otaku ramblings

Perrfect...

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:48:11 GMT

Perfect type of xmas:
Eat out at a crab place yesterday, and eat out some pho today. Yay for Asian places that are open on 25th. And extra yay for Asian groceries that are open on 25th too.
Then add just a huge pile of books and lots of James Bond movies.

Happy Holidays

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 01:10:27 GMT

Swedish christmas cookies, originally uploaded by uninorth13.

Happy holidays or whatnot (I wonder what the truely PC version would be? Why assume anyone would have to celebrate anything?)

I've been very slow to update here recently. It has had its reasons; tons of changes in the life externally, and as many internally. I will try to spice it up here and do a regular twice a week update again. Meanwhile... today was about 73 F (23 C) out here, something I definitely don't mind a single bit. 2 Ikea Billy shelves full of TBRs, an Xserve RAID filled with James Bonds, decent red wine and weather that allows me to wear flip-flops (never mind it should be cold tomorrow)... I'm fine.

P.S. Santa or Kwanzaabot, please bring me 2 (or more) basement kittehs.

Interesting times

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:23 GMT

Friday (yesterday) was pretty interesting.
Finally it didn't rain in the morning. So I walked to get the bus to work like usual - and discovered that after the shaky bridge there was no way of making it to the bus. There was no more Washington Road - it was river at best. So I called my previous boss from the road (I didn't remember my current boss' number) "I can't get to that side of city but I will try to get there eventually".
Eventually, a few hours later, I made it.
And everyone was happy.
It will take a few years before I can use that reason/excuse again. No more flood+high tide for being late.
But I had a good time...

Interesting parts come from the flood. Most downtown was affected by the flood. 18000 houses are without water. We are high so there is water, even for shower. Feels so luxury. More flood expected for a few days on tide, and so is also having no water for a week. Sigh...

I'm not a winter person

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 21:01:37 GMT

I'm so not a winter person.
This year the switch between summer and winter mode for my body happened a few weeks ago. Meaning in practice that I need the double amount of sleep to function compared to the summer mode.
"What's new" would merit a long update but so far change is .. who needs to know knows.
Trying to summarize over 5 years to 2 suitcases isn't easy.

Just switch back the summer, mmkay?

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:30:06 GMT

I didn't realize it's been nearly four months since the last public update. I just haven't really felt like writing (or have felt, but never find time).
Every year there's a day when the "no shorter days anymore please, switch back the summer NOW!" hits. And this seems to get earlier year after year. This year it was about two weeks ago. The days aren't long enough, AND there is just far not enough daylight for my brain. So what realistically is happening in the next week or few is that my required amount of sleep for my brain to actually function will double to that of the summer brain requirements.
I'm REALLY not looking forward to any shorter days. Enough. Switch the summer back on NOW.

I'm done with winters.
And hopefully this year will be the last one I'll need to deal with, ever.

Writer's Block: Place of Residence

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:24:45 GMT

I can see far from the windows.
I feel safe.
There's at least one lemon tree that I can see from kitchen, and a big garden.
It's quiet there.

Describe your dream house (even if it's not a house).

View 503 Answers

Bus Eireann's injustice to small places - like Baltimore

Sun, 17 May 2009 22:39:45 GMT

Bus Eireann is about to cut (among other lines) the line 251, the ONLY line connecting Baltimore to the rest of the world; Baltimore-Skibbereen-Drimoleague.
The reason is it being "not profitable".
That means that after that being cut, there will be NO public service at all from or to Baltimore.
So all the carless, elderly, students, or tourists without car will be left out.

I am furious about this. I hate most petitions, but this one has my heart.
Please email or send a letter to the minister deciding on this monstrocity,
Éamon Ó Cuív, T.D., Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs with his email = aire@pobail.ie

Plants I want to grow

Sun, 10 May 2009 19:16:53 GMT

Plants I want to grow in ... (or wherever I end up...)
* Plants I grow now but not there

1. Pineapples *
2. Mangoes *
3. Aloe vera *
4. Strawberries *
5. Kiwis *
6. Lavander *
7. Basil *
8. Parsley *
9. Cilantro *
10. Chives *
11. Coffee
12. Tea
13. Mate
14. Avocados *
15. Cherry tomatoes *
16. Grapes
17. Scotch bonnets *
18. Thai red peppers *
19. Açai
20. Catnip *
21. Cat grass
22. Ginger *
23. Lupins *
24. Tulip type spring flowers*
25. Carrots
26. Other fresh vegetables and spices
27. Date palms (and other palms)
28. Bonsai (currently trying to bonsai an avocado)
29. Orange tree *
30. Lemon tree *

