… just… one… more…tivo…referral

Wednesday, Dec 13. 2006  –  Category: Musings

sigh, just as my beloved rio carbon is starting to act a little wonky, i notice Tivo has added the Creative Zen Vision:M to their list of items you can get with Tivo reward points.

what fortuitous timing..

… but damn. i’m one referral away. anyone know anyone who is going to get a Tivo?

Timelier, quicker SXCR downloads

Monday, Dec 11. 2006  –  Category: OpenSolaris

as stephen pointed out, we’ve made much nicer static links to always download the latest SXCR releases. the URLs are here:

these are redirects updated every hour by a script that scans the SDLC to see if new builds have been posted. they should never be stale by more than an hour – which is far far quicker than we can post/announce them anyway in our overloaded state :)

brakes? i don’t need no stinkin’ brakes…

Monday, Dec 11. 2006  –  Category: Cars

when it rains it pours. after plunking in a bunch of cash to have a room remodeled, and some new hardwood laid down in our master bedroom, and seeing my bank account depleted…. what else should i expect but something in my car to die.

this one manifested itself by way of intermittently flashing my ABS & parking brake lights about twice a week accompanied by three high piercing beeps.

consulting my usual audi mailing lists resulted in a spot-on diagnosis of my ABS controller failing.

doh. i called up a couple mechanics and audi shops… $2000 for a new ABS controller. yikes!

googling around, and fleeing back to the audi mailing lists gave me a pointer to ModuleMaster, who have a good record of rebuilding ABS controller modules. so Sunday morning, i followed these two very good guides:

and spent a total of about 1.5 hours removing my ABS controller.

the only notes i would add are:

  • it’s far far easier to remove the pump hose to the windshield washer tank and drain the tank. when you try to be wily and crafty like i did, you only end up having to move around a much heavier tank, only to watch it fall, unplug itself and start draining windshield washer fluid all over the driveway while you desperately try to shove the bucket under the car before the beagles start drinking it all. do yourself a favour: just drain it :)

  • disconnecting the power coupler is not obvious at first. it’s much easier if you slip a flat screwdriver into the gap and leverage it back against the power coupler to slide the pull out. once you have the pull all the way out, then the coupler just pops off nice and smooth.

anyway, my car is still driveable… i just have no ABS. and boy is it unhappy. when i turn it on, i’m greeted by a cacophony of flashing lights and beeps (windshield washer fluid empty, ABS controller failure, brake failure, etc. etc.) which i suppose is to be expected given that i essentially gave my car’s computer a frontal lobotomy.

oakland bans styrofoam take-out containers

Monday, Dec 11. 2006  –  Category: Food

from my city councilmember’s website/newsletter:

article here

effective Jan. 1, 2007 – no more takeout styrofoam containers in Oakland restaurants. this is great news!

68% Canuck!

Sunday, Dec 10. 2006  –  Category: Linkage, Musings

You are 68% Canuck!

Now that’s what I’m talking about! You did good, you really, really did. I can call you my friend and not have to feel ashamed, and I thank you for that, really I do. Thank you, that is just really great!

How Canadian Are You?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Not bad, eh?
(considering I’m not Canadian and have never lived in Canada)

Must be my hybrid fusion British/American upbringing.

links for 2006-12-08

Friday, Dec 8. 2006  –  Category: Linkage

it shure is quiet

Friday, Dec 8. 2006  –  Category: Music

so i’ve had my Shure E2c headphones for a while, and have consistently held them to be the best headphones i’ve ever had in my life.

turns out, for $10 – they just got even better.

thanks to a tip from dan, i picked up 5 pairs of foam inserts made by this guy on eBay for $10.

wow!

the install was a pain in the butt to get them on the posts. now that i’ve figured out how to get the first set on, i’m anticipating an easier time with the future ones. anyway, on to the fit. damn, these are coooooomfy. they definitely fit better than the yellow foam Shure inserts. they’re softer, and tapered at the end, so it fits more naturally into the ear canal. i don’t know if it’s a result of the foam (Howard Leight “MAX” foam earplugs according to the maker, with a NRR of 33), or the fact that they sit deeper into my ear canal – but they definitely isolate better than the Shure foam. and don’t even get me started on the Shure grey inserts – these are worlds better than those.

anyway, sound quality is superb. i’ve listened to some korean pop, and the high vocals sound great. popping in some trance and D&B, and the bass response is definitely better as Dan said when he first recommended them to me.

anyway, if you have Shure headphones – definitely order these… you can’t beat them for $10.

if you’re near me, hit me up – i’m willing to spare a couple of my sets (since you get 5 pair for $10, i don’t need all 5) if you want them.

probably an unpopular post

Thursday, Dec 7. 2006  –  Category: Musings

So I’ve got mixed feelings on the whole James Kim thing. Yes, it was heroic and valiant of him to try and save his family. I won’t deny that.

But even the most heroic efforts can be misguided or the result of mistakes.

I feel a lot of the media coverage has portrayed the guy as a hero, saviour, etc… and yes, his death is both sad and tragic – but it could have been easily avoided.

Looking at their journey, the Kim family made mistake after mistake after mistake. I’m not an outdoor survivalist by any means, but the following is what I see that they did wrong:

  • Relying on an Internet map solely (this one doesn’t appear to have been confirmed, but is what the Chronicle stated this morning)
  • Going on a back-country road without checking road conditions
  • Not bringing chains
  • Not bringing extra food/drink/emergency-blanket
  • Wandering off and separating from the group
  • Wandering off without adequate clothing in a blizzard
  • Wandering off without a compass

Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not out to bash the guy. His articles were great, I didn’t listen to his podcasts – but I’ve read his stuff from time to time. I don’t doubt that he loved his family and was willing to do anything for them, but we’ve learned time and time again never to separate from a group when lost.

What annoys me is that the media could be using this as a perfect time to address the issue of winter and survival, and how to avoid getting into these situations in the first place; but they’re not.

Yes, he made a heroic effort. But if he’d followed basic sane guidelines to the outdoors, he wouldn’t have had to – he would be alive, and we would all be happier for it.

go brits!

Thursday, Dec 7. 2006  –  Category: Football

all 5 British teams (Celtic, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, and ManU of course) are through to the Champions League knockout stage! even better, all 4 English teams finished top of their group.

links for 2006-12-04

Monday, Dec 4. 2006  –  Category: Linkage

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