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February 28, 2007
Bookmarklets
While mucking around on MySpace, it became apparent that it is still the html wasteland that it has always been. Additionally, every person has embedded a terribly encoded mp3 into their profile of some bad you never heard of screaming. You could try to stop the file from playing but your browser has slowed down to a crawl due to poorly implemented style sheets. So I was thinking it would be relatively easy to write some javascripts that would traverse the DOM weed out all the unpleasant elements.
A quick search on google reveled that some one has already written these scripts. They are called Bookmarklets. These are little chucks of javascripts code, written by Jesse Ruderman , that can be run on any web page to adjust how it is being displayed. The zap Bookmarklets are perfect for wiping out annoying style sheets or embedded flash movies.
There is also set of flash Bookmarklets. These will let you pause, rewind, fast foward, or seek through any flash movie.
Posted by binhqx at 5:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Updated my Myspace page
Doing a Myspace profile page is a interesting exercise in self inventory. Sitting down and listing out your tastes in music, movies, and books while attempting to weave a accurate self description is a challenge.
My last version of my profile was written while feeling cynical. The result is a verbal assault where I attack the entire world. This version is more up beat with a bit of the cynical content left over.
So read my page where I do my best to advertise myself:
http://myspace.com/binhqx
Posted by binhqx at 1:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 27, 2007
Google Code Search
Here is a cool tool straight out of the Google Labs. It is called Code Search and it is just Google search for source code.
I found it to be particularly useful for figuring out many of the open source APIs, frameworks and libraries. Fore example, I will be reading through some code and find a reference for a function in some other library that I do not even have the source code from. Just type the unknown function into Code Search and it will zero in on its source.
Code Search can also be used as a place to fined how other peoples implementations of functions. For example, if I wanted to see how other developers have used "glBegin(GL_QUADS)" in their programs, all I have to do is look up glBegin (GL_QUADS). Then i am displayed a huge list of source code that uses glBegin(GL_QUADS).
When Code Search comes out of beta, it will be a powerful tool for finding and learning about code.
Posted by binhqx at 1:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 26, 2007
Fried Noodle Sandwich
Here is a fun sandwich that I found in some anime I was watching.- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Turn off the heat and drop in some rice noodles to soften them.
- In a frying pan, fry up some thin strips of chicken or other meat (beef, shrimp, pork) in olive oil (or any other cooking oil).
- When the meat is nearly cooked, drain the noodles and drop them into the frying pan with the meet.
- Drop in any vegetables you want. These could be onions, scallions, carrots, broccoli, peppers, tomato, etc. Just make sure that they have been diced nice and small.
- When everything is nice and hot, break a egg into the frying pan and mix it all around. Keep mixing till all the egg is cooked
- Now just add you favorite souse to the pan. This could be teriyaki, General Tao Sauce, Worcestershire, ketchup, sweet and sour, etc. Any sugary sauce will do. Just dump a bunch in.
- You can also and any spices to it for extra kick.
- Here is the key. Once everything is cooked, do not drain the oil off. Put the entire contents of the pan into a bread roll, grease and all.
- Serve hot.
Posted by binhqx at 10:09 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 25, 2007
The tax man taketh ... sometimes gives a bit back.
So I just did my federal income tax retune. This is the first year that I have been able to not be clammed as a dependent. Unfortunately I no longer pay any school tuition or have any other expensive that makes some of my income not taxable. So all of my income was taxable minus regular deductions.
The funny thing about tax retunes is no one is giving you money. The money was yours to start with and you where able to convince the government to not take all of it. However the money is "un-budgeted" meaning that I did not include tax retune money in my yearly budget. It is just too difficult to know how much the return will be in advance so it is easier to exclude it from any finical planing.
So now I have a nice little chunk of money that has not been marked for any particular spending. I just spend it all one a few big ticket items. Some new PC hardware or perhaps a trip somewhere (anyone up for a tour of the Carlsbad Caverns or Bryce Canyon National Park).
It more likely that I will just dump it into savings. Who has time to go in trips any more?
Posted by binhqx at 5:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 24, 2007
A life full of secrets
Every day I seem to come into contact with interesting bits information that are labeled "sensitive" or "confidential." I would absolutely love to share all of these cool things I have leaned but I can not. Just about every project I am involved with, except Medacast, is on the down-low. So about 85% of everything I do I can not talk about.
Posted by binhqx at 5:52 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 23, 2007
Mack the Knife
Mack the Knife is a very old song. infact it can trace its origins to 1928 Berlin.