Enough is enough. Move on, pigging on global flu scare has expired

Thu, 07 May 2009 20:56:09 GMT

"Only 35 people have been hospitalized with confirmed swine flu infections, but their median age is 15"

"Although seasonal flu causes 250,000 to 500,000 deaths annually around the world"... do you need that repeated? seasonal flu causes 250,000 to 500,000 deaths annually around the world

"Of the 35 Americans hospitalized, 7 were known to have other health problems"

The media disgusts me. Those quotes are from a NYT article. As if all that matters is what rich white soccer mums can get scared of.

Oh, wait - they are on the market. First, they buy the newspaper and the media articles telling how scared to be. And when you fast forward the time a bit, they will buy those swine flu vaccines that they will conveniently market at a higher price than that already-ah-so-profitable female cancer vaccine.

WHO estimates of global deaths in 2001, 15 leading causes link

Rank Cause Total deaths (thousands)

1 Ischaemic heart disease 6,880
2 Cerebrovascular disease 5,096
3 Lower respiratory infections 3,863
4 HIV/AIDS 2,943
5 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 2,520
6 Perinatal conditions 2,438
7 Diarrhoeal diseases 2,124
8 Tuberculosis 1,660
9 Road traffic accidents 1,259
10 Trachea, bronchus, lung cancers 1,210
11 Malaria 1,080
12 Hypertensive heart disease 939
13 Self-inflicted injuries 814
14 Diabetes mellitus 808
15 Cirrhosis of the liver 796
16 Measles 777
17 Stomach cancer 744
18 Congenital anomalies 656
19 Liver cancer 626
20 Nephritis and nephrosis 619

Corsive mine. C'mon, media, go ahead and start scaring on more common causes.

From another statistic: 2. Lower respiratory infections 2 643 000

Things I want, eventually

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:22:59 GMT

I haven't posted for ages. Work, work, work...
Anyway. Need to get back to out-of-work life. I realize there are a lots of small things I want to get eventually - when I know if I'll be here or there, or when I'll be somewhere at least for the next few years.

1. Proper tools. Like for hacking hardware and metal, wood, glass etc
2. In addition to usual tools, that would include tools to cut and modify glass (maybe even to melt it). I want to modify the nice glass bottles I run to
3. An old Singer. I love those. My grandma had one, too bad importing will cost a lot as it's heavy with the table it comes with
4. A proper desktop - enough storage and RAM to run all the stuff I need to. So either a loaded Mac Pro or Xserve...
5. An arcade. A real one - probably hacking that to run my dad's Mac Mini with MacMame and with all the mames out there..
6. A proper kitchen. I love the industrial look, of the kind they use in big kitchens. So where you can actually cook and that it does not start to look outdated easily. As little stupid kitchen kitsch machines as I can, so just coffee machine (moka + the french manual one), a nice blender, and a nice juicer. And a gas cooker, and a nice bbq
7. Mosaic tools. That will be easy, any tools that one needs for tiling floors will do - I want to make mosaics, somewhere, some day
8. Greenhouse. I want to grow nice exotic plants that demand temperature and moisture...
9. Cats. Some cats that actually adopt me
10. A decent weather
11. A place where I feel at home
12. Sea or ocean at least on a driving distance. No, a lake won't do
13. Enough but not too many to get me uninterested, toys - proper SRL etc etc etc

What next? Ban unix man pages too?

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:12:06 GMT

EU bans use of 'Miss' and 'Mrs' (and sportsmen and statesmen) because it claims they are sexist

Using 'Miss' and 'Mrs' has been banned by leaders of the European Union because they are not considered politically correct.

Brussels bureaucrats have decided the words are sexist and issued new guidelines in its bid to create 'gender-neutral' language.

The booklet warns European politicians they must avoid referring to a woman's marital status.

This also means Madame and Mademoiselle, Frau and Fraulein and Senora and Senorita are banned.

Instead of using the standard titles, it is asking MEPs to address women by their names.

