Geek humour!
www.msfirefox.com is a very good fake site criticizing the new IE7. Run and check it out!
Friday, November 24, 2006
Veektory!!!
On October 26th, 2006 I finally achieved a long sought dream.
The first big milestone on my self-reengineering has been reached.
I am now an engineer. Yay me!
In Zen philosophy, the journey is as important as arriving to the destination. 10 years in the making, I involuntarily took the longest possible way.
A richer description of the events before, during and after I defended my dissertation will follow soon. But the first thing I wanted to do is to give thanks to all my friends, who in a way or the other helped me to accomplish what I almost thought to be no longer possible.
The first big milestone on my self-reengineering has been reached.
I am now an engineer. Yay me!
In Zen philosophy, the journey is as important as arriving to the destination. 10 years in the making, I involuntarily took the longest possible way.
A richer description of the events before, during and after I defended my dissertation will follow soon. But the first thing I wanted to do is to give thanks to all my friends, who in a way or the other helped me to accomplish what I almost thought to be no longer possible.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Delivered!
Updates since last time:
* Finished writing my dissertation!
On Sept. 01st I was interviewed by the review board and assigned to design a secure intranet in one month. With help from my friend Igor (who was coaching me as well as providing proofreading), I finished writing it at 03:00 AM on monday and handed it over to the board on the same day.
Though I am not very satisfied with it, I also must confess I finally got the taste for systems design methodology. Things have changed for good since my last experiences in application programming... most likely for good.
The dissertation will have to be defended by the end of this month, so methinks I shall start working on the presentation this week and head directly to PresentationZen.com.
I'm tired of boring and dull powerpoint sessions, so the least I can do is to improve upon those terrible (and most importantly, forgettable) experiences to attract the favour of my examiners.
* My friend Bruno is leaving for Spain.
He's finally found what seems to be his dreamjob, but like many talented people, he and his family have to relocate to the other side of the great-blue-pond.
Damn, I'm going to miss him, but surely this won't be the last time we hear from him.
The godspeed is on thursday.
Now... something to cheer you up.
Sci fi art!!!
You will probably recognise some of this paintings. They are used for Sci Fi book covers by most publishing houses. Although they are sometimes totally unrelated to the plot in it, they remain inspirational and intriguing.
* Finished writing my dissertation!
On Sept. 01st I was interviewed by the review board and assigned to design a secure intranet in one month. With help from my friend Igor (who was coaching me as well as providing proofreading), I finished writing it at 03:00 AM on monday and handed it over to the board on the same day.
Though I am not very satisfied with it, I also must confess I finally got the taste for systems design methodology. Things have changed for good since my last experiences in application programming... most likely for good.
The dissertation will have to be defended by the end of this month, so methinks I shall start working on the presentation this week and head directly to PresentationZen.com.
I'm tired of boring and dull powerpoint sessions, so the least I can do is to improve upon those terrible (and most importantly, forgettable) experiences to attract the favour of my examiners.
* My friend Bruno is leaving for Spain.
He's finally found what seems to be his dreamjob, but like many talented people, he and his family have to relocate to the other side of the great-blue-pond.
Damn, I'm going to miss him, but surely this won't be the last time we hear from him.
The godspeed is on thursday.
Now... something to cheer you up.
Sci fi art!!!
You will probably recognise some of this paintings. They are used for Sci Fi book covers by most publishing houses. Although they are sometimes totally unrelated to the plot in it, they remain inspirational and intriguing.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Tales of a PDA geek
It's been almost 4 months since I switched from my Zire 72 to a new Palm T|X.
The T|X does not have a camera nor a microphone (although if you feel bold and geeky, you can retrofit one at the risk of kissing your warranty goodbye). But there are new features that more than compensate for them:
- More RAM, Flash based: your data does not die when the battery does.
- Wifi: includes WEP/WPA with increased range.
- 320x480 touchscreen: you can choose between (normal) portrait or landscape modes.
This is really a geek's dream come true! But to make your experience a more enjoyable one, I suggest you download and install the following list of applications. Most are free, others are fully-functional shareware:
* NVBackup from Alex Pruss software.
This free utility will copy the whole contents of your PDA to a SDCard (including the utility itself). Why use it instead of relying on the good old HotSync method, you ask?