For some reason I got the song stuck in my head. The only way to get it out is to hear the whole thing. Check out ysabellabrave's rendition:
Mack the Knife!
It is one of the best I have heard in the long time.
Posted by binhqx at 11:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 22, 2007
Adventures in scent
While washing my cloths when I made the unfortunate mistake of leaving my garments in the drier for a few hours. The result was a wardrobe that had a slight air of moldiness. I did not want to re-wash all of my cloths, so I sought a solution to suppress th unpleasant oder. My fist inclination was to just spray everything with Febreze. Then I would end up smelling like a laundromat.
While at the local Walmart I cam across I item that calmed to be a full body deodorant spray. These are better known as Axe or Tag body spray. I have seen advertisements for these products clamming that they will allow there user to attract the opposite sex. However, I has been my experience that users of these products have a tendency of themselves intolerably stinky. I surmised that in small amount the spry would cover over the moldy smell without being over powering to to bystanders.
So I bought a random can of body spray product. To test it I sprayed a small amount on my wrist, as it is a traditional location for men to wear a sent. The smell was not unpleasing. It was reminiscent of the alcohol based after-shaves and colognes. The sent was too over powering to worn all-over. So I when back to my fist idea and just sprayed my cloths with Febreze.
I spent the rest of the day with this Axe stuff on my wrist. Eventually I realized why men wear scent there. It allows them to control who receives a nose full of the stuff. The wearer of the oder has only to place their hands near the face of the target get the smell across. This can be accomplished with a simple shoulder touch.
I am curious about the field of wearable scent. I have been ever sense I read Jitterbug Perfume. However it would be a expensive hobby to explore. Even small amounts of the scented products that go into perfumes and colognes are costly. I will just leave it as a background interest and explore it whenever the opportunity arises.
Posted by binhqx at 11:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 21, 2007
That 1 Guy
My cool auntie and Rick took me out to see That 1 Guy at the Stone Church.
IT is difficult to describe the That One Guy act. I'l just quote a paragraph from his web site:
one-man show, applying his stand-up bass prowess to the monstrous,
homemade instrument. Standing nearly seven feet tall, The Magic Pipe is a
chaotic collage of galvanized steel, duct tape and electronic gadgetry, run
through an array of samplers and effects boxes.
The Magic Pipe is a impressive instrument and That 1 Guy wields it to lay down some fat beats. The lyrics of his songs are whimsical to down right strange but always amusing.
Check out this video with your PC speakers turned all the way up. That gets you a good flavor of the sounds That 1 Guy dishes out.
The only down side of the the night was the cold audience. That 1 Guy was playing out some incredible beats and the audience just sat there like statues. I do not know why there was such a glum mood in the Stone Church that night.
Posted by binhqx at 11:47 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 19, 2007
Go Yuki at Milly's Tavern
Cap and I went down to Milly's Tavern for a night of music. We like to show our support for Go Yuki. We seem to have developed a friendship with the band. Now when ever we see each other it is like catching up with old acquaintance.
There where quite a few other good bands there. It was well worth the trip out to Manchester.
Posted by binhqx at 2:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 18, 2007
It was a very different type of Medacast.
We recorded Medacast #46 today. Now we are back to our old formula with SB, Cap and myself. If you do have a listen, you will hear a clear diffrence.
First of all I did not talk much. With Cap and SB, I have fallen back to being a secondary voice on the show. They are talkitive people and I am not. Without the tempo the of talking and yielding the Cap and I workedout, it is the reponsablity of each member to simply interject wherever they want. I am not the interjecting type. So during the show I just fade off. Then when the floor is yielded to me, I do not have much to say.
With all my silent time I was able to put some deep thought into the elements that make the show different. The key axiom of Medacast with SB is having fun while recording. So there is lots of jovial banter between us just to make it a fun recording.
When it was just Cap and myself recording the show, it was more listener oriented. We put a lot more thought into how the listeners would interpret us. Then we adjusted the show to make the ideas we wanted to convey as clear and organized as possible. As possible without much preproduction anyway.
So which type of show is better? It all depends on what you want you get out of it. For SB, I know he is all about having fun. I would like to use Medacast as a place to voice informed opinions about the entertainment industry. Perhaps we need a way to reconcile this.
Posted by binhqx at 8:50 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Mojitos in Dover
I wanted to take just one blog entry to give a plug for Mojitos in Dover. It has had some growing pains, but now seems to be settling down. Mojito's has become a good place to hang out on weekend nights and just unwind. The atmosphere there is friendly and energetic. Not to mention one of the bartenders knows how to make a tasty drink.
