The way of the geek

SYN

A full ten years after I started using Hotline to browse the files at the basement of the internet without having to trudge through IRC, the number one site for indexing Hotline trackers has finally been taken offline. I noticed it this past weekend when I decided randomly to go there- http://www.tracker-tracker.com/ apparently they took it off on July 7th. Though Hotline itself hasn't been used really much in the last five years, Tracker-Tracker surprisingly stayed up to service what was left of the die-hard members of that community. Noble in a way, if you want to assume that perhaps those people were only sharing open-source software, or perhaps using Hotline as a collaborative platform for accomplishing something, or maybe because of the social environment, with the built-in chat system being pretty good. More realistically, those remaining Trackers probably had porn, and Tracker-Tracker made it easier to find. I'm sure there were a couple that were mostly Linux distros.

I'll always remember Hotline as a tool that led to some fun times- how else would I have experienced the joy of banner surfing in order to find passwords for download-enabled accounts? Then in the process finding that the banners had changed and so after a half hour of clicking on a whole series of banner ads (and hence generating revenue for the people running the tracker) not ending up being able to piece together the password after all. Or being kicked and banned by admins when your download is 99% after transferring for two days at 2 Kb/s on dial-up. For most of the time I used Hotline, it was probably over dial-up. I forget when exactly we got the cable modem, but that seriously did bring a whole new perspective with it. I almost wish I could go back to thinking that 100 Kb/s is fast, it would help give me that satisfied and joyous feeling of "WOW! This is fast!" again. I'll probably have to wait until I can get my own T3 to experience that again though.

Though the first few years of college, I used Hotline about as much as AIM because it turns out it's pretty good for file sharing between friends, and it was at the time much more reliable for it than was AIM (for example, file transfer resume actually worked). A few of us used our own private tracker, and it worked pretty well. AIM slowly improved though, and with the emergence of Social Media that didn't totally suck (which would be services that are not Myspace) there was less of a need to use Hotline as a personal chat server. One day we all just stopped using it.

My introduction to Hotline was through Kevn St. Amand at Wooster, who was Tech Center head after whats-his-name (I forget....) was caught up in and kicked out for that whole mess with a bunch of seniors being accused of marijuana possession. Kevin was also a great example of a super Apple fanboy, and was an early adopter for the original Apple Airport. With the Airport and his iBook G3 (color was Tangerine i think) he was able to download Greatful Dead live concert recordings on Hotline from nearly anywhere in Coburn. That was pretty darn spiffy back in 2000.

So yeah, thank you former Tracker-Tracker admins for your efforts. Though I wish I had chosen to do more productive things in High School, such as studying and homework. Banner surfing didn't much help me with that.

I keep coming up with really good, great, wonderful topics for posts during the day, but then when I sit down here I forget them, which is a shame.


My job still sucks.
But I'm only planning on being there until the last week of August, so I can tie up everything I need to before getting out of the country for a year.

Still isn't certain, but signs point to a likelihood of spending from beginning October 2009 to end of September 2010 in Japan.
With the Tokyo Marathon on February 28th.  Still lots to go on training for that, I haven't really done my weekend distance run often enough to work it up past 13 miles yet. I'll probably go for 14 this weekend. It's sort of an issue though because there are usually other plans which have a tendency to interfere with these workouts, but if I don't do them, I won't be able to do a sub 4-hour marathon, or a marathon at all without serious damage. There's only 4 months after getting to Japan before the race, so it's probably a good idea to get done what I can while I'm here, so I'm in better shape to continue it once I'm settled over there.

So I gotsa 5-week (probably) temp job after posting my resume on Dice. I didn't actually get contacted back about the jobs I attempted to apply to on there, I just sorta got called by two recruiters within 24 hours who thought that I might decent enough credentials for a couple of jobs. One of them just happened to actually be a short term assignment, which is most desirable at the moment, since I don't know how long I'll be in the country for.

