2:28 PM My internet got stolen from me. Rather, the person I was wirelessly “borrowing” it from decided to stop me. He (or she, but I doubt it) secured the network so I can no longer get on the network ‘HotSpot@Home’. So now I’m at the library, which thankfully has a branch less than a 10-minute walk from my place.
11:10 AM This web development stuff isn’t easy, and it’s confusing. I’m trying to get a simple map to show the location of the photo I’m showcasing on the photo blog. To do that I had to go through four WordPress plugins until I finally found one that worked within my scope of knowledge. Basically the problems were:
- XML Google Maps: Too complicated. Didn’t seem to work well with the Grain theme I’m using. After spending a lot of time with it (and downloading Google Earth, which I later deleted), I finally got a map to display, but it was a generic map, and not localized to the location I wanted to show.
- UMapper: I didn’t try this one, just because I wanted to stick to a known service, like Google, Yahoo!, or Live.
- Google Maps in Posts: This one wouldn’t activate in my WordPress installation. So that was that for this one.
- Inline Google Maps: This one showed the map but there was nothing on it. The documentation said that this may happen and that I would have to investigate the CSS properties of my site to fix it. I’m just starting to learn CSS and I can’t deal with that right now.
- Geo Mashup: Finally one that worked out of the box! The good thing about this one is that I can add a map right from WordPress, without having to go to Google Maps and copying-and-pasting a link like the others required.
Tags:
diary,
Geo Mashup,
Google Maps in Posts,
Inline Google Maps,
internet,
internet access,
library,
photoblog,
plugins,
UMapper,
wi-fi,
wordpress,
XML Google Maps
5:19 PM My focus, over the past few months, has been shifting, from writing to photography. I’m getting interested in web design - not so much for itself but as a means to an end, to be able to present my photographs in the best possible way. Right now I feel I’m just limited by my own lack of knowledge, which isn’t such a bad feeling because it’s a call to take up a challenge.
5:10 PM I’ve been doing a lot of reading about tags lately, because I’m still figuring out how to organize the photos on my photo blog. I came across a good analogy describing categories and tags: Categories are like the table of contents and tags are like the index. I think that’s pretty clear and accurate.
After reading a lot about tagging on Lorelle on WordPress, I decided not to add Technorati tags to my posts, because I agree with her that those tags rarely ever return relevant results, because tagging is such a make-up-words-on-the-fly process.
5:05 PM I registered for a Travel writing and photography conference taking place in Boulder in September. It was a bit pricey, but considering all the magazine editors coming there, it seemed worth it. I’m excited for it, and in preparation I’m setting up more photos on my new photo blog. It should be interesting to listen to how they got into the career, and also to have speed-date sessions with editors!
The speakers include the Editor-in-chief of Outside magazine, photo editors, publishers, and freelancers.
Tags:
analogy,
categories,
conference,
diary,
index,
Lorelle on Wordpress,
Outside,
photoblog,
photography,
rant,
table of contents,
tagging,
tags,
Technorati,
Travel,
travel writing and photography,
web design,
writing
I have many of my India photos on a slightly damaged DVD. To help recover them, I got evaluation versions of two programs, BadCopy Pro and CDRoller.
The DVD has 4 session on it. The data I need rescued is in two folders on the fourth track. After letting each software have their time (over 24 hours each) with the DVD, I wanted to see how they compared so I could take the best version of each photo from whichever program rescued it better.
I had two folders, one for each program. I simply sent the contents of the recovered file folders to a text file (dir > filename.txt in the command prompt) and opened those files in Excel. Now I had a list of the file names and sizes each software was able to recover from the DVD. I did a Vlookup in Excel to compare the file sizes between the two programs. I made the simple (but I think sensible) assumption that the larger file would contain more data and hence be a more complete photo.
The results were as follows:
| |
BadCopy Pro
|
CDRoller
|
| # of files recovered |
286
|
271
|
BadCopy Pro recovered bigger files than CDRoller, without exceptions. They ranged in difference from 2 bytes to 0.5 MB. Based on my little real-world test, then, I would have to say BadCopy Pro does a better job than CDRoller at rescuing corrupt and missing data.
Tags:
BadCopy Pro,
CDRoller,
command prompt,
comparison,
DVD recovery,
Excel,
photos,
review,
software
1:26 PM I’m making a photoblog where I’ll post my best photos.
It’s a second WordPress installation on my (this) server. So far I’m using the following plugins/themes:
For now I’ve managed to embed a NextGEN gallery inside a YAPB post (as shown above), but I still need to figure out how to show the EXIF metadata through NextGEN (for the photos that aren’t featured as the primary one). Also, I still have to figure out how I’m going to organize the photos - whether through tags or categories or a combination of both.
10:27 AM I notice names. So far in Boulder, I’ve noticed a lot of Subaru cars, BMW motorcycles, and Trek, Specialized, and Schwinn bicycles.
