Blog

Visual Update

You may notice that the look of the blog has changed. Being that I never see the published blog, I didn’t really realize how hard it was to see the gold links in black text, and I felt it needed an update anyway, so here you go. The links are now blue, visited links crimson, and the blue in the header is a deeper shade. Also, the entries are now outlined, so it is easier to see them in the lists.

I bought a Big Gulp at 7-11 today, but didn’t win a song. Bummer.

In JS class today I swapped our broken Apple Pro Optical Mouse for a new working one. It is white too. Delta has an extended service plan, so gets a new one free. Stupid apple making crappy mouses.

I have listed my blog on dotmac.info and my view count is way up. Sunday is my monthly view survey. It looked like Jan – Feb was going to be just a hair up from Dec – Jan, as most of you were less frequent in viewing over Christmas. Now though, I don’t know. I was estimating around 710 for Sunday, but I am already over 720.

Also, just want to mention that I removed my school files, and linked right to my site on Delta’s server. It is easier to keep everything updated that way.

Ok, I don’t have much else. I guess I will see you all Sunday.

nick

Surely you must be kidding?
No, and don’t call me Shirley.

Number 90

Wow, 90 posts. Wednesday March 10th will be 100. Thats a lot of posts, huh?

I have decided 6 credits is too little. I have way too much time, and not enough to do with it. I either need more credits or a job. GM, Where are you…?

Scott Michael Helber was the 700th visitor to the website (see I know his middle name now).

I played with the site structure finally. It looks the same, but is just better organized. For example what used to be homepage.mac.com/nslyax/pics.html in now homepage.mac.com/nslyax/images. The same goes with the stories all being at /stories/, blog stuff at /blog/, and miscellaneous stuff at /misc/. I have added a /school/ section, but it isn’t fully up yet. I still need to recompile the java applets form source code and add Adv. Web and JS as I work on them. By the way, I have dubbed this update v. 2.5.

Other than that, not much new here. I will be spending some time fixing links in old blogs eventually, since they are all broken now. Speaking of broken, the Broken says they will have a new episode by month end.

I filed my taxes, I am supposed to be doing my brothers, and will do my FAFSA as soon as my mom’s taxes are done.

Ok, that’s all I have for now, enjoy your week.

Ooh, and new SB was posted today!

nick

“Now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb”

Who is 700?

Who will be the 700th visitor? I don’t know. I have been waiting since Tuesday, but nobody came. Well, soon we will know. Speaking of which, I have re-enabled guest access to the counter, so you can peek through all my visits, or at least the past 50 or so (I think it’s 50).

I have decided that we are too trusting. We take far too much on faith. Like, the calendar. I understand the whole days thing, since there is a definite start and end, as we point toward or away from the sun (or a specific constellation in the case of the astronomical calendar). But the year is different. What are we pointing at on Jan 1st? A good way of defining a year would be to base it on the date we are pointing toward the center of the galaxy. When we next face that point, it has been a year. Now yes, a year is the time of one revolution around the sun, but that only provides a basis of time passed, but no basis for a start and end. I just don’t like the whole way this is set up, I don’t know.

Still no 700. Where are you people?

It doesn’t matter. I am leaving. My mom wants to go get shoes or something.

Bye,
nick

If you meet someone online, and fall in love,
then when you finally meet, is it still love at first sight?

Bored

Hello all. It is about 4, and I am bored, so I am writing my update now.

Let’s see….

Well, I have done nothing since Wednesday, other than go to my JS class. Barb and her kids, my mom, and I went to Hooters at 6 afterward. Other than that though, just spent some time online playing around.

I guess I could work on the website some more, after the blog. I really need a life if I am going to do HTML for “fun”. Of course, we all knew I need a life anyway, didn’t we?

Molly keeps sleeping with me. Crazy dog. She wont sleep straight, she needs to be curled up with her chin resting on her hind legs. Takes up alot more room. Is weird.

Scott is outside plowing the street. He has scraped up alot, no idea where he is going to push it all. We will see.

My mom went for orientation for Addeco, to work at SC Johnson. Just waiting for drug test to come back, so shouldn’t be too long.

Snow was put on sidewalk at the corner, and across street in neighbors yard. They don’t have a sidewalk, so is ok.

What else…

Doobie, doobie do…
Do doobie doobie…

Hmm…

Well, I am fairly sure there was more, but I can’t think of any of it.

Apple hasn’t released anything since MacWorld. The Mac’s 20th was on the 24th, and nothing, several Tuesdays, and nothing. The supposed G5 update on the 28th has come and gone. I don’t
know what’s going on there. Only real news is Virginia Tech is upgrading there 1100 G5 PowerMacs with G5 XServes, supposedly at 2.4GHz, faster than what Apple is selling currently. That will be one royally kick-ass cluster.

Ok, I am going to go look for something productive to do. If I don’t my life may drop below that “meaningful” line that I would prefer to stay above.

See you all later,

nick

“The hunger monkey is humping my leg.”