Well. How about ban both mr and ms as well? Why bother underlining someone's gender in a letter anyway? As it's much more neutral to point one being of a specific sex than to underline or guess their marital status if that gender happens to be female? And what about languages where there isn't a "ms" term? What kind of totally made up "ms" are they inventing e.g. for Italian, Spanish, Finnish..? Or just stick to "citizen" or "number" is probably even better, less individual and sounds more standardized.

How about banning Sir, Madam etc while they are at it? And all the royal titles from Lords to Princesses. And as every profession etc should be gender neutral, how about force that to actors too - if they can make Joe Vitarelli be "Irish" with his great accent I'm sure that gender shouldn't be any more relevant than eye color for actors.

Oh, and ban man pages in unix too while they are at it.

My biggest regrets in school and life

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:51:43 GMT

I don't have many regrets. Most of the things don't make any sense to think "what if" or "I should have". For what? Can't change the past.
However, I do regret

1. Reading all the books that I was forced to read in school. A few of them were just boring, wrong or disgusting. The diary of Adrian Mole was among the most stupid ones to be read, and to this date I hate that book. I should have just skipped the ones I found a strong disgust to finish. Life is too short. Give them a try and if it's as bad as Adrian Mole, move on.
2. Not skipping (more) school. I did it only once or twice, and those were for valid reasons. I could have learned more by skipping a few more classes.
3. Not following (more of) my dreams.
4. Being too often nice and doing what is expected. Listening to others and 'more adults' advice can be rationally good but that isn't just always good. A few very specific times I really regret listening to others, or being nice.

Writer's Block: Left Behind

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:37:37 GMT

What do you want done with your body after you die?

Submitted By crunch_crunch

View 502 Answers

Definitely no religious funerals or no priests, rabbis etc allowed. No religious talk, and nothing religion-oriented.
No cemeteries - I don't like them. I don't want to in a row or a wall with other dead people. Burn me with my entire contents, and dump the outcome to the closest ocean, or use a part of me for a garden fertilized if I'll have a garden by then.
Then have a toast, and move on with your own life.

Nightmares

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:29:54 GMT

Saturday I woke up from nightmares - in my dreams I was searching for M on a study break, and run to huge crowds of people - looking for him. I didn't like the feel of being apart.
Today I woke up from nightmares and remember only a few pieces of them again: I had my hair on a ponytail, I tightened it and the ponytail and my hair fell off. Then I was traveling with M, and at some point were were apart again, and I run to my uncle (who is alive). He said something about knowing when people will die from seeing their eyes, and I replied I can tell from the smell (the smell of the death).

Last week not a single day have I woken up happy or refreshed from enough sleep.
There were a few weeks of early shifts - these were sleeping 4 hours per night and I was still somehow functional. Now two days of a weekend and not on call but I still feel as tired as any given morning during the week I wake up. I want to wake up one day an realize the past 675ish days have been nothing but a nightmare and I can continue my life from where it was left before then. I'm not happy - I don't have enough time for myself, to reflect, to write, to do anything that refreshes me, it's just work and it's draining more than I can deal with.

Safari AdBlock - I so needed this

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 09:45:03 GMT

Safari AdBlock, originally uploaded by uninorth13.

I so needed this. Safari AdBlock
I hate flash - 99,9 % of it is something I just don't want to see. The 0,01 % of the flash things I do want to see I rather select myself.
With pop-ups blocked, and browser resizing and other cheap javascrap disabled, the flash things are among the most annoying things left. So, since Safari doesn't have this built-in, and some of the things that worked but don't any mreo with 10.5, this does just what I need.
I placed the standard English ads+ created these 4 custom. And I can read articles in newspapers without getting all flashy again.

I don't belong

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 14:43:38 GMT

Friday I got out of work early - for once. Much to do still, but I occasionally reach the point I don't care. My paid time is done, and time for the weekend. I had a glass of wine at one of my favorite book cafes, and after that dropped a book at a hostel for releasing it wild. I haven't been to that hostel since 2004 when I first moved to this city, so it felt weird.
And then the whole walking around and being in this city feels weird since. The same way when I see a place as a tourist, or when I go to visit my mum - I see and can understand most people's motivations, but I just don't belong. And I hadn't had that feel that strong here for a long time. I don't belong.