They run live music and other events all the time. I enjoy when local bands play there because it is one of the only music venues in town that does not allow smoking. However, for the serious music enthusiast, the Brick House is the place to go. I am particularity happy that Mojito's is hosting a benefit night for good man who has come down on some hard times.
The big night at Mojitos seems to be Saturdays. The place really fills up and the DJ makes sure that everyone is dancing. The whole place reverberates with a dance beat all evening long. You can tell this place is geared for 20 somethings. Every time I have been there they are playing Ultraman or Cowboy Bebop on the projection screen.
Mojito's is a quintessential night club smack in the middle of Dover and cool place to hang out.
Posted by binhqx at 1:44 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 17, 2007
Having ultimate power
DevIn and I where having a philosophical discussion about the relationship between wealth and power. We ended up coming up with a completely subjective question:
Would having ultimate power mean that you have responsibility to no one? Or would you have responsibility to everyone?
If you believe that the latter is true would you use your power to hand off the responsibility to someone else or perhaps many other people?
Posted by binhqx at 10:47 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 16, 2007
Better VOIP error messages with SEMS
This is a project I have wanted to do fro a long time. If there is a error connecting a VOIP call, it usually just sends a 'busy signal' back to the caller. So the caller has no idea want to tell us if they get this busy on a number that should work.
So I setup SIP Express Media Server to play back specific messages when certain R-URIs are sent to it. Then I set up my SIP proxy to forward calls that received a error to the SEMS. The result is the caller is told in plan English what the error was and who it should be reported to.
Pretty cool.
Posted by binhqx at 4:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 15, 2007
Snapped off my driver side mirror.
While I was out shoveling yesterday I backed into the driver side rear view mirror of my car. IT made a hard snapping sound and then hung limp off the side of the car. The cold weather must have made the plastic brittle.
So now I am down one driver side mirror for a 1997 Ford Escort Wagon. I looked around the Internet for a good price, but all the good looking deals have expensive shipping. I will probably just walk down to Robbin's Auto Parts and get one from there.
Posted by binhqx at 3:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 14, 2007
Snowed in on Valentines Day.
So Cap and I are stuck inside LaTour while a winter store rages out side. Luckily (unluckily) I can work from home.
Every few hours we go out and clear another inch or two of snow off the cars. We are not planning on going anywhere, but it prevents too much snow from piling up.
The weather out side reminds me of the movie The Shining.
All work and no play makes Rob a dull boy. All work and no play makes Rob a dull boy. All work and no play makes Rob a dull boy. All work and no play makes Rob a dull boy. All work and no play makes Rob a dull boy. All work and no play makes Rob a dull boy. All work and no play makes Rob a dull boy. All work and no play makes Rob a dull boy. All work and no play makes Rob a dull boy. All work and no play makes Rob a dull boy. All work and no play makes Rob a dull boy. All work and no play makes Rob a dull boy. All work and no play makes Rob a dull boy. All work and no play makes Rob a dull boy. All work and no play makes Rob a dull boy. All work and no play makes Rob a dull boy. All work and no play makes Rob a dull boy. All work and no play makes Rob a dull boy.
Where did I leave my axe.
Posted by binhqx at 6:47 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 13, 2007
Love and Union
It is the day before Valentines Day. So here are some words about love and union:
I remember jack telling me something very much like this before he moved.
Posted by binhqx at 5:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 12, 2007
Best Medacast ever?
For some reason this weeks medacast has been touted as best one we have ever done. Apparently our level of professionalism (less profanity, fewer forced jokes) has increased dramatically. I would be interested in what others think of it.
Take a listen:
Medacast #045
Posted by binhqx at 10:11 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 11, 2007
The Transformers: The Movie (1986)
Cap got a copy of The Transformers: The Movie, the one one from 1986. The story is classic Transformers. Epic battles between the autobots and decepticons.
What I found surprising was some of the cast:
Eric Idle as Wreck-Gar
Leonard Nimoy as Galvatron
Robert Stack as Ultra Magnus
Orson Welles as Unicron (!!)
Citizen Kane is Unicron, it all make sense now.
Posted by binhqx at 9:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 10, 2007
Easy WEP keys
So you want to put a long WEP key in to your wireless router, but you do not want to have to right down and re-type a 26 digit hexadecimal key every time you add a new device to the network. It would be nice to keep the key in your head so you would not have to write it down, but a 128 bit WEP key is too long for most people to remember.