Well, four reasons come to mind:
a) HotSync requires access to your host computer.
b) It is most likely you'll have to re-enter the activation codes for most of your paid software. This is not necessary with NVBackup.
c) Unattended and scheduled operation.
d) To restore your backup, you just reinsert the SDcard into the PDA, then run the utility which will be readily available (remember it copied itself to the card).
When you are downloading and trying lots of new software like I do, you are increasing the chance for a soft (or sometimes even a hard) reset. NVBackup provides you with a fresh image of your last known-working configuration.
* FileZ from NoSleep.
FileZ is a free file manipulation program. Move, copy, rename and delete files in your built-in RAM or a SDCard. Strange Palm didn't include something like this in the first place.
* MessageEase from Exideas
Free utility that replaces your standard on-screen keyboard with another specially tailored for fast input in a small area. You'll wish you had something similar for your desktop computer!
Note: This utility is compatible with mySkin. Not only can you access the MessageEase keyboard layouts, you can merge them with other components (the statusbar, for example).
That is all for now. More ideas to come.
The T|X does not have a camera nor a microphone (although if you feel bold and geeky, you can retrofit one at the risk of kissing your warranty goodbye). But there are new features that more than compensate for them:
- More RAM, Flash based: your data does not die when the battery does.
- Wifi: includes WEP/WPA with increased range.
- 320x480 touchscreen: you can choose between (normal) portrait or landscape modes.
This is really a geek's dream come true! But to make your experience a more enjoyable one, I suggest you download and install the following list of applications. Most are free, others are fully-functional shareware:
* NVBackup from Alex Pruss software.
This free utility will copy the whole contents of your PDA to a SDCard (including the utility itself). Why use it instead of relying on the good old HotSync method, you ask?
Well, four reasons come to mind:
a) HotSync requires access to your host computer.
b) It is most likely you'll have to re-enter the activation codes for most of your paid software. This is not necessary with NVBackup.
c) Unattended and scheduled operation.
d) To restore your backup, you just reinsert the SDcard into the PDA, then run the utility which will be readily available (remember it copied itself to the card).
When you are downloading and trying lots of new software like I do, you are increasing the chance for a soft (or sometimes even a hard) reset. NVBackup provides you with a fresh image of your last known-working configuration.
* FileZ from NoSleep.
FileZ is a free file manipulation program. Move, copy, rename and delete files in your built-in RAM or a SDCard. Strange Palm didn't include something like this in the first place.
* MessageEase from Exideas
Free utility that replaces your standard on-screen keyboard with another specially tailored for fast input in a small area. You'll wish you had something similar for your desktop computer!
Note: This utility is compatible with mySkin. Not only can you access the MessageEase keyboard layouts, you can merge them with other components (the statusbar, for example).
That is all for now. More ideas to come.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
The Rotorbike
Although I'm not a connoisseur of high speed motorcycles, I feel obligued to share this picture with you:
A custom motorbike with an 8 cylinder power plant arranged in radial fashion that reminds me a lot of propeller engines for airplanes. Unfortunately, I don't have the specs for this machine.
Beautiful, ain't it?
A custom motorbike with an 8 cylinder power plant arranged in radial fashion that reminds me a lot of propeller engines for airplanes. Unfortunately, I don't have the specs for this machine.
Beautiful, ain't it?
Monday, July 31, 2006
Leeching WiFi from your neighbor's AP?
While OEMs have begun to address the security issues implied by improper default settings on many wireless products (specially residential routers/wifi APs), one still can locate several left wide open to anyone who happens to look for them.
The often addressed perspective is that of someone's bandwidth being shared (read "stolen") by unknown people. However, most of the wardrivers take care not to consume too much of it, lest the real owner notices severe lag and finally decides to learn about properly securing his AP.
Another implies a certain amount of paranoia: your ip could be used for criminal activities, and if/when the cops come asking questions, it is said owner who might have to answer to them.
However, consider a third scenario: The Honeypot of Doom(tm).
Someone installs an open AP and logs all the traffic that passes through it for several weeks. As you are well aware, most, but not all sensitive communications are encrypted. Mine the resulting data and maybe you'll stomp across something "interesting".
Here's a proof of concept, although with a twisted and very nice touch of humour:
http://www.ex-parrot.com/~pete/upside-down-ternet.html
This guy divided his local network in two segments. One goes straightforwardly in and out of his AP while the other is diverted to a proxy server. On the latter, images are turned upside-down or blurred on the fly before being relayed to the unsuspecting freeloader.
Another nice touch would be to submit all text to a ROT-13 transform creating gibberish everywhere.