So I'll be a microbiology lab tech for five weeks, at a company I've never heard of that designs devices for delivering medication. The job description seemed really pretty simple, which is sort of expected from a lab tech position, but I don't yet really have a great idea of what it;s actually going to involve. I 'll find out tomorrow.

I always think I'm going to look awkward in these circumstances, since I think it's practically the only time when I actually end up having a little bit of a complex about being vertically challenged- a little unsure about what other people are going to think about the tiny kid in the lab coat. I think I tend to make up for it in perceived hardworkingness, but still think that I look kinda awkward in some of these workplaces. We'll see about this.

And on a random note, I haven't really been keeping up with trends in Blu-Ray adoption or the evolution of the hardware and profiles and all of that, mostly because I don't have a TV or display device that would make it worth buying, and I don't really have the money for the discs at the moment (I'm also living on the side of the planet opposite the country that has all the discs I want). I do however check a site that lists deals and sales and such, and have been keeping an eye on the downward trend of Blu-Ray player cost. And now folks, we have come to the crucial point in the life of any media format- the Hundred-Dollar Generic Brand Playback Device. Okay, okay, it's actually a little bit more than $100, but it's damn close. I present you with the Insignia NS-2BRDVD, available from Best Buy for only $129.99. Of course that's on 'sale' right now, but still. Apparently the firmware is even upgradeable. Doesn't have the snazziness of the PS3 or handling of other media formats fed from network devices that you can find on other players, but it does what the majority of people want- it translates whats on the disc into stuff they can see. And probably hear. And in a post-analog-to-digital-over-the-air-signal-changeover world, that's going to be increasingly important, especially considering how much cheaper 30"+ LCDs are becoming.

I think it's fairly evident that each new format reaches this comodity point a little faster each time- Blu-Ray has actually grown a little faster than DVD did. It makes me wonder if that period will shrink further. Perhaps in 10 years we'll have cheap knockoff devices with duplicate functionality a couple of weeks after the next generation of something is released. It probably has to stop that acceleration somewhere, but the trend is somewhat interesting. I've been considering that fairly often lately, as Netbooks will soon be cheap enough to get as gifts when opening bank accounts, and as smartphones become more flexible and computer-like. The CPU in the new version of the iPhone is mostly faster because the CPU in the 3G is underclocked- probably for power use reasons- however the 3Gs CPU has already had a multicore version demonstrated. Within the next two years we may have an iPhone with a 1Ghz multicore CPU- effectively a quarter-inch thick LCD attached to a tiny-ass relatively beefy computing device, running a pretty reasonably decked out UNIX-based operating system. Netbooks to me signify the nearly-absolute end of what was left of 'non-comodity' computing for home users. Nearly anyone can buy a reasonable computer right now. What we currently call Smartphones will eventually take their place, and accomplish what the ill-fated PDA could not- ubiquitous full-featured computing. Not luggable, not portable, not just mobile, but ubiquitous. Everywhere, always. I wonder what Alan Kay, effectively the guy who came up the concept of the laptop computer while at Xerox PARC, thinks about all of this.

On one side I feel a little remorseful- I spent a very large portion of my time chasing the end of the IT revolution. Ten years earlier and I could have been quite successful as a PC technician, which is something I enjoy. It's also because I respect computers, I especially respect the people who brought their (at the time) crazy ideas to life. But we're not just standing on the shoulders of giants, we've taken advantage of the vantage point and built a giant platform up there, attached to an elevator which is always going up. It's become difficult to look down and see where we've come from. And we're moving upward fast enough that seeing where we've been just isn't as much of a concern. People are lazy of course, and simply aren't going to care how or why their computers work, and don't even think about who helped make it so. They can generally assume it was assembled from magic and glue by someone in China. If it breaks, or 'breaks', oh well, it only cost about the same as 50 lattes. I've only just gotten out of college, but being a computer historian, retro computing enthusiast, and general IT guy who scoffed at AOL and instead dialed into every BBS number available- it makes me feel old. Even though I know I have the skill and knowledge to adapt as quickly as the market does now, it still feels strange to step back and compare the way it was to the way it is in just the comparably small amount of time it took me to get through high school and college.