Besides Starbucks, I’ve seen Peaberry Coffee and Caribou Coffee.
Tags:
America,
BMW,
Boulder,
Caribou Coffee,
categories,
diary,
EXIF,
Grain,
list,
metadata,
names,
NextGEN Gallery,
organization,
Peaberry Coffee,
photoblog,
plugins,
Precar's kingdom,
Schwinn,
screenshot,
Specialized,
Starbucks,
Subaru,
tags,
themes,
Trek,
wordpress,
YAPB,
Yet another photoblog
Today we went to 6 (maybe 7, I don’t remember exactly) different garage sales around town. We were looking for items like shoe rack, lamps, garbage cans, used bike for Shannon, and vacuum cleaner. We found some things and not others, but some of the more interesting catches were:
- Western Digital Passport 2.5″ portable hard drive - 50 cents! (I wasn’t surprised when I got home to find that it doesn’t exactly work. I submitted a tech-support ticket to WD through their website. The guy who sold it didn’t know what it was. I wasn’t sure either, but seeing that it had the WD logo on it, I figured it’s hard drive related.)
- Essentially new Sterilite trash containers (without the lid) - Two 24 Qt./23 L cans for $1 each, two 54 Qt./51 L cans for $2 each. They even have the Sterilite stickers still on them.
- SanDisk 256 MB CompactFlash card. I’m not sure how much this came out to individually because I bought it along with a couple of other trinkets.
- The girl sold it to me for $2! She said she inherited it from her grandparents. I inspected it thoroughly and it seems very well-made - at least much better than the ones they make today. It’s probably at least 20 years old. I tried it after coming home and it works. It’s not great but it’s well worth $2. Here’s a description of it I found online:
The Model L is like the S but has a cordwinder ring for the power cord and required an extension cord which can be unplugged for weight consumption. It also came with a smaller motor which had smaller fans but used a little more power to keep the same suction. It also has larger wheels and 1 clip for the bag door. Excellent small machine and has the same purpose as the previous model S. The only other great feature was an external plug for a beater brush or power nozzle as the were called. They either attached a cord to the hose or an electric hose which had a pigtail to plug the hose in that brings the power to the handle for the power nozzle.
We didn’t find any lamps or bookshelves but we did find a great wooden cutting board for the kitchen, and a nice rack to put our shoes on as we enter the apartment. Not bad for a day’s work. In all we spent around $30 for everything!
How I found the garage sales: I searched, a couple of days in advance, for garage sales taking place on Sunday on the local Craigslist. This morning, I went to Live Maps and mapped out all their locations. It looked like below:
The next step was to get general directions to each place (I didn’t know which order I would be going to the places in, so I couldn’t get specific to/from directions). For that I found Live Maps’ 1-click directions feature to be great. It gave general directions to the chosen location from all four directions (north, south, east, west). It looked like this:
Armed with my laptop, the general map with pushpins for each location, and a specific page like above for each garage sale I planned to attend, we headed off. This way we ended up wasting very little time and gas driving around looking for where to go. In the process we detoured to a couple of other sales we found through signs on lampposts.
Tags:
America,
CompactFlash card,
deals,
defective,
Electrolux Model L,
garage sales,
Live Maps,
map,
portable hard drive,
procedure,
process,
quotation,
SanDisk,
steal,
Sterilite,
Target,
tech support,
trash containers,
vacuum cleaner,
vintage,
Western Digital
5:04 PM We drove through Denver today, and as we passed a Planned Parenthood, we noticed at least 50 protestors with large posters of fetuses and the like outside on the sidewalk. One man was talking into a loudspeaker about how God is loving and merciful but he is also a God who judges, and those inside the abortion clinic will all be judged and will all go to hell. There were a couple of police cars onsite, I guess making sure nothing gets out of hand, and there were several press photographers and videographers (I saw one photographer with a large AP badge hanging from his neck).
There were little kids there with their families, picketing alongside the adults, and as I drove past these people, I felt a slight sinking in my heart. I felt sad that these kids didn’t even know what they were being exposed to, that they were being taught that it’s proper and right to impose your own views upon others. We decided to pull over and stop to see the drama for a little bit. As one car was coming out of the gated parking lot of the abortion center, one woman yelled across the street “Shame on you!”
The Democratic National Convention is being held in Denver this week, so it made sense that people were picketing more fervently than usual. But still, on one hand I’m startled that people believe so strongly in their convictions that they go out and prepare posters and get up early and carry heavy wooden crosses on their backs (I saw at least two people doing just that), and on another I’m disappointed and saddened that people can’t just let others be, and let them seek help and guidance when they want to instead of trying to force it upon them.
I’m not even talking about the issue at stake here, abortion. My issue is with the way people go about dealing with issues that are of concern to them. There is a right way and a wrong way. I believe that you should not - you cannot - impose your views on another person, as long as they’re not causing you or anyone else any harm.
Now, since I won’t impose this view of mine on anyone, things have to go on just the way they’re going, and all these words I’ve written here have been for no one’s good but my own.
