Mar 23, 2009 - Networking Fun! (TrendNet router)

Yeah, so, as part of my moving up to Iowa, I was getting myself a router so I could have one pre-configured and just add Heather's laptops to it once I got up there. (her linksys went kaputski on her) I was originally going to get the D-Link DIR-655, but instead opted for a TrendNet TEW-633GR. Both available on Newegg of course.

Reasons: A) it was 10 bucks cheaper B) exact same hardware as the D-Link, C) very similar configuration interface D) slightly beefier security and network options. (They seemed to get more out of the hardware than D-Link) and E) They're using version 2 of the draft-n standard whereas last I read, D-Link was still on version 1.

Also, D-Link seems to be changing up their hardware revisions pretty often on the 655, and some versions appear to be less stable than others. That was a fairly heavy concern for me. I'm not dissing D-Link, afterall I'm using an 8-port Gbit switch from them, and it's been working great for the last year.

Anyway, the little guy's been running almost 4 days non-stop and has not dropped the connection once. I also have an ubuntu-based samba file-server on the local network which is mapped as a network drive on the XP box. I had a couple hiccups getting things going, but that was a problem involving me having shutdown XP's workstation service since I wasn't using it. Took me awhile to remember I had done that too. :P

Anyway, all's well, and everything is going good and strong. It's a nice little router. I'll just have to see how it behaves after I add the wireless laptops when I move up in June.

Jan 20, 2009 - Catching up:

Whew, quite a few things have happened since my last post.

First off, as some of you may know, I'm engaged now. We're looking at potentially eloping now (well, not really eloping, but getting married via a justice of the peace) She's not so much on the wedding ceremony as she is on the party afterwards. That, and her dad made a generous offer if we eloped hehe. Anyway, I helped them pack things and move stuff out of her old apartment, and was invited to stay with them over the Christmas holidays, which I did. Had a pretty good time. Course, I think half the reason for the invite was to have me unload the U-Haul so her dad didn't have to. :P

Anyway, new year, new projects. Children of Pripyat is coming along pretty well. I got an ATH-MB3k vocal mic a little before christmas (I was scoping out Best Buy's new pro-music section, and didn't wanna walk away empty handed haha.)

Work-wise, still learning from Wally. I'm hoping to have some more networking experience by the time I have to move up to Iowa (first week of June). I'm also doing some reading and self-learning on the side. I'm thinking about trying to get certified as a CCNA after I move, so I've been reading, and doing practice quizzes, and registered on the cisco website so I could go over the test modules.
I've still got a ways to go methinks heh.

I'm looking forward to Iowa, despite the harsher climate. Hopefully participating in UIowa's DCN (dual-career network) will help me find a job rather than going it alone. It's kinda like a glorified trailing spouse, so it should be a good thing to participate in. Still have loose ends down here that need tying, but there's plenty of time for that.

Least I'll get to see her again end of February. A friend of ours is getting married down in Tampa, so she's heading down here for that. Should be good times. Work keeps me pretty busy, and my brain occupied, so I don't miss her too much...yet.

Hopefully, I'll get Children of Pripyat into releasable quality by end of February. After that, I plan to work on an acoustic version geared toward the older audiences. Hopefully I can get those done, and released through CD Baby before I move. Who knows, maybe people will decide they like it enough to buy it hehe.

Oct 12, 2008 - A Not-so-good Weekend; a.k.a. God hates me:

Or: How Not to Change a Car Battery

So, today was laundry day; meaning I head over to Heather's place and use her washer/dryer, and we go out and do lunch while the stuff gets cleaned. I get up, had burned a DVD of anime involving vampires for her (she's into vampire/supernatural books and such) And get ready to leave, only to leave the DVD behind; which is not a big deal, I can bring it over another day, and she's pretty busy writing cover letters and applying for post-doc positions as it is.

Anyway, I left, got in and started the car; no problems. Now a few weeks prior, it had a bit of a "fit" where the engine turns over, but it won't idle. The car has a history of this, even before I got it handed down to me from the parents, but the instances are few and far in between, and it usually recovers just fine. Cept this time it was a little different as the clock/dashboard settings reset themselves.

Brain: "Hello? Dead battery!"
I brushed the thought aside, and went on my merry way.

I get to her place, turn everything off, and was probably only in there maybe 10 or 15 minutes tops. We came out, got in as we were gonna hit Bento's Cafe for some asian cuisine. I turn the key, and here this rapid-fire click sound.