Yeah, it's kinda like that…

Hi! Sorry about the shittyness that was the last post, but anyway, get over it.

How about this weather, huh?

Wow, wait, holy crap! I sent my JS homework out at 6:16, now, 6:23, I received confirmation and grade (20/20, thank you very much). Why can’t all grading be that fast. I am impressed Redman, I really am.

Anyway, the weather, yeah. What did we get, like a foot total? Every school in the freaking state was closed today, except Delta. We got a delay until 10, but my class isn’t until 12, so that did squat for me. And they were closed all of yesterday, but I only have class Wednesday and Thursday, so more squat. Bastards. At least they didn’t cancel while I was on the way there, like my freshman year. Was open at 7:20 when I left home, closed by 7:45 when I got there. That sucked ass.

I will be adding all my Delta assignments in a special section on the page here. Well, not ALL, but the ones I deem fit. HTML, Adv. HTML, java applets from my Java class, and all the JSs from Java Script. I won’t bother with the C++ or Java Applications, as they are big files, and all the C++ is Windows. Beside, I through them away, and only have source files now. I will already need to re-complile the applets.

Also, I will be adding to/editing the links page to include all the places I ever linked to from blog, and some more places that are just cool.

Anyway, what else…

Pepsi/itunes Super Bowl commercial is online here. Be warned though, it is popular and often comes up busy.

OK, thats an improvement over last weeks anyway. Have fun till Saturday.

nick

So godawful that it ruptured the very fabric of space and time with the sheer overpowering force of its mediocrity.

Weeeeeeeeeee!

Hi all. Ever wonder why diner is a place, and dinner is a meal, but dessert is a place and desert is a meal? Thats weird, damn english. Would be different if I did it. None of this “phone”, “of”, or “queen”. No, in MY english, they would be “fone”, “ov” and “cueen”. I see no need for the “ph”, or the “q”. The first is easily replaced with a simple “f”, and the second with “kw” or “cu”. Besides, what good is “q”? It is the only letter dependent on another, “u”. Why not just incorporate that a “u” will follow, and drop it?

School is going fine, only 13 more weeks of it, woohoo! Then it will be nice out and I can bike, double woohoo!

I am still cleaning my room more. Is just clutter I need to move around and sort. Nothing too bad.

I might re-structure the website, and make more additions. If I do, it would screw with links from the blog though, so I would need to go through and correct the broken links. Will see.

Whooh! Three people just signed off at the same time, made a weird sound. Strange.

What else…

Ohh, To answer Scott’s question, No. He posted a comment to the last blog asking if Apple would have a Super Bowl commercial, and they will not. They will however be featured in Pepsi’s, as Pepsi is starting a deal to give away 100,000,000 songs from the itunes music store. I would like to say now that if any of you receive a winning bottle cap and decide you don’t want to download and install itunes for a free song you could just get from kazaa, I will gladly take your caps. The promotion runs from Feb. 1st to to March 31st.

Since nobody ever commented on Bionica, I will be writing a second one anyway. The first one was bad mostly because of all the introduction crap, and I think I can do better on the next one. We will see. I am also going to edit my quick story from a few weeks ago and put it in short stories on the site.

Ok, thats all for tonight, go home.

nick

Life is like a box of chocolates,
Sometimes it’s a wonderful gift,
and sometimes there full of laxatives and turn everything shitty.

Pre Intro to Sp. Ed.

Wow, I came a bit too close. It’s like 11:47, and I am just starting this post.

My ibook is still running, barely. OS X is a very stable OS, just not an 18 day uptime OS. Just the same, I am leaving it going for a 21 day record, so will restart on day of next post (Monday).

Yesterday was 15th, and that means I should be at 800 hits, but I was at a mere 650. I am glad that the “i” to “*” swap worked out.

First week of classes went well. Advanced HTML may be a pain, and Network Essentials more so. JavaScript though, will be good. A) It’s in the G4 lab, so I get to use a QS 933-60GB-1GB-SuperDrive, which is nice, and B) The teacher is also the DifEq/Linear Alg prof, so is a freaking genius, though he seams to have a bit of trouble expressing his thoughts, or something.

I went to Pinconning with Scott last night, to see Jim. Jim will be a seaman soon, so we wanted to see him, but he wasn’t working at Sunoco like he should have been.

Ok, thats all the time I have, will aim for more on Monday. Probably wont use computer much till then, since it’s being so slow.

nick

Remember when we were young and nieve, and thought bastard was actually bass-turd, yeah…

Wow, 80

Eighty posts, thats a new record. Blogger record was 79, tied on Wednesday.

I have compiled some reminders for the dumber people:

When in the shower, use the hair dryer to dry your hair while soaping with your other hand, saves time.
Always reduce time, as with fractions, so 10 to 5 would be 2 to 1.
If you’re low on cash, kill yourself, and collect the insurance money.

This is the last post of my vacation. My classes start Wednesday, but the online class technically starts Tuesday, on which I post, so this is it.