Here is one solution. Use the md5 digest of a long phrase that you can remember. md5 creates a hash number for any string. Just about all UNIXs have md5 check-summing program. Under OS X you can do the following:
# md5 -s 'You are not getting in to my network!'
MD5 ("You are not getting in to my network!") = c990fd0cd0ee091248479982ae5e30dc
The 'c990fd0cd0ee091248479982ae5e30dc' is the hash. Just use as many charters from it as you need. Any time you need it again just re-run the command with your phrase.
Update:
A lot of people state that md5 is too weak. There are other hash algorithms available via the openssl package. It is sugested the sha1 is the best digest algorithm available. Here is how to make quick sha1 digest of a pass phrase:
# echo 'You are not getting in to my network!' | openssl dgst -sha1 e4d08208b8112bb886d5e43538e83bf5c6c449c6
The sha1 should be a better digest. Just remember that you only need so many of the characters for each key.
Posted by binhqx at 2:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 9, 2007
OC Boss
My boss can be so obsessive compulsive sometimes. There was a whole list of things that needed to be done on Friday. However, these things all depended on a few less then reliable VOIP service providers working perfectly.
So I tried my best to get them all done. When 6:00 rolled in, my contacts at these providers started going quiet. The reason was obvious they are all going home for Friday evening. Once I run out of people to work with I decide it is time to give up and go home.
On the way home I get a call from my boss telling me there is still stuff to get done. I explain that it is now 6:30 on a Friday night and there is no one at the providers to work with. If he can get anyone over there to work with me, I do not mind putting in extra hours to get the task done, but that is unlikely. I have a busy weekend planned and need to get going.
I get calls again every few minutes after that. He can not appear to grasp the concept of everyone has gone home. No matter how much phoning he does, there will be no engineers at the VOIP providers to work with.
So frustrating.
Posted by binhqx at 9:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 8, 2007
Tiny bubbles
Have you ever been washing the dishes and forcefully put down the detergent bottle on the counter? If there is just the right amount of soap, it will eject a stream of tiny bubbles. These bubbles will then hover in the air over the hot water in sink basin due to the updraft.
Then again, not many people do dishes by hand anymore. Still, I always feel better when seeing these tiny bubbles dancing around over my freshly clean dishes.
Posted by binhqx at 9:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 7, 2007
Alone at the LaTour.
SB is at home recovering and Matt will not be getting back from his business trip tonight. So I get the whole place to my self tonight. I will admit that it is a bit creepy having a big old house to yourself. However, i will make the best of it.
I plan to use up all the hot water and draw myself a big bath. Then i will soak for as long as I want while playing Hotel Dusk: Room 215.
I guess it is not so bad.
Posted by binhqx at 11:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 6, 2007
Hack low security sites with refspoof
Refer spoofing is one of the simplest ways to gain accesses to websites with poor security. The Referer field is specified in RFC 2616 section 14.36. Its purpose is to let the host know which page the current page was linked from.
Some misguided web masters decided to use this field to make sure that their pages could only be seen is linked from other pages on the host. However, the Referer field is set by the client and can be changed easily. In the past, a malicious user would need to program a proxy to send the HTTP request through that would modify the Referer field.
It is easer then ever to do this now using the firefox extension refspoof. Once it is installed, all you need to do is input a proper page reference to access many restricted sites.
Posted by binhqx at 5:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 5, 2007
HoloDek is doing it for the teenage girls.
The HoloDek is running one of the coolest competitions that I can not participate in. A Wii Sports tournament for girls ages 11 through 17. The first prize is $1000 gift card to the Fox Run Mall.
Someone must have a daughter or little sister who is good at Wii tennis.
Posted by binhqx at 1:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 4, 2007
Do I hate World of Warcraft?
During todays recording of Medacast, Devin asked if we where going to have a review of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. Our answer was no. The reason being that Cap and I feel we are to biassed against the World of Warcraft phenomenon to give the game any type of balanced review of the game-play.
This is the reason why: World of Warcraft is designed from the top down to reward those who put in the most game time. They earn better in-game items and abilities. With them they advance to new areas of the game that are out of reach of lower level players (people who spend less time playing the game).
From a economic view, it make sense to reward those who play the longest. They have given Blizzard the most money by maintaining their subscription over a long time. However this model does not take into account the social aspects of a MMORPG. Different people lead different lifestyles and that dictates how many hours can be committed to in-game objectives. Anyone who maintains a respectable out-of-game life with a job, family, and hobbies will quickly see their in-game advancement retarded in comparison to other players. Soon they can no longer play together. This becomes particularity annoying while playing with friends from in-game or out-of-game. As a disparity forms between the levels of two players, they will no longer be able to effectually participate in the same activities. The result of this phenomenon is a in-game divide growing between those who have many hours to play and those who do not.