So, next time you happen to find an open AP, think twice before transmitting any sensitive or personal information over it.
The often addressed perspective is that of someone's bandwidth being shared (read "stolen") by unknown people. However, most of the wardrivers take care not to consume too much of it, lest the real owner notices severe lag and finally decides to learn about properly securing his AP.
Another implies a certain amount of paranoia: your ip could be used for criminal activities, and if/when the cops come asking questions, it is said owner who might have to answer to them.
However, consider a third scenario: The Honeypot of Doom(tm).
Someone installs an open AP and logs all the traffic that passes through it for several weeks. As you are well aware, most, but not all sensitive communications are encrypted. Mine the resulting data and maybe you'll stomp across something "interesting".
Here's a proof of concept, although with a twisted and very nice touch of humour:
http://www.ex-parrot.com/~pete/upside-down-ternet.html
This guy divided his local network in two segments. One goes straightforwardly in and out of his AP while the other is diverted to a proxy server. On the latter, images are turned upside-down or blurred on the fly before being relayed to the unsuspecting freeloader.
Another nice touch would be to submit all text to a ROT-13 transform creating gibberish everywhere.
So, next time you happen to find an open AP, think twice before transmitting any sensitive or personal information over it.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
The day of the updates
Ph34r!!!
A long time ago and after having an interesting conversation with my dear friend Bruno, I decided to join the bandwagon and start writing a Blog like everybody else seems to be doing. Of course, things didn't exactly work out as expected: priorities change and shuffle, any available time is never enough.
However, after writing my own newspaper column for almost 8 years it becomes increasingly difficult to tame the desire to communicate. So why offer any resistance?
First things first:
- I passed my certification and revalidation test. YAY!!!
It took me almost 2 weeks reviewing all the things I was supposed to learn back in college. Several years ago it would have been an overwhelming task, but the almighty Wikipedia came to the rescue!
Some of the most complex subjects I had to study were explained in a simple, yet effective way. You can go as deep as you want on any of them so easily, that staying on focus can become a problem. Last time I felt that way was back in 1994; you know, back when the WWW was steadily gaining momentum and presence of mind among the populace and search engines were about to appear.
Another interesting phenomenon: The process of study itself seems to streamline very old memories and bring them back again to the conscious mind. Not only that, it also seems easier to establish firmer and more abundant links between new and old knowledge. My neocortex experienced a fsck (in the good sense) and full-defrag at the same time :)
The exam itself lasted 12 hours divided among 3 periods: 2 on friday and one on saturday. Was it a matter of endurance, tenacity, ingenuity? I am not sure. But one thing is certain: I didn't notice how stressed I was until it was over.
Naïvely, after it was done I went to buy some groceries and then drove back home for lunch. Since I was feeling a little sleepy, I decided to postpone lunch if favour of a nap. Just a few minutes, I thought.
When I woke up, it was mid-day sunday. My kitties were puzzled, staring at me and deciding on what to do with my mortal remains had I passed away. But when I reached for them, they felt relieved and their thoughts switched to more important matters (Food, of course).
All that happened in May.
Only last week I got the results and I still can't believe it. I knew I couldn't have failed the exam, but also wasn't entirely sure if I obtained the minimum score required to go on to the next stage.
What happens next?
I must schedule an interview with the jury and agree on a subject that will become my oral exam. Damn, I'm nervous but can't stop right now after all the effort it took me to get to this point.
Maybe, just maybe I'll be able to update this blog more frequently. Stay tuned.
A long time ago and after having an interesting conversation with my dear friend Bruno, I decided to join the bandwagon and start writing a Blog like everybody else seems to be doing. Of course, things didn't exactly work out as expected: priorities change and shuffle, any available time is never enough.
However, after writing my own newspaper column for almost 8 years it becomes increasingly difficult to tame the desire to communicate. So why offer any resistance?
First things first:
- I passed my certification and revalidation test. YAY!!!
It took me almost 2 weeks reviewing all the things I was supposed to learn back in college. Several years ago it would have been an overwhelming task, but the almighty Wikipedia came to the rescue!
Some of the most complex subjects I had to study were explained in a simple, yet effective way. You can go as deep as you want on any of them so easily, that staying on focus can become a problem. Last time I felt that way was back in 1994; you know, back when the WWW was steadily gaining momentum and presence of mind among the populace and search engines were about to appear.