The real attitude to take here will not be that of sob sob oh whatever will I do, but really should be excitement about what can and will be accomplishable. It's a matter of being able to pull yourself out of where you are every once in a while to check the wind again, make sure you're headed where you want to be in relation to everything else. There's still plenty of room for new ideas, especially now in software. The underpinning of 'Web 2.0' is a horrific mish-mash of duct taped components screaming and wailing indicating of their terrible pain as they are ground through the wheels of a technology foundation that's hardly changed since Spry Mosaic became revolutionary for being able to render both text and images in the same window (1993). In that way, it's kind of a hack in the traditional sense- not an elegant one, but nevertheless one which has seemingly made things more accessible and less frustrating for everyday users.

I have ideas. Especially now that my thesis work actually made me want to try to do something real with all this semantic business. Hopefully before that boat gets too far out of the harbor this time.

But alas, I have to get up at 6 am everyday now to run and go to work, and then won't have all that much time after getting back before going to sleep so I don't end up horrfically sleep deprived like I usually do when I have a job. We'll have to squeeze as much as possible out of those three hours during the work week....

That ended up being a massive rant. Wow.

Eve no Jikan is actually... quite good. For being a 'net animation', it's got a pretty good balance. There's only 3 episodes left so I'm not sure that there will really end up being a whole lot of plot, but I could see a studio treating it as a pilot or something and making it into a full show. It's a pretty interesting premise. Not entirely original, it reminds me of a lot of other shows, but it's a new twist on it.



So yeah. What's Eve no Jikan? Well, it's the future. And people have helper robots that do things around the house. And these two kids find a cafe with a strange name... where the line between the androids and humans somehow is blurred. So far, it's mostly them trying to learn more about what's going on. There are also some hints that other, perhaps more empowered individuals are trying to figure it out as well.

It's obviously inspired by what will be the older generation developing an increasing reliance on household robots in Japan as the birthrate declines, the workforce shrinks, and thusly the number of humans that can assist the elderly is reduced as well. Some comparisons to the possible effects of otaku culture on the birth rate and comparing that penomenon with that of people who appear to be too obsessed with androids in there as well.

It's on crunchy roll if you've got a half hour to spend on some pretty good animated near-future sci-fi. Animation overall is good, but some shots are a little on the choppy side- it's quite good overall though. The ring things keep reminding me of The Sims crossed with Haibanei Renmei, which is kind of a strange combo. I suppose anything that even remotely appears halo-like reminds me of Haibane Renmei, that show really just makes that significant of an impression.

Karaoke went really well. Will probably end up dragging all the stuff out again to have it for Nerdocalypse, though I'm not sure how well that will work out, since I'm not sure how happy the other groups will be with that. Maybe we'll only run it for a couple of hours or something, since we have to do Name That Tune somewhere in there anyway.

I still have to work on singing in a range that works. It was kinda fun getting applause for holding out a falsetto note for a while. Only had a chance to do a few songs since it was pretty popular and I was sorta running it. Call Me Call Me was pretty good. I didn't get a chance to try Aozora no Namida, which I will have to try again since I messed it up so much last time. Might eventually try Hishoku no Sora or Musou Uta.... but only because I like them, not because I could ever sing them well. There's still something about the flow of the song that gives me a mental image of a record spinning everytime I listen to Musou Uta. Eventually when I have too much money I'll get it transferred to vinyl just for the hell of it. I really can't identify why I always feel like that about it.

Photos/video at www.fivefeetdeep.com/photogallery/thumbnails.php
Projector\screen is the school's, all other equipment is mine of Brian's. Having the lights up this time made it cheesy enough to not be so lame. I think Karaoke is one of the very few situations in which being cheesier is LESS lame. Or at least they make pictures more interesting in what is otherwise a terrible room for this sort of thing.