Yup. Dead battery....and parked right behind her garage door. Well, her friend weren't home, and nobody else was around, so I shifted to neutral, rolled back down the incline into the street so she could get her car out so we could try jumpstarting it.

No dice. Battery was dead-as-a-door-nail. Great, so now, here I am in the middle of the street, car's not going anywhere, can't really tow it anywhere because the dealership's not open on a sunday.

Enter: Plan A:
I called, and after some ideas/advice, decided to take the battery itself out, and haul it down to Sears to have them test it real quick. Course, before I left, I had to push the car up a slight incline back into the parking spot, course, could only get it part way in once the back wheel hit the bottom, and I'm not that strong to begin with. But it's not hanging out much, so godod enough, and off we go.

Sure enough the battery itself was bad. I gave them my make/model/year of the car, and basically had a choice between 2 different Die-Hard brands, both a very similar price. (104 or 105 dollars) Naturally, I went with the cheaper :P

Swipe, ring, sign, and off to lunch we go. Which, consequently was quite good. Chicken Katsu = <3

We get back to her place and hang out to cool our jets a bit. Was quite warm today. Finally, around 6pm or so (and letting the laundry dry awhile) I go out to start putting in the new battery. So far everything is going just fine, even though I had to kinda fanagle things, since the girlfriend doesn't have a very complete toolkit. And neither do I for that matter. "Dammit Jim! I'm a Computer Geek, not a Mechanic!"

Having said that, I'm obviously not a mechanic as I obviously lack the necessary finger/hand/manual motor skills involved. Everythign was going fine and fitting in place (mind you it's starting to get dark, and she's holding a flashlight by this time) I go to reconnect the ground, being careful, and I DROP THE DAMN NUT! It falls BEHIND the battery, and DOESN"T go all the way down to the asphalt. I spend 30 MINUTES hunting for the damn hunk of metal only to find myself scrounging through my trunk for spare parts. At which point I realized scrounging meant giving up on finding it, so I took the girlfriend's advice and we both head over to wal-mart to get another nut.

Plan B:
After trying a few out, I come to realize none of them will probably fit, because Toyota probably uses a METRIC system ( you bastards!) So I cut my losses and buy a couple spare parts that fit over the battery terminals. I figured between the two of them and the parts I already had, I should be able to rig SOMETHING up.

We did dinner, as I was once again starving by that time. Physical labor seems to do that to me. I get back, get the flashlights out again, and start to open the packages, and test the other parts, and sure enough they don't fit either. Toyota is definitely using either metric, or some proprietary crap for their bolts/screws. I cut my losses and grab the new part that fits around the terminal, only to find the cable end doesn't fit over the piece itself, DOH! Luckily it's only the little bars/fitters were to narrow, so I grabbed the pliers and bent them a bit.

Done! Everything fits into place, and I tighten everything down good and tight, car starts up, and I can finally come home. Yay!

...

Did I mention it rained?

-Jbot

Sep 03, 2008 - A good weekend:

Well, Heather's parents visited this past weekend for her birthday. I got a free meal and movie out of it, so all's well heh. Also, since her grandfather is also musically inclined (he's a keyboard/piano player,) her dad wanted to get a couple pictures taken of me at my console desk to send back to her grandparents. So I got a couple decent shots taken of me...although in one my ever-growing baldspot is all too apparent. :P

Pics will be up shortly.

-Jbot

Aug 08, 2008 - All moved in!

Well, It only took a day or 2 to get all my stuff over there, and get my workdesk set up, but it's all good now. Took awhile to get the cable modem going though. Still have a tech coming out saturday to check the tap as well.

Good news, though, is I'm back online again, and all is well. Place doesn't cool all that great though (A/C wall unit), so I do have a pair of fans going. One in the main room, and one in the bedroom doorway. Yeah, it's a bit noisy. If I ever get around to recording something, I'll have to switch all the noise off...course, that won't account for vehicles since there's another apartment complex behind us. It's quiet for the most part though.

I did get my K-Micros and clips, but I haven't given em a good testing yet. Still need to get a pair of XLR cables. I'll try to find time to do that this weekend.

-Jbot

Jul 30, 2008 - Apartment hopping!

Okay, so, me and my sis have never gotten along very well together. Kinda like oil and water. We've kinda been in the same condo for about 2 or 3 years, and we've had our differences, certainly.

I think last weekend took the cake though. I won't get into details, but let's just say it was the last straw, and the camel's back is fubar.