Another interesting phenomenon: The process of study itself seems to streamline very old memories and bring them back again to the conscious mind. Not only that, it also seems easier to establish firmer and more abundant links between new and old knowledge. My neocortex experienced a fsck (in the good sense) and full-defrag at the same time :)
The exam itself lasted 12 hours divided among 3 periods: 2 on friday and one on saturday. Was it a matter of endurance, tenacity, ingenuity? I am not sure. But one thing is certain: I didn't notice how stressed I was until it was over.
Naïvely, after it was done I went to buy some groceries and then drove back home for lunch. Since I was feeling a little sleepy, I decided to postpone lunch if favour of a nap. Just a few minutes, I thought.
When I woke up, it was mid-day sunday. My kitties were puzzled, staring at me and deciding on what to do with my mortal remains had I passed away. But when I reached for them, they felt relieved and their thoughts switched to more important matters (Food, of course).
All that happened in May.
Only last week I got the results and I still can't believe it. I knew I couldn't have failed the exam, but also wasn't entirely sure if I obtained the minimum score required to go on to the next stage.
What happens next?
I must schedule an interview with the jury and agree on a subject that will become my oral exam. Damn, I'm nervous but can't stop right now after all the effort it took me to get to this point.
Maybe, just maybe I'll be able to update this blog more frequently. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
I knew these guys came from somewhere else!
"Travel enlightens" said the famed venetian explorer Marco Polo.
But these days, one can find interesting trivia even around the most unsuspected places. Let me tell you why:
Way back in the day, the local TV conglomerate used to broadcast short animated films aimed to the children at 19:00. After telling a story, they bidded them to bed before programs aimed for adults began. If I remember correctly, that segment was called "La familia Telerín" and received sponsorship from several companies, the latest being Telmex.
Funny thing, today I discovered the concept began, of all places, in the Deutsche Demokratic Republik on 1958-10-08 in the show "Sandmännchen" (The little sandman). which in turn originated on radio.
Read more about it here.
But these days, one can find interesting trivia even around the most unsuspected places. Let me tell you why:
Way back in the day, the local TV conglomerate used to broadcast short animated films aimed to the children at 19:00. After telling a story, they bidded them to bed before programs aimed for adults began. If I remember correctly, that segment was called "La familia Telerín" and received sponsorship from several companies, the latest being Telmex.
Funny thing, today I discovered the concept began, of all places, in the Deutsche Demokratic Republik on 1958-10-08 in the show "Sandmännchen" (The little sandman). which in turn originated on radio.
Read more about it here.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Supa' Bowl, man
Hmm, guess we're having trouble keeping up with the blog.
Ok, some updates since last time.
The Wifi card for my Z72 finally came, but I have mixed feelings towards it. While it's certainly easy to config, it turned out to be a little short in range... but above all, it is a real battery hog!
The software is a little buggy too. Sometimes I have to warm boot the PDA in order to make it recognise the Wifi card. But I think I can live with that for a while.
Our CEO wants to host a screening session about the SuperBowl XL commercials for our Creative, Design and Production departments. That means the local geek (yours truly) has to roam the web figuring out crazy ways to download them all.
Funny, I thought it would be an easy job. Sometimes it really was, but others the media provider made everything it could to make it almost impossible to obtain the original video file: embedding it within a flash interface, streaming it everytime I wanted to see it (damn the caches!)... why? WHY???
But the best trick so far is to block the video altogether based on the geographical location of the incoming IP address.
If they wish only a small percentage of the total population to see it, why publish it on the web in the first place?
Ok, enough ranting.
Well, after doing some more warwalking and wardriving with my PDA, I now have a better idea about the distribution and availability of Wifi networks. Most of them are visible, but only 1 out of every 20 is open. Not exactly ideal, but better than I originally expected.
For all your PalmOS warwalking needs, I fully recommend you a nifty program called "NetChaser", by Bits'n Bolts. But since the battery will be quickly depleted, I also think you better get a dc-dc Car to PDA power adapter/charger like those offered by Belkin.
Time is running out to submit my application for a cert. exam. Better hurry up with that.
Ok, some updates since last time.
The Wifi card for my Z72 finally came, but I have mixed feelings towards it. While it's certainly easy to config, it turned out to be a little short in range... but above all, it is a real battery hog!
The software is a little buggy too. Sometimes I have to warm boot the PDA in order to make it recognise the Wifi card. But I think I can live with that for a while.