[I found an article about the exact facility (pictured above) we drove by today.]
Tags:
abortion,
abortuary,
America,
AP,
article,
beliefs,
Democratic National Convention,
diary,
DNC,
imposing,
opinion,
Planned Parenthood,
question,
rant,
religion,
views
3:23 PM I also got the following DVDs from the library:
I haven’t seen any of these before.
2:37 PM Happy birthday Anshu! (It’s my brother’s birthday.)
I spent a few hours at the Boulder Public Library today, where I used the internet, had a coffee at their cafe, and checked out the following books:
To learn about digital photography (specifically, making a photo blog) and web design
Fiction, from two authors I’ve read before. I got this Saul Bellow because it was short, and the Kundera one is one of his few that I haven’t read yet. I was about to check out Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks (which I started reading over Christmas break last year and got through maybe 1/5 of) but I couldn’t hold that many books in my hand!
This one I picked up while I was searching for William James (the one I had to leave midway because of the move).
1:05 PM Boulder move facts
Link to map
| Car |
2001 Honda Civic 4-door EX |
| Total miles driven |
1802.7 miles |
| Total drive time |
3 days, approximately 10 hours driving time each day |
| Average gas consumption |
38.39 MPG |
| Average speed |
63 MPH |
| Gas stops made |
5 (not empty at each fill) |
| States driven through (in order) |
Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado |
| Motels stayed at |
London, OH: Motel 6
Kansas City, MO: Days Inn
Denver, CO: Howard Johnson |
| # of tolls paid |
1 |
| # of times got lost |
0 |
| # of accidents/incidents |
0 |
Tags:
Anshu,
Bhagavad Gita,
books,
Boulder Public Library,
Buddenbrooks,
cafe,
Colorado,
diary,
digital photography,
driving,
DVDs,
facts,
happy birthday,
Honda Civic,
internet,
list,
map,
Milan Kundera,
mileage,
movies,
moving,
Paramahansa Yogananda,
photoblog,
Saul Bellow,
Thomas Mann,
web design,
William James
4:35 PM Now that I’m in Boulder, it’s time to get my bike prepared for commuting as well as mountain biking. I still have my old Velomax wheelset, so I thought instead of getting another cheap bike I can just put cheap tires on that wheelset and make a commuter out of my one bike in a matter of minutes. To do that, I ordered the following items today from Nashbar. I bought from them because they had a 20% off deal for orders over $100 (coupon code: PIGGY20).
- Nashbar Sport Mountain Shoe - can’t find my Time Scolop shoes, so I had to buy a pair of TIME cleats from a local store
- Nashbar 9 Speed Cassette - for the Velomax wheelset for commuting
- Continental ATB Tube - need these for the new tires. I found a Continental Twister Pro at a local store for sale for $19.99. I’m going to use that and an older Twister Pro for the commuter. Unfortunately the new one is black only, without the orange stripe my original ones had.
- Nashbar Wireless Computer - my current Cateye’s not working, so I figured I might as well replace it with wireless. With this I can track how much I bike in one week, and how many miles I don’t drive.
- Nashbar Rim Strips - I went on a workshop once and got a flat tire. One of the guys running the workshop was appalled that the store that sold me my bike didn’t tell me about rim strips.
- Atb Gel Saddle Cover - For my not-so-comfortable OEM Specialized saddle. When I bought it this morning it was $3.99. Now it’s $4.99!
Tags:
commuting,
coupon,
cycling,
diary,
list,
mountain biking,
Nashbar,
shopping
12:18 PM I’m in Boulder. That’s right, Boulder, Colorado. I’ve moved here. From where I'm sitting right now (in a cafe), I can see the mountains behind all the cars and the Safeway that’s across the street from me. (And that’s not a typo in the title.)
Google seems to be a little too eager to relegate many of my legitimate e-mails as spam. As much as I wish some of them were spam (like credit card statements), I keep having to go through 200+ spam mails everyday to make sure I don’t lose anything valuable. Their filter doesn’t seem to be learning either, because the same e-mails keep getting sent to spam, even though I keep moving them back to the Inbox. Maybe it’s because I’m using Microsoft Outlook with IMAP and not the Gmail web interface?
Tags:
bolder,
Boulder,
Colorado,
diary,
gmail,
Google,
IMAP,
Microsoft Outlook,
opinion,
question,
spam
From article:
If you find toward the beginning of your interaction that the customer service agent is being particularly friendly, polite, or responsive — perhaps before you get to your toughest request — tell the agent that you’re so impressed with his or her service and knowledge so far that you’re going to write a positive letter or e-mail about your interaction to his or her supervisor as soon as you get off the phone. After getting the agent’s name and the supervisor’s contact information, you can then get to the more complex issues at hand.
Most commentators on the article seemed to think the idea too simplistic.
Tags:
America,
article,
customer service,
psychology,
Psychology Today,
quotation