I love having all professional equipment aside from the fan-ghetto-tabulous 80's Harmon Kardon receiver. Computer looks pretty ghetto too, but the stickers are there to make it faster! Since revamping it just for audio though, it's been pretty darn good. Well it was plenty good before, just not as good as the Quad core at being my primary system given my ridiculous multitasking habit.

but I don't feel that inspired right now, perhaps from being tired a bit. Finally planning on attending dodgeball tomorrow after accidentally missing it a number of times. I don't think I've dodgeballed since middle school. We'll see if my increased athletic ability can help make me lithe enough to be the last one standing. Unlikely, as I've never been able to dodge in the right directions, and never felt good about dives and slides.

And after that: coding like I've never coded before. Because holy crap, I have to finish implementing all the functionality of the project tomorrow, and then write the rest of the week. Because I'm thinking that maybe it's a good idea to get out of here while I still can, while there's still some hope that I won't be jaded beyond any chance of recovery.

This photo actually made me gasp: It's a panasonic digital camera compatible with the new four-thirds system- so effectively pretty close to an SLR quality-wise, because it's a decent sized sensor. That wouldn't be too notable by itself, there's already a bunch of four-thirds compatible cameras and lenses out. The thing with this one is that it can record 1080P at 24 frames per second, or 720P video at 60 frames per second, and as shown in the photo, you can conveniently attach an external mic to it for better audio! Fully AVCHD compliant. So that's a camera with good photo ability, and video that is going to be better than your average $300 camcorder (the sensor is so much larger that low-light performance should be much better, with less noise). It's also got a much better lens than your average camcorder.

I hereby declare that this camera will be pure pwnage when it is released. That's pretty much exactly the combination of features I've always been looking for, and it's even relatively compact considering (one of the highlights of the four-thirds format). Perfect for anyone wanting SLR quality, but who doesn't want to take around two cameras, or lose the flexibility that a compact or a camcorder has with video recording.

I just ate a rice cake (Quaker chocolate crunch) and then decided randomly to try to search facebook for 'rice cake'. In addition to the multiple users named 'rice cakes' I can indeed become a fan of rice cakes. They already have 194 fans! I have yet to decide if that is awesome or not.

On a related note, I finally decided to check wikipedia for how puffed rice is actually made. The article was disappointingly short, and apparently the process is not really all that interesting. You sorta just heat it... until it puffs. It doesn't involve forest sprites or unicorns or faeries or anything. I figured maybe they were micro elves using billows to get air into molten rice. That'd be way better.

Ok I need to go back and go to sleep soon, because it seems I'll be taking the technician license ham radio control operator exam in the morning so I can legally man one of the radio relay points if needed for toracon (exam should be pretty quick, only 35 questions. And one of them is if copper is a better conductor than wood, plastic or rubber. Yeah.)

So I had started drinking coffee again for all of three days before deciding that was a bad idea, not wanting to spend all of my available funds on drowning myself in caffeinated oblivion in the name of getting work done. So Wednesday I decided I'd not be going for coffee. And the result was not even having enough motivation to make it out of the apartment. Not all was wasted, but still not as productive a day as it should have been. Yesterday and today were much better (though I really do need to make it to the gym tomorrow), only having green tea, though I did end up with a bottle of pepsi tonight somehow. It's weird though, because I actually like tea much better than coffee, but caffeine + compulsiveness usually wins. Even really really really good tea is cheaper than buying coffee by the cup. So to help with that in the future I will hopefully soon have a Zojirushi CD -LCC30 3 liter electric hot water dispensing pot! Been sorta lusting after one of those for a while, considering how much time it'll save compared to what I have to spend waiting for the freaking microwave nowadays for hot water.

Additionally, I can just use the stainless steel mug directly instead of heating in the plastic ones first, which is nice considering that plastics can leech into hot water... of course I've been using those mugs for years now and so any effect that would have had on my hormone balance probably would have already ocurred. And zojirushi uses a teflon-like nonstick coating, so I'm trading plasticizers for teflon, yum! guess you just can't win against chemicals these days. Chemicals, they're everywhere!