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I wanted to drop a note to let you know about my latest creation. It is a spoof on the Pepsi/iTunes commercial and how to always win at the game.

Length: 30 sec. This was written for a short film I made on how to always win a free song. You can see the video at http://homepage.mac.com/jimyounkin/iMovieTheater4. html. This song as well as the video are released under the Creative Commons License (cc)2004 Jim Younkin. Share and sample freely! Email me about this song at this email address: fluxdada-sodasong@yahoo.com.

I Bought Some Soda by Jim Younkin III (y3)


play hi-bitrate (mp3) (broadband) at MacIdol.

download hi-bitrate (856.69 KB) at MacIdol.

My other music is available on MacIdol here.

-Jim Younkin III

Lyrics: "I walked up to the Albertsons, I bought some soda and they all won. I bought some soda and they all won. Hi. I'm one of the people that figured out how to get free music at the grocery store and I'm here to say, in front of everybody, what the heck am I gonna do with all this nasty soda?"

I installed this program called HappyWife on my girlfriend's computer. She thinks I hacked into her computer and that it was "cute." *phew*... Sometimes it pays off to have a non-geek girlfriend...

I'm not the first to say it, but if this seems interesting, you should try fink. I had it on my old 10.2 machine and spent a chunk of this morning installing it onto my 10.3 machine and had a few hassles. Words to the wise:

* Install the X11 SDK since lots of things need it to build against. Do this *first*. It's on the XCode disk, or the file you're looking to download is X11SDK.pkg.

* Then just use the binary installer to get Fink going. 19 meg and worth every byte.

Also, use Sao's place as a quick reference.

Cheers,
Dave

Check out the "GarageBand Demo" on http://homepage.mac.com/pudge/. I just did that with electric guitar -> cable -> 1/2" mono to 1/4" mono adapter -> iMic. The adapter is just one of the many things I had lying around, got it from Radio Shack years ago. You can judge the quality for yourself; set your balance to the right speaker to cut out most of the synth and hear the guitar better.

But now that I have a Tascam US-122, I wouldn't want to go through the iMic anymore, and I would just go into the L input on the US-122, and record in mono.

What I did in response to a similar site when I became aware of it, was look around and see that it was possible to rate the same teacher numerous times from different IP addresses.
I also saw comments that were quite humorous but had little to do with teaching, like (in parapharase) *he's not my teacher but he jogs by my house each day and I like his gym shorts*. The comments and ratings were still up. So I couldn't really take the site seriously. But some students (I would say a small number that the media likes to sensationalize) were really *getting into it*.

And I have worked at colleges; I saw a comment earlier about college reviews staying private. Where I worked, those comments usually become public but after some sort of statistical analysis is done, and the professor/lecturer/TA has a chance - at least in theory - to *reflect* on the semester.

Well, I would consider the professor's lawsuit in the article a bit over the top, and as others have noted, perhaps not on the firmest legal ground, but there is something of a message in all of it in my opinion.

It seems people have become so used to the anonymous rant or slam, and in turn, the forums (or simple *forms* for they are sometimes little else) for displaying these results, that they become the only places where teachers/politicians/*fill in your public figure here* check, to find out how those they should be having a dialogue with actually feel.

When I found out about the site that some of our students were using, I simple let my students know (they are high school freshman mostly - though apparently anyone can sign in at the site I linked to) that I checked for feedback in class, and I was always willing to hear any new suggestions.

Here's what I posted, and the classes are all going great after the usually rough start to a freshman high school year in a tough science class. It's a little *edgey* in tone without being over the top, and if any of them actually used that page to access the site - at least the links to the main pages of information they needed to know for the course were close at hand.

Best 'strangling a ca'' cover I've heard this week.... I'm serious man, that Martin has to be in some L5 pain.

Do NOT quit your day job, if you have one, that is.

I was thinking this might be the app that finally gets me to buy a Powerbook G4, but in your opinion, is 867MHz too slow as well???

I recorded my stuff on a PowerBook G4/867, and it was fine playing back about 6 live recordings, plus a drum loop, plus two MIDI tracks, plus various effects, simultaneously off the internal HD.

ugh, for the copy/paste challenged the Martian Crab

My friend and former roommate, Ken Ferry, wrote an application that greatly aids in adding metadata in the form of keywords to iPhoto. Keywording has been part of iPhoto for many revisions now but the interface has always sucked: a panel in a disparate GUI style with a list of keywords in the order they were created. What his app, Keyword Assistant, does is to provide an autocomplete for finding and assigning already created keywords, an easy mechanism for creating new keywords, and a way of alphabetizing existing keywords. And it's free (gratis) to boot.

Keyword Assistant for iPhoto page or the MacUpdate page for KA

My connection with the project is in that of tester, and, lately, Japanese localizer.