I was tested for TB yesterday, as an employee of the Hedge is in the hospital with it. Chances of me having it is very low, as it is only contagious when symptoms are showing, which they weren’t. Just the same, a $10 precaution isn’t bad.

Rumors are that a new G5 will debut on Jan. 20th, along with more on 10.3s least mentioned feature: Pixlet, a loss-less video codec. Pixlet is meant for pro customers, so receives little mention at consumer events, hence its mention only last year at the WWDC, and the coming G5 update.

I have accomplished less than hoped over break. I did manage 3 job apps, and site updates, but book is unfinished as is room cleaning. I did make dents though, and did something else, not sure what…

NAIAS trip is tomorrow. I haven’t been there in three years. Maybe I can convince the guy at GMs private area I am still an employee? Free pop and snacks, WOOHOO!

I played with site and blog last night. I shrank the banner image on site to 600 pixels long, from 800. 800 was too long, and 600 seems short. I presume most of you are using a 1024×768 resolution, so I am aiming for something neutral on that. As for blog, I was playing with the style-sheets that control all the colors, but cant find one I really like. I want to change both blog and website theme to A) match each other, and B) look not so cheesy-beginner-esque. Will do some trials on own, and post for your amusement when I find what I like.

Ok, I am tired, so heading to bed.

Till Tuesday,
nick

Being an assisted suicide physician is a nice job, because even if the customer really doesn’t like your work, they still can’t complain.

And on the Seventh Day, He Blogged…

Well, MacWorld was kinda sucky, but it could turn out ok. Last year, Apple released a new or updated product every Tuesday for over a month after MacWorld, so there could be plenty more coming. Anyway, we got the new mini ipods that suck, because although a good amount smaller than standard ipods (which are already tiny) they are $249 for a 4 gig. Hell, spend the extra $50 and buy a full 15 gig thats only a tad bigger, and holds over 3x more.

Also released were FINALLY the G5 XServes, which took so long due to cooling issues. Also, their companions, the XServe RAID, now at 3.5 TeraBytes (3,500 Gigs). New versions of the ilife apps came along as well. iMovie went from 3.0.3 to 4.0, iTunes and iDVD moved up, and oddly, iPhoto went from 2.0 to 4.0, which is needless to say odd. But the big news, and clearly highlight of the expo keynote, is GarageBand. This new iApp is the consumer version of Soundtrack, as iMovie is of FinalCutPro. Garage Band allows you to use your electric guitar, midi keyboard, and/or pre recorded loops to compose music. It features over 1000 loops, 50 midi instruments, and 7 guitar amps, and is only $49 ($29 edu) compared to $299 for Soundtrack.

So, we will see what the coming weeks bring. I am going to NAIAS Sunday, so my Tuesday update will include that, and any new releases from Apple Tuesday as well.

I was looking online for bike trails, and found a tour in September that runs from Muskegon to Bay City State Park. Thats over 150 miles, in 1 day. I said “Those people are freaking crazy.” After some thinking though, so am I. I am not saying I am going to do it, but I am going to see what I can do. If I do some training over the summer, and get some endurance built up, who knows. Start small, and work up, its not until September 6th anyway, right? BTW, anyone else crazy? (hint hint…)

What else…

Not many people reading the blog lately. Not just you people on vacation, but in general. From June 6 to October 12, I had 200 visitors. Shortly after I was put on google, and by November 15th I had 400, and 600 by December 16. So, with January 15th approaching, so should be 800 visits? Well, it seems my s*m c*ty ser*al trick worked, and I’m not even at 650 yet.

The Library is now up, and I added links to the bottom of most pages to allow you easy access back to where you came, be it to the home, previous directory, or just the top of the page. More work will be done over time, but as school is creeping up, they may slow down. Though, with advanced HTML and JavaScript coming, there should be some good stuff coming.

Well, I guess thats it for tonight, see you all Saturday.

nick

Were number drunk!

Almost Over

Yup, only one more week off, then I will be dragged back to school. Oy, I am not particularly excited, but it was my choice, right?

Also, MacWorld Expo San Francisco begins Tuesday, with the keynote at noon. I expect some cool stuff, and will let you know all about it Wednesday in next post. Maybe some cool new dual 2.5GHz XServes, and new versions of all the iLife software? Mini 2gb ipods?

I have entered all my CDs and DVDs on an Excel spreadsheet, and am almost done with books. Should be able to finally get the library page up by the end of this week.

I talked to Jason, and I will be going to the North American International Auto Show next Sunday. I haven’t been to one in 2 years, since I was working at GM. They are cool, and just $12.

I have cleaned computer up more, the HD is finally organized. Instead of a dozen folders of random stuff, there are just 3 disk images I need to burn, very nice.

Well, I can’t think of much else, so I will let you all go till Wednesday, should have plenty to say then, either praising or bashing Apple. Ahh, just like old times.

bye bye,
nick

“And now, a man who needs no introduction…”