I have bought food only twice this year. It's not high on my priorities now - and I feel unhappy. With the excuse of 'global recession' there were no salary increases, and most of my weekends are now gone 'volunteering' for work when there is no unvolunteer option.
The bus tickets have gone up 15%, food prices have gone up, rent is going up... "is that ok?". No, that's NOT ok. If using the global recession as an excuse why do all the companies have to make more? I get less money than last year, and most of my weekends aren't free. Even though those are not my primary concerns now, they still piss me off.

Friday I got fresh okras, scotch bonnets, black eye beans and yellow lentils, in their uncooked form. I don't want to be here, and I'll be applying for any job that would make me happier - while still one grain of hope for the paperwork is lingering somewhere. I'll cook and sort the things I've got, unleash all the literature, get my clothes to be less in amount and hope something happens. I don't belong here, and I'm not happy at people's greediness or the exploitation. Or in the wait for the paperwork that hasn't moved on in way too long.

Evil IOHIDEventQueueEnqueue: Error enqueuing memory. (0xe00002e8) error

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:55:53 GMT

I hate having to restart the Mac. It's so Windowsish - and even there I don't like to restart it more than maybe once a month.
So this time not only did I restart my Windows box yesterday, but I also had the evil IOHIDEventQueueEnqueue kill everything. While the Mac was asleep it didn't wake up - and no sense in trying to ssh to it while no IP or DNS would be known. Grr.

1/19/09 6:24:02 PM kernel AppleYukon2: 00000000,00000000 sk98osx_dnet - recovering from missed interrupt
1/19/09 6:26:18 PM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.backupd-wake[26080]) Exited with exit code: 1
1/19/09 6:29:57 PM ntpd[26] time reset -0.422186 s
1/19/09 8:13:59 PM /usr/libexec/hidd[37] IOHIDEventQueueEnqueue: Error enqueuing memory. (0xe00002e8)
1/19/09 8:31:08 PM mDNSResponder[16] KQ SSLHandshake failed: -9838
1/19/09 10:44:21 PM kernel npvhash=4095

And it's not just me with that error. For anyone else with the symptoms, bookmark this KB.

Writer's Block: Comfort Food

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 20:30:12 GMT

When times are tough or you're feeling down, what's the one food you can count on to make you feel better?

View 504 Answers

When I'm feeling down, I don't eat. If I do, I feel like @#% and have a stomach that has a life of its own. Therefore I need to first go past why I am feeling down, and solve it whatever it takes. And sometimes it can take days or months to resolve the conflict. So when I'm down, food isn't comfort, it's really the uncomfort.

Writer's Block: Tricky Questions

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 20:28:28 GMT

What is your first reaction when someone says "I need to talk to you"?

View 506 Answers

Usually hearing those words isn't a sign of getting any good news...

Inflation goes down says the news

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 20:12:00 GMT

"Eurozone inflation fell to a 26-month low in December, thanks to a big decline in the price of energy bills, official figures have shown" says BBC.

The bus ticket prices only went up by 15 % in January. That makes me spend an insane amount of money only to get work and back. That, and ungodly amount of time. On the late shift, that means about 1 hour 40 minutes that day spent waiting for transport and the actual commuting time, and on the early shift 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Religions again.. sign

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 20:01:46 GMT

Man refuses to drive 'Possibly No God' bus

When did you ever hear of an atheist going equally apeshit for all the obligatory Christian religious shows such as Xmas or Easter, and all the "godbless" and prayers thrown at them?

List of features I find more user friendly in Windows than in Mac OS X

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:53:47 GMT

1. Renaming successfully and without side effects one's home folder (or documents folder for Windows).
2. There is no point 2.

Writer's Block: Found Objects

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:47:54 GMT

As the old saying goes, one person's trash is another person's treasure. What's the best thing—chairs, roller skates, old electronics—you've ever found that someone else had thrown away?

View 501 Answers

Would probably have to be Logic Pro key and install disc set.

Worldwide Internet crash

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 20:26:35 GMT

Breaking News: All Online Data Lost After Internet Crash

Old but ah so good.

On the dell

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 14:40:41 GMT

I'm writing this on the new Dell mini Inspiron 9.
It will take a while to get used to the keyboard and the special keys layoyt (such as shift only on left side, and next to that '".)
Also a mental note to self - this is the first Dell of which I can actually use3 the touchpad. Yay.