So, I've been apartment hunting the last several days, with the help of my mother, who knows the areas better than me, and think I've found one that, while not extravagant, should be tolerable until I get ready to follow my girlfriend next May. All goes well, I'll be moving this weekend. Downside is I'll be having my soul sucked away by rent, which means no new gear for quite some time.

-sigh-

Jul 18, 2008 - Digg Article: OC Remix to remix Street Fighter 2

From Digg:
http://digg.com/gaming_news/Fans_go_pro_how_OC_ReMix_put_its_stamp_on_Street_Fighter_II

Fans go pro: how OC ReMix put its stamp on Street Fighter IIarstechnica.com — The musicians and fans at the popular site OverClocked ReMix were given a dream assignment: remix the songs from Street Fighter 2 for a new high-definition revamp that Capcom is releasing on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network. We talk with the remix team about the challenges involved in remixing an iconic piece of video game history.

------------------------------------------

For those of you who aren't in the know, OC ReMix is a site dedicated to the arrangment and remixing of video game music. The various works span multiple genres. A large portion of the music tends to have electronic elements, but you really can literally find anything from A Capella to ... I dunno, whatever fits into Z. (Zany?) I've followed the site since at least 2001 or so, and they have come a long way including arrangement and production values. There are remixes including systems as far back as C64 and on up through the latest and greatest.

Link: www.ocremix.org

Now, in keeping with the topic I started, they've also got links to 3 different interviews for this event. It's pretty big news since Capcom will be releasing this remixed soundtrack on Xbox Live and Playstation Network.

Here's the 3 interviews:

Ars Technica: http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/ocremix.ars

Console Arcade:
http://www.console-arcade.com/2008/07/17/overclocked-remix-on-street-fighter-ii-hd/

Fidget: http://www.fidgetonline.com/fidget/public/feature/28

I do feel happy for the guys, as this is a great opportunity to get heard.

-Jbot

Jul 03, 2008 - New Gear Day!

Well, the good news is the now-full-time work has given me a lil more money to throw around. Just purchased a pair of ATH-M40fs headphones, a firewire add-on card, and just last night ordered an Echo Audiofire 4. I think this is going to be it for awhile though. I need to save up since I'll be moving next April or May. Might get something for xmas though heh.

Unfortunately, my music-making has been in a wee bit of a rut lately. That's the one thing about working full time: it's a time sink...couple that with hanging out on weekends, and yeah, I've kinda killed most my time. But hey, it's experience, and what I'm learning on the IT side of things will be -very- helpful in carrying over to my next job...wherever that may be. I've got a good shot at making ~30K a year working in the computer field after finishing here, so it's all good.

Hmmm, 4th of July is tomorrow isn't it? Maybe I'll buy a bottle of the Captain and celebrate in style heh. My signature drink is Captain Morgan's Rum + Vanilla Coke, and it's been awhile since I've indulged myself. Who knows, maybe a little alcohol will help fuel my creative energies.

-Jbot

May 27, 2008 - Girlfriend back from Germany: With presents!

So a week ago, Heather left with her parents and her cousin +aunt/uncle to head off for a week vacay in europe. They started out in Holland, and eventually ended in Germany. She got a few things for her close friends, and I got a couple nice things too.

One baseball cap from Pilatus Luzern, which has a dragon on it. (they used to think dragons lived up on that mountain) And the other was a little trinket from the mechanical instruments museum. I got a piano music-box with a working keyboard cover hehe. It plays Fur Elise. Also got a couple nice postcards. One from the museum, and the other from the mountain. Very scenic looking out there.

So yeah, nice things all around.

-J

Jan 27, 2008 - Hoggestowne Medieval Faire:

Well, this weekend was the first weekend of the local medieval faire. The past couple years I've been grabbing a bamboo flute at each faire. My first one (which I started learning to play on) Was a higher pitched (piccolo range) Bb flute. The second one I got (from a different vendor since the first guy seemed to not be around anymore) Was a lower E flute, which had a nice mellow sound. This year I chose to get a mid-range flute. This year I got a flute pitched in the key of G. So far I've found it the easiest to play of the three. All flutes are capable of at least 2 octaves, and the Bb I can play part of the 3rd octave. I haven't had the G flute too long yet, but I'm hoping to be able to play at least part way into the 3rd octave as well.

'tis a nice sound :)

Oh, and I also got a nice looking gauche for 20 bucks. I have a weakness for sharp pointy things ;)