America's Army is goodun... Its good quality, and you can't beat free.

I've also found that there are some really good emulators for the mac, SNES9X being a favorite. There are more.

If you're a MUDder, you can get to those with just about anything. I use Cantrip, but it doesn't seem there are as many great Mac MUD clients...

Best of luck: I'm interested to see what others have to say... Its been really slim pickins....

P.S. - I also heard there may be another option available soon.

Safari Enhancer of course remains a must-have app for other tweaks. I also like Safari Bookmark Exporter so I can dump my bookmarks into Camino, Mozilla, and Firebird - speaking of which, where the hell is my 0.8?

Even though it is somewhat off topic (has to do with Apple but not with MS), you have to see this

Its insane... simply insane... *blink*

Non sequitur. Your facts are uncoordinated.

Non sequitur. Your facts are uncoordinated.

With A Fat Paycheck Comes Fat Responsibility

If you are interested in Programming then these are a great place to start:

How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python

How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Java

PDF's plus Logo and C++ here: Open Book Project

More Java, C++

I agree with the above posts, if you want to code or you can project manage, get involved with an open source project and don't quit your day job until you have an established portfolio of projects.

Build a Linux box from scratch, and know it inside and out. Play games on it, run benchmarks with it using beta kernels. Backport something to Debian

All that said, I'm a techie whose thought about being a doctor or lawyer. Maybe we should swap stories and frustrations. The grass is always greener... HTH, Bod

With A Fat Paycheck Comes Fat Responsibility

If you are interested in Programming then these are a great place to start:

How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python

How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Java

PDF's plus Logo and C++ here: Open Book Project

More Java, C++

I agree with the above posts, if you want to code or you can project manage, get involved with an open source project and don't quit your day job until you have an established portfolio of projects.

Build a Linux box from scratch, and know it inside and out. Play games on it, run benchmarks with it using beta kernels. Backport something to Debian

All that said, I'm a techie whose thought about being a doctor or lawyer. Maybe we should swap stories and frustrations. The grass is always greener... HTH, Bod

...Oops! I Crapped My Pants.

You know you rely on the ctrl alt del keys if you use windows. About time someone made a keyboard fit to your needs.

WARNING: Lameness filter triggered!

... see Vitruvius' book on architecture. There's an older tech manual for you.

Or any of a handful of ancient Greek authors; they'd have predated Chaucer by, oh, nearly two millenia.

More specifically (clickety-click, all-praise-unto-Google) how about the Antikythra instrument, a well-known Ancient Greek calculating engine, complete with inscribed instructions? Estimated to be made in 80 BC or so, 1400 years or so before Caucer. A friggen' computer with a manual fer chrissakes.

I Cant Wait for my Digital Pants to crash !

There's one thing about the iPod MINI that's very important to many Macintosh users: it's easier to insert (and remove) from one's rectum.

Don't forget that the Macintosh's primary audience is homosexual computer enthusiasts, and others with a 'persecution complex.' The entire Apple mystique comes from having a computer that's clearly inferior (price/performance). People who have spent more than they should have for a computer and defend it to the death (to the point of sending out virus attacks for Windows machines) are psychologically damaged.

You can't always be lucky enough to be born into a real minority, so people who sexually experiment with so-called "bi-sexuality", polyamorism, and nonsense religions like "Wiccan" do so so that they can feel persecuted. Shoving objects up one's anus for sexual arousal is part of this. Believe me (as a former Apple Employee), many Apple accessories are carefully designed for just such a reason!

For example Macintosh users have long had erotic feelings toward their Macintosh loudspeakers. And Apple certainly knows what they're doing when they design speakers like this.

It's all about revenue. Apple found a small population that keeps them in business. Just like people will buy lottery tickets and gamble in on-line casinos. Apple's exploiting a weakness in human nature (sexual perversion, and "persecution complex") to their advantage. Bravo for Apple! It's the American way!

They are responsible for what I am sure must have been the longest line-up in history!

LOL! Yeah, I used the wrong tool. I just replaced it with the new version. Hit refresh. :)

New version: here.

Old version (for those curious about context of comments on it) here.

LOL! Yeah, I used the wrong tool. I just replaced it with the new version. Hit refresh. :)

New version: here.

Old version (for those curious about context of comments on it) here.

I'm not exactly happy with how this turned out... but be kind, it's my first time ever using the QTVR tools. :)

Here.

It's on .mac, so it will probably be overwhelmed soon enough. :( Enjoy.

Oh jesus, people, quit your whining! I am so tired of everyone bitching about how special shapes are ruining lego. You know what? I *LOVE* the custom pieces. They add detail that I wouldn't be able to get otherwise.