Players faceted with the prospects of being left-behind usually find ways to increase the time they can spend in game by cutting back on time consuming or incompatible out-of-game activities. This is the hook, this is what brings people in and slowly consumes their lives. The game take precedence over other aspects of one's life.
The next step in the addiction comes when the player has achieved all levels in the game. At that point they enter the World of Warcraft end-game content. In the end-game, it is no longer possible to achieve much as a individual player. Working in a group of players, called a clans, becomes critical to end-game advisement. This creates in-game social obligations to the clan. THe player must commit a certain amount of time to clan activities or risk alienation. During the leveling process a player could work in time slots allocated by themselves. However, clan activities must be organized around the schedules of large groups of players. These activities are usually dungeon raid or world boss attacks or any other task that gives high level rewards. A clan activity leader will appoint a date and time and the members of that activity are responsible to be there and dedicate hours to the completion of the task. Now peer-pressure from the other clan members becomes a primary motivator for long hours of game play. This is the result of our deep fear of being outcast from a community that we have put so much time into.
Players soon find their evenings and weekends are being taken up by in-game responsibilities. The first parts of a player life to be effected are their real-world social life. Players with creative hobbies like writing or art or music soon find that they do not have that time to participate in them. I have seen this happen to many "normal" people. They pass-up opportunity to spend time with real-world friends for in-game commitments. Or without the time to be creative, they loose their creative spark and motivation.
You might think this is crazy. Who would give up the most important parts of their life for a video game. The truth is, that for the player, the distinction of the importance in-game and out-of-game activities becomes burred. In the worse case scenario players will start shirking real-world responsibilities for the game. Not going to bed on time to getup for work the next day or even skipping work to play the game are just some examples of behaviors that could be classified and evidence of addiction.
So do I hate the game? No, no pictures on a computer screen could ever create this phenomenon alone. It is the in-game culture that slowly turns normal, well adjusted people into shells of their former self that I hate. That is why I become so vehement against the game. Particularly when I see people I care about playing it.
Posted by binhqx at 12:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 3, 2007
Annoying things at a design meetings: A two legged table.
Say for example you had a design meeting with three critical designers. Each person acts like a leg of a table. All together they are able to support the ideas and plans on the table's top. But what happens when one of those legs is temporally removed do to circumstance beyond their control. The design meetings can not stop, there is too much work to do and not enough time to do it in. So the table attempts to continue working with just two legs. All the other legs can do is pretend that the third leg is there and make allowances for their missing member. Allowances that cost critical time and energy.
The two legs are not angry at the third for going missing, they just have difficulty supporting concepts that where made to be handed by three. Of course the worst situation is when the members have veto power over each other. Then there is a chance that everything the other worked on could be thrown out. That is unlikely but a fear none the less.
Posted by binhqx at 5:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 2, 2007
Snowy night in Dover
We had the strange coincidence of a full moon and snowstorm. The result is a eerie night time view. These where taken just before midnight:
Posted by binhqx at 9:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 1, 2007
Achieving empathy through showing never works as well as telling. (a.k.a don't be a bitch)
Have you ever seen this behavior: You do or say something to another person and suddenly that become quiet and uncommunicative. They give you over dramatized looks and body language of annoyance. They snap at comments you make with harsh criticism. Eventually you figure out that you have done something that has hurt their feelings and now you must go through the process of drawing out the incident that prompted it. This process usually involves asking a lot of yes or no questions and being replied with silence or 'No!'
When this behavior is exhibited in a child it is because they lack the communicative skill to express themselves. When this behavior is observed in a adult female it is called being a bitch or just bitchy. Of course plenty of men demonstrate it to. I have observed this behavior on numerous occasions, particularly between couples. The goal of this behavior is to instill empathy in the other person so they can understand how much they have hurt them. I can not understand why the behavior continues. Acting out a feeling as a form of communication just does not work. At least when compared to the alternative.
The alternative is using worlds to communicate. Properly used, words can convey any emotional state to any other person. Unfortunately one must be cognizant of their own emotional state in order to use a high level communication medium like speech. I have had situation in the past where I found myself acting coldly to another person. When that happened I had to do some soul searching to figure out why. After that I could talk to them and explain how I felt they disparaged me.
I wish I could have that alarmed when I or someone around me where acting out there negative emotions instead of communicating them. The world would work a whole lot smoother that way.
Posted by binhqx at 4:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack