24 inch I could get.  I bought a RAM upgrade from newegg.com (compare newegg.com's 4 GB of ram @ $116 versus Apple's $700).  It should arrive today.  I didn't bother upgrading the hard drive (not just yet anyway), keeping my external miniStack drive that contains my /Users path.  This makes for some slower disk access, but it is acceptable for now.  At some point I will probably pick up a 1TB drive when the prices come down a bit.

The iMac runs pretty hot.  I think most of the heat is generated by the screen itself.  There are a whole slew of temperature sensors in the iMac and iStat Menus catches them all.  The only other thing that I can say I have noticed is that the airport reception is MUCH better on the iMac than it was on the mini, but the mini's are notoriousy bad.

So, to sum it up the differences between my mini and the new imac:

1. Super bright, large screen
2. Good graphic performance
3. Good airport performance

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I see my dad in me sometimes...

When I am wrong I like to admit it.  When I think I am right I am a butthead.

Even if I AM wrong, if I think I am right I will argue until the sun goes nova.  I think that is a weakness on which I need to work.  I don't LIKE being a jerk, I just get going and cannot stop.  It's something I won't say I am proud of... even if whoever I am arguing with admits I am right I still don't feel all that vindicated.

The dad part comes in because he was stubborn.  Not because he was a butthead.  He might have been a butthead to some, but to me he was just my dad.  :)

Faith in life

Religion is always a difficult subject to write about.

First, there are always the people who don't believe in God at all, then there are people of other religious persuasions, and finally other sub-groups of Christians who all feel the need to point out the inconsistencies of how I describe my faith versus what the bible says in various scriptures.

Second, it is personal, if you ARE religious (or perhaps if you are even an atheist) you have strong feelings about how you view the universe around you.  It's inevitable that conflicts and disagreements arise.

Third, how do faith and religion apply to "real life?"

I am a Christian.  I believe in God.  I believe that Jesus was born a man in the form of God (by that I mean that he is the human manifestation of God - sort of God's pattern applied in a physical way).  He was a prophet, he was a teacher but most of all he died for me (and you), a final sacrifice... an end to the old ways and a start of a rich and dynamic faith that lives in the heart, not written in books or carved on stones.

In all the New Testament writings (the gospels, epistles and revelation) one thing (at least to me) is apparent:  whenever Jesus spoke,  he topic was love and compassion.  He stated, in fact, that the two greatest commandments were all about love.   Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as you would love yourself (by that he meant, do you feed yourself?  Do you clothe yourself?  Do you take care of yourself?  These are rhetorical questions, of COURSE you do and so should you do to your friends, enemies and anyone you encounter).

To me this IS religion, this IS faith.  I believe in who Jesus was and that his message was about being kind, generous, loving and compassionate.  These ARE things we can ALL do on a daily basis.  Help that old lady across the street.  Feed that person who has no food, offer your coat to someone who is cold (and do not expect to get it back).

One problem people have with religion is that they feel they do not have to be told do to kind and compassionate things... or to want to do them.  This is very very true.  I certainly would not argue against that idea.  Jesus did not simply come to say that if you want to be close to God, do these things.  He came to say "look, if you are close to God you WANT to do these things."

In one way people who practice what Jesus preached and do NOT believe in God are closer to God than people who believe but are not kind hearted.  It is not enough to simply believe that Jesus lived and died for us, but to keep his words, his commandments, written on our hearts where we can dynamically and compassionately refer to them as needed.

One last parting thought... Jesus said that he did not come to bring peace, that households would be thrown into chaos over his words.  Understand that what he said came true.  Jewish families were thrown into turmoil when one of their own would convert to this "nazarian" sect of their faith.  In the end Jesus message WAS about love and peace, but that message, as he predicted, was not well received.

Trouble in paradise

For the most part Mac OS X is a solid, stable operating system.  Leopard, while being pretty slick and generally better than Tiger, has at least one serious fault for me:  Mail.

Mail.app has been fraught with problems since Leopard was released.  It has been updated with .1 and .2 but neither have fixed the disappearing messages problem for me, even after deleting my preferences and starting from scratch.

It is very annoying, but I have a fallback.  In the early years when Mail was (again) suffering from a lack of attention, I switched to GyazMail.  GyazMail has never let me down.  It just works.  It isn't flashy, but it works.

I've written about this twice now, but this is a big issue to me.  If you can't get one ubiquitous application to work and work right for everyone, what on Earth are you thinking?  Why was it released?  Ah well.  I just won't bother using it, despite some of the nice, new features.

There is another problem with Leopard.  In Apple's effort to tighten up Mac OS X, they have really made it difficult for some older applications to function properly.  Sometimes it seems as if they do not want 3rd Party developers to succeed.  Their development system is great, but they hide methods that Finder (for example) uses that would be great for other applications.

(Problems with PathFinder, Haxies, etc.)

Next computer upgrade

I have had my mini for 2 years now and it has served me well.

I would like to keep it, and pass it along to my son now.  I am looking at the new iMac 24 inch all-in-one computers.  It looks to be a slick machine, a pinch faster than my mini with much better graphics and to me, even better, a much larger viewing area.  My tired eyes could use it.  The beauty of the iMac 24 is that it too can be mounted on a VESA arm (with a mounting kit).  It will fit perfectly into my small office space right where I have the monitor for my mini now.

The iMac has built in web cam, core 2 duo processors, can hold up to 4GB of ram...  I am ordering the base version and will purchase my own RAM (4 GB on newegg.com) and I might also purchase a 700+ GB hard drive.  Not sure yet.  Maybe just get a 500, or maybe leave it be and use my current external drive with it.

