Left the NJ Turnpike an exit too soon and was deposited in a ghetto of Elizabeth Port with no easy way out. Mean streets. Felt a bit like Chevy Chase in his Vacation movie about to ask for directions as he tries to get on with gangsters in Harlem. Lucky the Maps Google app on my smartphone was my rescue.
Category Archives: computers
launch day + 1
Didn’t want to brave the lines so popped into the Apple Store a day late (hoping that they’d have exhausted inventory and thus my CC would be safe) for a hands on demo. Surprise! Not only did they have several on the display table (w/finger prints and smudge marks) to handle but the cashier was happy to pull a shiny shrink wrapped 4G or 8G box from under the register and sell it to me!
GeoCoded Run(s)
Google has enhanced its Maps API and MapsGoogle will now display EarthGoogle KML files. Here is an example. The KML file is appended to the maps dot google URL. Use a web service like Gmaps Pedometer to build trace routes. Use Gmap to GPX and create a GPX file. This file can be imported into Google Earth where the . KML can be edited. The paid Google Earth Plus version will shortcut the above steps as it has all of the features in one place.
music album
With the Cover View feature on the new iTunes 7 release, I was motivated to catalog my misc music files. Improperly tagged files will not pull the album art. Correct file name standardization helps but also one must be sure that the meta data gybes. I discovered several utilities that assist. Picard and Magic MP3 Tagger allow manual edits as well as semi-automated meta data searches. You start with various clues such as artist, album and track names. Example: INKARI – Mi Raza – Music Of The Andes – Vol 3 – Surupana (Yaravi-Sikuri) Peru D.R.A3.mp3 A Google keyword search led to a latin music site Google Translate aided. Surprisingly, Amazon.com has a rather extensive music database. Other online db tools are freedb.org and the excellent MusicBrainz.org The rewritten file name, after the detective work and head scratching, uses the Artist – Album – Track Number – Song Title convention and reads thus: Inkari – Miraza – 10 – Surupana (YaraviSikuri).mp3 The preceding was a tough nut. If your taste runs toward the more popular it’s an easier task.
best of both
I do have some windowz only apps and didn’t want to mess with emulation or be without so I’ve committed sacrilege and installed the Microsoft OS on my new Apple notebook using virtual machine software called Parallels. SMS thinks that I am going to go to hell for doing that 
Asics + iPod
Convergence is underway amongst the peripherals. A sucker for a slick gadget, this one is a $29 iPod accessory attachment. Its receiver measures the beat in stride using 2.4 GHz wireless telemetry. [photopress:IMG_0567.jpg,full,alignleft] Data translates to distance traveled, pace, and calories burned all the while playing musical incentive through the ear buds. In theory, to complete the Nike + iPod sport kit one must purchase special shoes. Hoping to avoid that expense I learned of a hacker work-around shoe mod which secures the kit’s accelerometer transmitter using velcro. Innovative B.O.U.R.Girl came up with a similar DIY solution using materials on hand. Her custom stitched soft pouch attaches directly to the lace and secures the goods. Now for a test run…
on a slow boat
Making a visit to the Apple Store, on a Saturday, was a less than ideal choice in timing. The place was wall to wall with customers. Apple has been enjoying a swelling interest in their newly released Mactel machines. Still, what a contrast in presentation compared to the plain ordinary BestBuyCircuitCity drab. A helpful staffer, one of many extra on duty that busy day, approached and responded when asked: Would there be an advantage to buy from their beautiful store as opposed to ordering from Apple’s online website? — “Well… [she formulated her answer] if you buy here you take delivery on the spot and carry it home. [immediate gratification] Otherwise, it’s gotta’ come from CHINA and could take a couple of weeks.” A powerful argument. I had visions of my potential purchase jostling about on some container ship in the salty Pacific. On leaving the store I had already discounted her sales pitch as fantastic NE incredulous and made up my street smart mind to custom spec my new computer as I have always done. What a line: 2 weeks from China… I snickered during dinner table conversation. Realize that the actual assembly does take place in a far away third world but surely they would have them stacked high in some Midwestern distribution facility.
Epilogue:
Imagine my chagrin to receive this order status email with FedEx tracking number:
11:16 AM Left origin SHANGHAI CN
Trust in apple. She spoke the truth. It wasn’t a line. I was a doubter. I’ll never live this down!
netflix
A rental disc arrives on Wednesday and I’m able to have it back in the mailbox for pickup on Thursday. The postal service, and an efficient local distribution center, can get me the next selection from my queue two days later for viewing over the weekend. Unless there’s a Monday holiday, this cycle permits 8 DVDs/mo. goes into 10.64 = 1.33 per movie. I’m liking that but maybe neflix is not. An “May we please have a moment of your time?” email arrived with a survey request. “We received Monarch of the Glen: Series 2: Disc 1 this morning and would like to learn when you returned this DVD…” (READ – we are tracking your rapid returns) Uh oh. I’ve heard stories about the Netflix throttle.
TV turnerdowner
Back in the day, before FastForward on the VCR and a Mute button for the remote, one suffered through the annoying commercials about cigarettes and head or stomach pain pills. As a work around we fabricated a simple clicker switch from the hobbyist parts bin at Sparky’s. This was a simple hardwired interrupt to one of the input leads on the speaker which killed the audio. Now there is software. Follows is a short list of Firefox Extensions that remove the clutter from your web browsing experience:
- Flashblock Flash can add coolness to page presentation but more and more of these animations are obnoxious promotional distraction. By default Flashblock hides the ads. If desired, you can override with a mouse click.
- Adblock for hands on click removal / banning
- Adblock filterset.G Updater (used in conjunction with Adblock) automates the entire removal process
killin’ time
While waiting for my day job to begin I’ve found a new project / time sponge. Most of my flight logs (circa 1975-1988) are pen and ink ledger books. So, now is a good time to update the media and bring the old archives into the new millennium. Using mouse, keyboard, and Excel spreadsheet to transpose the data items, line for line, is not only tedious, but some of the airports flown have been renamed, moved, closed and lost to residential expansion. I have found several online resources which help me reconstruct these old flights. Some private landing fields, crop duster strips or ranches are obscure and difficult to pinpoint. One such challenge was Las Cruces and its private Club de Caza y Pesca de Baja California resort. All of these places seemed matter of fact in my mind 25 years ago and were merely scribbled, short hand, into these old books. Today, however, some locations are lost to memory and the documentation limited. Diener and Peck Ranches, Jubil and Schwartz Farms — where did they go?
Once found, I post their geo-coordinates, importing all into a database on my server. Using a few lines of PHP, and the Google Maps API, dynamic code displays a nifty push-pin map. It’s a work in progress and so far this map project displays my first decade of flying. View the output [ here ].