The coldest winter I ever spent
Archive for March 2009
Why does windows do this? This is dumb. I want to view folders in the left window and files in the right. A .zip file is a FILE for a reason. I don’t want to see the compressed files inside it unless… unless I want to see them.
Here’s how to disable this “feature” in Windows.
Go to a command prompt and type:
regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll
You can undo this with the following command
regsvr32 zipfldr.dll
I have a DLink DSB-R100 USB Radio. It uses Gemtek drivers and such under the hood.
I’ve been frustrated because it crashes my computer with a blue screen of death (BSOD) whenever I wake the computer from Sleep mode. On another computer I used to have, it Blue-Screened at random times. That’s no good. I solved the problem on that old computer but I didn’t write down how I solved it. :-( The radio has been sitting in my pile-o-junk for a long time because of this.
Ed Maher wrote a driver to fix the problem :-))). Here is how to make your radio work!
Just in case you need it, here are the USBRADIO.Inf and USBRADIO.sys I use.
Here is the original info on Ed Maher’s website
USB Radio Driver
The D-Link DRU-R100 USB Radio is a small USB controlled FM radio, also manufactured by GemTek as ‘Radio 21’. Unfortunately the device is no longer supported by D-Link and the driver causes a system crash (BSOD) under Windows 2000. As the device is fairly straightforward device, I was able re-write the driver using information from Linux drivers, and a Microsoft DDK sample device driver. The driver is not yet packaged, but the usbradio.sys file is available to manually replace the one in the system32 directory. Please let me know if you are using the driver successfully or having problems.
Oh and you’ll want to get Radiator for the PC to control your radio. It works WONDERFULLY!
I own a few halogen bulb light fixtures. My favorite is this one desk lamp. It casts an excellent light One is this desk lamp that I’ve had for
I’ve used it most every day for 8+ hours a day for the last 8 years… something like 15 thousand hours and I’m still using the original halogen light bulb.
I’ve asked myself “Self, how can this be? These bulbs are supposed to be rated for 3,000 hours!”
The lamp has a dual power switch. The low power setting casts a slightly warmer, yellower, dimmer light than the high power setting. I like that setting much more than the high power setting. Ladyada pointed out page 8 of this GE Lighting Technical Catalog. Simplified, it reads, “If you turn the brightness down a little, the bulb will last a whole lot longer”. So there. :-)
After much looking, I found replacements for my halogen bulbs online but of course there are so many different bulbs it can be hard to find the right replacement. I had initially bought them in a lighting store in a strip mall in Cupertino. They charged $20+ per bulb. I was so angry when I found them online for $3 per bulb that I returned the store bought ones. With shipping, I bought 3 bulbs online for the price of 1 in the store. The shipping cost more than the bulbs.
PS. No, it’s not actually a Babylon 5 lamp. I put that there, off some B5 Action Figures I bought :-)
I’ve graduated from using the Arduino Language Reference to using the Extended Reference page. :-)
This is an absolutely true story. This happened to me in February.
With a $20 bill clutched in my hand, I tried to enter the Muni station at Embarcadero. My money was no good.
I asked the station agent behind the glass how I could catch a train. She told me to drop $1.50 in coins into the turnstile. I thought for a moment, searching my mind’s wallet. I dug through my leather wallet and pulled out a crisp ATM yuppie food stamp. A sullen expression fell across her face. She was obviously troubled by her predicament. And I could tell she knew it wouldn’t end well.
She shook her head “No”, pointed and told me through the glass, “Go over there and press ‘H’ and you can change for a ONE dollar bill.” Go where? H? But I don’t have a… her eyes pierced me with sadness. She felt my pain. She knew.
We broke eye contact and I turned to face my task.
Ok let me just cut to the chase here. Muni has no way to make change. The BART machines she was pointing me to don’t let me make change for a $20 without me buying a BART ticket. So I ended up having to buy a $3.00 BART ticket to get change for the other machine, which could give me quarters for change.
That’s dumb.
When Charlotte’s family was here, we all went to see Wicked at the Orpheum Theater. It was really quite a show!
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr T on 3-1-09. Pretty fun. Pretty trippy.
Muppets from Space on 3-1-09. Nope, it didn’t have the spark that Jim Henson brought to the Muppets. Pandering to children doesn’t make for good programming for children or adults.
Howls Moving Castle on 3-8-09. Good anime. Weird plot as is usual of Japanese.
Star Trek: Nemesis on 3-something-09. Kinda weak. At least it had lasers and the Enterprise smashing into stuff. “Hey, we found all these parts of a robot that look just like Data, let’s put him together and see what happens! Hey, we’ve got a robot that looks like Data only dumber, let’s download the full and complete memories of a Starfleet officer into him and see what happens! “Hi, I’m Data and I’m gonna die but that’s ok because there’s BACKUP DATA!” Oof.
Oh and remember how the Enterprise smashed into that other ship? Wouldn’t like 1/4 of the crew of the ship have been killed? I mean, 1/4 of the saucer was completely smashed. In mourning for Data, did Picard forgot to mourn the 200 or so people he killed. Or maybe the ship has airbags. Yeah, that’s it.
Doctor Horrible. I’ve rewatched this thing so many times. I rewatched it with friends on Saturday night. Joss Whedon is in my pantheon.
A wonderful 15 minute movie.
Note: It is vitally important that you continue watching even after you say to yourself, “Oh, I get it. Cute.”
(via BestofYoutube and Youtube)
local version:
Last night we had a terrific impromptu dinner party. Corey called in the afternoon sati g he was in San Francisco with nothing going on. He brought his new girlfriend Melissa. Rick Taylor brought a chicken caserole, our neighbor Cindy brought greens from working at the farmers market. And Charlotte brought her signature pink fizzy Slow Gin Fizz.
We had an appetizer of home made lonza with fresh home made bread.
The dinner table had fresh organic greens, home made garlic bread, home made curry chicken casserole, home made lasagna with “happy cow” Marin Sun Farms ground beef, excellent “super decanted” wine, and candles. All in our tiny apartment in the city!
Oh and desert had the most terrific Earthquake Cake from San Francisco Chocolate Factory with real whipped cream, a tangelo slice and salt sprinkles! Woot!
Merriment was had by all!
I was so full I could barely move :-)
Today I formally declare a new addition to the list of Good Words. These are words that bring a smile to the young and old alike. Former inductees into this list include “Thwack!”, “Pseudopod!” and of course an old favorite, “Mukluk“. Today let it be known far and wide that the following word is officially Good.
Haberdashery
Thank you, and good night!
Remember Star Trek IV: The Search for Whales? Remember Scotty giving away the secret to transparent aluminum? Here’s who he gave the secret to. Surmet Engineering.
(via)
Yup, it exists.