It should be a computer I can use for a few more years.

My current computer's specs:

Mac mini

2.33 core 2 duo

160 GB SATA (2.5") Internal

500 GB Firewire (3.5") External

2 GB RAM

64 MB VRAM (Shared) Intel Video

21.5 inch Dell flatscreen monitor w/hubs

The iMac would top it out a little, mostly in video processing because it has a card that supports more graphic operations with 256 MB of dedicated VRAM.  It also has a standard sized hard drive with SATA 2 I believe, whereas the Mini really functions at SATA 1 speed.

But a 24" monitor will be very very nice indeed.  :)

Reconciling Science with Faith

I am really into science.  I enjoy it, I think it is a great and powerful methodology.  It amazes me that we, as a species, can so study and discern a growing number of physical truths from our observations.  I am also a Christian.  I have friends who ask "how on earth can you believe in that stuff?"

Most people seem to believe that science and religion cannot coexists, that they are like matter/anti-matter, when they come together *BOOM*.  To me science and religion address completely different things.  Science is the how, religion is the why.  More than that, to me, religion has nothing to do with hard science and everything to do with relationships.  Religion is about our relationship with God (which many people find hard to believe in) and our relationships with EACH OTHER.  In my faith, what makes God happy is loving and caring for one another.  I think you might agree that not enough of that is going on.  Science is about a passion for knowledge, but not so much about compassion for your fellow man.

That is how I reconcile the two.  I am also not a literalist.  I read the Bible and see truth in it, but not literal, historical truths, but truths about how we grew and related to God and each other over time.  Sort of our socio-spiritual evolution.

I am not the only one either.  Did you know that the person who proposed the "Big Bang Theory" (to Einstein himself, btw) was a Catholic priest?  Lemaitre was his name.  Sadly, because of his position as a priest at the time, many scientists immediately and automatically dismissed his idea.  Turned out he was right (as far as we know today, anyway).

There are physicists alive today who are also priests, John Polkinghorne and Lorenzo Albacete for example.  They two have reconciled faith and science.

I know this post won't convince anyone who is an atheist or even an agnostic to suddenly become religious and that is not my goal here.  This is a blog.  I am sharing an intimate part of myself.

Why I still use GyazMail...

I try, I really try to use Mail.app.  

On paper mail should be a great application, lots of features, you can install plugins, etc.  But it always fails me somehow.  I purchased GyazMail years ago (pre 1.0 version) because Apple mail was useless.  Everytime a new version of Mac OS X comes out I try and switch back to mail only to switch back to GyazMail within months.

Why?  Well, the primary reasons are stability and reliability.  GyazMail NEVER crashes and I can read and manipulate every message that arrives.  Right now Apple mail doesn't display some messages and to see what you have you have to view the raw data, it is slower than GyazMail and while it does not crash daily, it has crashed on me a few times.  How hard can it be to create a reliable mail application?

Anyway, once again I am using GyazMail.  I miss GPG but that is it.  MailTags would also be nice for GyazMail.  Ah well.  Maybe someday.  Supposedly Apple is releasing a much improved Mail.app with 10.5.2.  I might try it.  Then again, I might not.

My thoughts on the Superbowl

Being from New England I am, naturally, a Patriots fan.  That being said, of all the NFL teams my 3 favorites are the Pats, the Redskins and... the Giants.  I also married into a family from NY who are Giants fans and, indeed, one of my "in-laws" works for the Giants organization.  So despite the fact the Pats lost, I am not too sad.  Just picturing my in-laws jumping up and down and screaming at the end of the game is enough to put a smile on my face.  It would have been nice to see them go undefeated, but it will be more interesting to see what changes are made next year.

Speaking of next year, I am looking forward to the Redskins season.  I have hope for them as they garner new talent and new coaches.  I hope they are able to become a "player" in the coming years.

The Race for the White House

The candidates I would like to have seen in the White House are either out of the race or stand no chance what-so-ever.  Of the two main parties, it looks like the Republican candidate is all but announced.  Senator McCain is the obvious choice and is pretty much sweeping the delegates.

In the Democrat race... it is neck and neck but it looks like Hillary has the advantage at the moment.  She took NY and it looks like she will take CA.  I really really really don't want Hillary running for President.  I don't want to see McCain in office for that matter.  I guess basically the only choice left is Obama.  So, GO OBAMA!  Someone needs to dig up dirt on Hillary that makes her look bad to women so she'll stop grabbing all the female voters.

Why not McCain or Clinton?  While I think it is true of most of the candidates, I am pretty certain that with either of them in office it will be "more of the same" in spades.  Corporate interests will be served.  Whether it be oil, insurance, pharmaceuticals or something else, you can bet that Clinton or McCain will cater to their needs.

Ugh.  We are in a real, political mess.  9 trillion dollars in debt, recession, multi-front military "actions" (I will not call this war) that sap our defensive and budgetary capabilities... just UGH!

Still using Sandvox.

Well, I am still using Sandvox for the website.  Sandvox is a great tool, but my site got so unwieldy (loads of photo albums, stuff like that) that it became almost impossible to edit the site in Sandvox because every time you made a change or clicked off a page it took minutes to load the next page.  It was a pain in the behind.

I decided "Hey, why not use Flickr for photos and Blogger for blogging?"  And I think this will work except that it might be annoying to have to jump off-site to see the blog.  I don't know.  Let me know what you think, I guess.

Welcome to the Anthem Zoo Blog

I had been manually controlling my blog entries through a publishing tool but decided it is just as easy to use blogger.com and reference it from my site.  That way I can edit/add to my blog without ever having to worry about publishing changes to my website.