The Future
Sorry, the future isn’t here. Please try back in another decade.
Dreams, Sleep, Argh!
Last night’s sleep was brought to you by the letters: woke up fifty times.
While an exaggeration to some extent, I did manage to wake up after every single dream throughout the night. Typically, I would realize it was a dream and hit the eject button. One dream I had the characters arguing with me that it wasn’t a dream!
“Here’s this large complicated washer/dryer combo with two consoles. It’s really neat!”
“Wow. That’s something.”
“It even gives you an inventory of all materials used and a receipt for the washing.”
“Why would I want that?”
“Because…”
“I could understand if this were some sort of commercial washer/dryer combo, but this is for home use.”
“Uhh.. Well look at this over here. Home stereo stuff!”
“Why is it on the same aisle with laundry crap?”
“Uhh..”
“And seriously, why does the washer have two PCs in it?”
“Because it has two consoles!”
“The one on the left cuts into the area where the washing machine’s tub lies, which should reduce it’s height by 60%, but if you look inside it, it’s full capacity.
“That’s just how great it is!”
“Laws of physics are being ignored. This is a dumb dream. I’m out.”
“But…”
*wake up*
The dream where the characters argue was even weirder, and involved a few real individuals, so I’ll keep that one to myself. The curious part is why I was looking for a new washing machine in a dream. Does my subconcious mind know something I don’t?
Postfix SASL SMTP Authentication Outlook
For my own reference…
Outlook and Outlook Express are complete junk. They require the LOGIN SASL mechanism for smtp authentication which is unsupported and non-standard according to Cyrus SASL. So, all you have to do is build sasl with –enable-login and all will probably be fine.
New Keyboard at Work
So Marshall has been cleaning up the Pearl office, and brought over an IBM clicky keyboard. I laid claim to it immediately. Threw the Type 7 in the store room. I now make loud clicking noises when I type. It’s great!
Review of the TI-nspire calculator
The Texas Instruments TI-nspire calculator has a large screen and interchangeable keypads that also change the personality of the device. Unforunately this means the calculator itself has to be large. It’s literally the same shape as a Sunset T1 test set, although only a fraction as thick. So it’s large and probably won’t fit in you pockets. They actually make a nice padded carrying case that probably has a belt loop, if you’re feeling especially nerdy. Anyways, if tiny is what you want, look elsewhere, and I even have recommendations for that.
So you have this nice and neat calculator with high-resolution display, natural “text book”-style entry, and all of that, but you need TI-84 compatability for some reason. Maybe it’s nostalgia. Maybe you need a -84 app. Maybe you prefer the layout of the 84’s keypad. Maybe your teacher wants you to use a TI-83, 84, or 89 and nothing else. It doesn’t really matter. The fact is, you can swap out the keypads and switch over to TI-84 mode. The emulation is COMPLETE. You don’t get nice beautiful text, you get huge ugly pixels. As I highly doubt anyone would prefer this mode after using the nspire native mode, they provide a carrying pouch that will fit nicely in a three ring binder or perhaps a Trapper Keeper sporting kittens and palm trees and ALF. Also, it should be noted that it uses the classic TI-84 keypad and not the newer curvier crap. In other words, they made it right.
Next up is the nspire keypad. With this, you get the nspire OS and its high resolution display, multiple shades of gray. The keypad has your usual keys, and in between them tiny buttons for all the letters of the alphabet and a few other symbols. If there’s one thing they missed, it’s a one-touch way to take the multiplicative inverse/reciprocal of a number. Rather, you’re expected to do it the “hard” way. Either do 1/x or x^-1. Oh the horror.
The screen is beautiful and is the highest resolution they offer in any of the TI calculators. When graphing, you get to see fine details that just aren’t possible with less resolution. The calculator mode is nice. It uses natural “text book” style entry, which makes it easy to enter those formulas for RLC circuits or just finding the ERP of a given transmitter setup. The 99 previous calculations are available simply by scrolling up. If you can figure out how to program the thing or can manage to keep notes using the non-QWERTY keypad, you have 16MB of storage at your disposal.
One neat feature is the ability to hook up the nspire to a PC or Mac. There’s only one problem. The Windows driver doesn’t support 64-bit vista. As such, any computer of recent vintage is left out of the fray. Either Microsoft made it too annoying to develop drivers for the OS, or various companies are lazy. As even some high-end, high-profit hardware doesn’t support 64-bit Vista, I’m willing to be the problem is Microsoft.
By now you’re asking, “Is this calculator right for me?” Let me ask you a few questions. Do you like pretty displays? Do you like or need a graphing calculator? Can you deal with a large device? Do you like natural input style? Do you have $135 or more budgeted for your calculator? If so, go ahead and buy it. If all you want is a calculator with natural entry, pocket-sized, no graphing capability and you want to spend $20, then the Casio FX-115ES and FX-300ES will probably suit your needs.
BIG FAT EDIT
Turns out, they do support 64-bit machines. You have to dig into the install directory to get the 64-bit driver. For whatever reason, the 32-bit driver is installed by default and will cause massive failure when you try to use the calculator with the computer.
Life Update
Passed the test to get my general class ham license. Although Rob’s new license was granted in just a couple of days, both of us that tested for our upgrades from tech to general have yet to see the FCC ULS database updated. I guess new licenses get priority as upgrades have temporary authority to work under the new license class for as long as the CSCE is valid. I’m attempting the Extra test in June. Let’s just say this test is actually difficult. So difficult I had to buy a calculator!
Speaking of which, I bought and really like the Casio fx-115 ES. For $17 you get something that can do weird complex things and a nice display to boot. It’s not a graphing calculator, nor is it programmable, which is perfect for test situations. Also, I’m not spending more than $100 on a calculator.
The next couple of weeks at work are going to be a drag. Turn ups are everywhere. I even have two projects that will use the same hardware in a short period. Several late night tasks, weekends will be worked, and all that.
The drawing thing is just… going. I’ve made progress on a few techniques while drawing a character, but still haven’t gotten to the point where I can consistently draw characters, much less draw them in any given pose. At least I try to match the rest of the head to the lopsided head shapes. Also, I’m actually drawing the heads with knecks, as it matters with hair. Sometimes I even draw (disproportionate) shoulders when needed. I haven’t scanned anything in the past few days as I’ve sort of slacked off. Tonight I sketched a few heads, but nothing worth showing to the world. I’ve almost regressed in some ways.
Thought for the day
Security is an illusion, so buy the lock with the neatest key.
RetroGrade BBS is LIVE!
1 601-845-2632
Large file collection! Doors will slowly trickle in.
RetroGrade BBS is Back!
I’ve revived RetroGrade BBS. Turns out with the DSL package, phone lines are 50% less than they’d normally be. It won’t be such a financial burden. Another big change: no telnet access. Also, certain doors will not be put on the bbs. The two doors32 doors will not be moved over, as they require windows. On the up side, the doors that tended to bring the bbs to a crawl won’t be an issue as we’ll be running on a non-multitasking operating system.
I want to add a local node for myself and a couple of non-public telnet nodes for people that are known to me personally or at least have known them on irc for a decade or so. The local node is a priority, secret telnet nodes, not so much. For all this to work I’ll need to get microsoft networking for dos functioning. Not a fun task.
So, for those that are interested, the BBS will be available at 601-845-2632 once the phone company moves. Estimated turnip date is between monday and the 14th.
And I’ve lost the touch
I can’t even pick the No. 3 tonight. I just can’t find the right grip. The pick just falls over in my fingers and wobbles in the cylinder instead of pushing on pins.