Not when there are so many that the entire set is 8 pieces. That's stupid. But on a large set (600+ pieces), I see nothing wrong with having custom parts. Look, I love to build models. But I'm at college, and I don't have a lot of room for that. Instead, I build large lego sets. Sure, they only take a few hours, but they take a lot less space to build and are no less beautiful to me. And if the 2100-piece rebel blockade runner has a custom piece for its radar, BIG FUCKING DEAL.

That gorgeous 3000-piece star destroyer uses those "custom" magnets to hold the outer panels together. If it didn't, it'd be SOLID LEGO and weigh 42 tons. If you want to build everything out of the original shaped blocks, then every model lego sells is going to be the size of a small car.

Apparently, I'm the only one on Slashdot who feels this way. Maybe its not the most creative/inventive thing I could do with those blocks, but its fun for me.

I have a working example I made for my boss here

It doesn't work in Firebird, I didn't test in Mozilla.

(p.s. I love the picture of the four programmers entering Apple's Cupertino headquarters. Notice how the front door is even Aqua blue?)

huh? The doors at Apple are glass.

I've had great success converting super8 and 8mm film at home. I bought a Video Work Printer from a guy named Roger Evans.

Roger rebuilds old projectors, removes the lens, replaces the bulb w/ a low-watt bulb so the film can't burn, and mounts the projector on a base with a 6-inch lens. By focusing a camera through the lens, one can image directly from the film itself. You need at least a 10x zoom.

He's not into software, so he's modified the projectors to run at variable speeds (1-30 fps), and wired up a microswitch to generate a low-voltage pulse each time the film advances. He wires up a standard mouse so that it can plug into to the microswitch, and generate a mouse-down when the switch fires. For software, he recommends running Adobe Premiere in "grab-a-frame" mode, placing the mouse over the "grab" button, and turning on the projector.

I wanted to do this on a mac, since iMovie and iDVD are fantastic tools. I was also concerned with dropping frames and other synchronization issues using the "grab one frame" method, so run my projector at 6fps and film unsynchronized at 30fps w/ a mini DV camera. I then import from the DV cam using iMove, and post-process the film with a tool I wrote that uses frame-differencing w/ tolerance to detect frame changes. My tool plucks exactly one image per super8 frame. The result is a beautiful, perfectly synchronized, full screen movie in DV format. I can then edit in iMovie, burn to DVD with iDVD. or archive to miniDV tape.

I have some samples online, but they are scaled down and encoded in H.263 for better streaming. To get an idea of image quality, some stills are online also, but these were my first experimentations with the Work Printer: my camcorder was not fully zoomed, and the aspect ratio is off.

If anyone is interested in the tool, it's free (mac only), Send email to telecine at black frog dot com

If anyone is interested in a short (1-2 seconds) clip in full DV format, email me and I can make arrangements.

The only downside is $$. The Work Printer is not cheap, and neither is a high quality camera. Depending on the amount of film you have, it may be cheaper to use a service for the miniDV conversion. However, you have to mail the film in (it could get lost), and generally they splice all your reels together. I really like keeping the films as they were, in the original boxes, with the original notes. Plus I must admit I take a lot of satisfaction from doing it myself.

I've had great success converting super8 and 8mm film at home. I bought a Video Work Printer from a guy named Roger Evans.

Roger rebuilds old projectors, removes the lens, replaces the bulb w/ a low-watt bulb so the film can't burn, and mounts the projector on a base with a 6-inch lens. By focusing a camera through the lens, one can image directly from the film itself. You need at least a 10x zoom.

He's not into software, so he's modified the projectors to run at variable speeds (1-30 fps), and wired up a microswitch to generate a low-voltage pulse each time the film advances. He wires up a standard mouse so that it can plug into to the microswitch, and generate a mouse-down when the switch fires. For software, he recommends running Adobe Premiere in "grab-a-frame" mode, placing the mouse over the "grab" button, and turning on the projector.

I wanted to do this on a mac, since iMovie and iDVD are fantastic tools. I was also concerned with dropping frames and other synchronization issues using the "grab one frame" method, so run my projector at 6fps and film unsynchronized at 30fps w/ a mini DV camera. I then import from the DV cam using iMove, and post-process the film with a tool I wrote that uses frame-differencing w/ tolerance to detect frame changes. My tool plucks exactly one image per super8 frame. The result is a beautiful, perfectly synchronized, full screen movie in DV format. I can then edit in iMovie, burn to DVD with iDVD. or archive to miniDV tape.

I have some samples online, but they are scaled down and encoded in H.263 for better streaming. To get an idea of image quality, some stills are online also, but these were my first experimentations with the Work Printer: my camcorder was not fully zoomed, and the aspect ratio is off.

If anyone is interested in the tool, it's free (mac only), Send email to telecine at black frog dot com

If anyone is interested in a short (1-2 seconds) clip in full DV format, email me and I can make arrangements.

The only downside is $$. The Work Printer is not cheap, and neither is a high quality camera. Depending on the amount of film you have, it may be cheaper to use a service for the miniDV conversion. However, you have to mail the film in (it could get lost), and generally they splice all your reels together. I really like keeping the films as they were, in the original boxes, with the original notes. Plus I must admit I take a lot of satisfaction from doing it myself.

I confirm the "multiple" apps solution; it's really the simplest way to launch 3 times the same tool with different jobs to do. That's for the ripping
Concerning the multiple burning, same solution but I would recommend using the Missing Media Burner (I use 0.6.2 and I'm satisfied). It's not the cleanest apps in the Mac world, but it's free and efficient in burn and overburn, which is quite useful when volume is involved.
Toast is certainly good and is quite a clean app, but it's way too expensive for lightly extending OS functions.
By the way, Missing Media Burner also does the VCD/SVCD/raw thing quite well
Of course you can forget to buy it and use a cracked key, but it's not the good way, not good for the karma as Jobs says, especially when their are cool people working on free alternatives.

This option was offered in japan first because of the aa-safe-way asian women's driving school movie (just smile, ok?)

They should really let the fans be the writers.

There actually is a lot of fan produced Star Trek out there.

Hidden Frontier, Starship Exeter, Star Trek: The New Voyages., and some others that I don't have the URLs handy for.

It does handle calendar syncing, using your handy .Mac account.

Just make sure to always sync with your .Mac account on beginning your session and then again on ending and you're golden. I guess it does kind of suck having to shell out the $100/yr for those little things after already having spent the extra money for the Mac, but it seems most users are resigned to it at this point. On the upside, it is a damn nice service you're getting for that money.

Most of these people probably do not use the Internet for something truly worthwhile. By that I claim that instead of doing research or reading various news sources to gain an unbiased perspective on the world around us, people mostly are just forwarding silly emails, chatting mindlessly with their peers, searching for pornography, and downloading crappy quality pirated music files.

And? This is still an example of how the open source nature of the internet makes more things possible, and more effective than before.

Case in point: mindless chatting. Frankly this is just more convenient than the telephone because you always know when your friends are online, you can ignore it and get down to work, you can talk to ten people at once (without a silly phone adaptor).

Next case: pirated music. A lot of this is out of print or hard to get these days, and there are certainly downloads which are not poor quality.

I will agree, however, that internet pornography is a sad state of affairs. It's even worse than popular magazines for photoshopping [not porn] unrealistic human beings, and manages to distort some people's perspective of reality.

-FL

in case anyone wants to see one... heres my apple //c

Well, almost anything can kill either plugged or not.

However, in case somebody needs it, here is Apple's CRT discharge manual

Now, if I would have just googled for instructions on how to dismantle an iBook, I would have discovered the magnitude of my mistake. iBooks are laid out very different from powerbooks. In fact, in the iBooks, the hard drive is pretty much the last thing you get to.

If anyone wants to overclock an older mac (yes, way back into the 68k machines) take a look at http://homepage.mac.com/schrier/.

The Onion got this headline right over a year ago: American People Shrug, Line Up For Fingerprinting. Satire is hard these days.

So, why the rant and rave? Why don't I get notes from people saying:

Hey, bastard, I've set up my own company, and I am going to be build and sell the best PCs that money can buy. People are going to be buy from me because, I'll know more about one add-in card in my system than the whole of Dell's offshore technical support team will know about a 90 day warranty.

The little guy that can, the guy who can go on to build PCs for resale, is called a White Box vendor.

So, why the rant and rave? Why don't I get notes from people saying:

Hey, bastard, I've set up my own company, and I am going to be build and sell the best PCs that money can buy. People are going to be buy from me because, I'll know more about one add-in card in my system than the whole of Dell's offshore technical support team will know about a 90 day warranty.

The little guy that can, the guy who can go on to build PCs for resale, is called a White Box vendor.

Direct link: http://homepage.mac.com/evanbaumgardner/.Movies/bb aggins.mov

And just for the sake of disturbing everyone, here's the video. The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins

Direct link to the .mov. Thanks.

I saw the video for that a few months ago, and your comment made me want to see it again, so... here it is, for posterity:

Leonard Nimoy's "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins"

Check it out if you have not seen it before... it's very strange. Spock dancing around singing about Bilbo, surrounded by shrugging girls in colored sweatshirts with giant weird buttons on them. Couldn't see what most of them said, but one says "What's a Hobbit?" and another is "Frodo Lives!"... and one on some girl's back was something about Leonard Nimoy in the U.N. Also, at the very end Leonard puts one on that says "What's a Leonard Nimoy?"

Trippy.

The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins sung by Leonard Nimoy. i am cold, so very cold...