Our CEO wants to host a screening session about the SuperBowl XL commercials for our Creative, Design and Production departments. That means the local geek (yours truly) has to roam the web figuring out crazy ways to download them all.
Funny, I thought it would be an easy job. Sometimes it really was, but others the media provider made everything it could to make it almost impossible to obtain the original video file: embedding it within a flash interface, streaming it everytime I wanted to see it (damn the caches!)... why? WHY???
But the best trick so far is to block the video altogether based on the geographical location of the incoming IP address.
If they wish only a small percentage of the total population to see it, why publish it on the web in the first place?
Ok, enough ranting.
Well, after doing some more warwalking and wardriving with my PDA, I now have a better idea about the distribution and availability of Wifi networks. Most of them are visible, but only 1 out of every 20 is open. Not exactly ideal, but better than I originally expected.
For all your PalmOS warwalking needs, I fully recommend you a nifty program called "NetChaser", by Bits'n Bolts. But since the battery will be quickly depleted, I also think you better get a dc-dc Car to PDA power adapter/charger like those offered by Belkin.
Time is running out to submit my application for a cert. exam. Better hurry up with that.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
New year: new toys and 2 wifi advices
So the transition to the new year went smoothly and without glitches.
And it wasn't as bad as I thought :)
I have been playing with my long-awaited SDIO wifi card and my Palm PDA. Oh boy! It's a mixed surprise (as in "it was to be expected" and "surely people know better") to find out how many open wireless networks are out there!
The funniest part is that most DSL modems being deployed by the biggest provider in the area come with wireless capabilities turned OFF by default. Someone had to turn them on and allow them to broadcast their SSID without encryption, yes?
Well, given the proper stimulus, people might learn over time. But in the meantime, all I have to do is to grab my fully-recharged PDA and scan around. There are two tiny bits of information I would like to share though:
- Grab a list of freely accesible and geographically-close DNS servers. For some reason, the default DNS address received via DHCP does not work.
- Do you make extensive reference to the Wikipedia (like yours truly does)?
Create a bookmark with the following address. It will greatly simplify your search effort:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search/
I'm still compiling a list of free wifi applications, but among them I want to include a VNC viewer, a SSH tunneler and an IM client. The biggest challenge will be to fit them all in the 32 Mb of my PDA. Ack, why couldn't the designers of the device include 2 SD expansion slots?
In other news, the second part of the new Battlestar Galactica's series season 2 has begun. One must make sure the -other- addicts get their fix soon too ;)
And it wasn't as bad as I thought :)
I have been playing with my long-awaited SDIO wifi card and my Palm PDA. Oh boy! It's a mixed surprise (as in "it was to be expected" and "surely people know better") to find out how many open wireless networks are out there!
The funniest part is that most DSL modems being deployed by the biggest provider in the area come with wireless capabilities turned OFF by default. Someone had to turn them on and allow them to broadcast their SSID without encryption, yes?
Well, given the proper stimulus, people might learn over time. But in the meantime, all I have to do is to grab my fully-recharged PDA and scan around. There are two tiny bits of information I would like to share though:
- Grab a list of freely accesible and geographically-close DNS servers. For some reason, the default DNS address received via DHCP does not work.
- Do you make extensive reference to the Wikipedia (like yours truly does)?
Create a bookmark with the following address. It will greatly simplify your search effort:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search/
I'm still compiling a list of free wifi applications, but among them I want to include a VNC viewer, a SSH tunneler and an IM client. The biggest challenge will be to fit them all in the 32 Mb of my PDA. Ack, why couldn't the designers of the device include 2 SD expansion slots?
In other news, the second part of the new Battlestar Galactica's series season 2 has begun. One must make sure the -other- addicts get their fix soon too ;)
Friday, December 23, 2005
Once a geek, always a geek
It is a well known fact geeks (such as yours truly) can't easily stop being geeks. "Professional deformation" others say, but one must admit that so many hours invested in learning how things work just for the fun of it do have a profound impact on personal traits and habits.
For a while, I have been enjoying watching video recordings from several sources on my TV, which is also used as a secondary display for my computer. This arrangement makes it possible for me to decode almost the whole plethora of formats available. But there is a drawback: the noise emanating from the fans that prevent my computer and associated storage units from overheating and burning are annoying as heck. I also fear they might impair my hearing on the long run, so obviously something has to be made about this situation.
Where I live, it's not easy to find liquid cooling systems. Also, I don't have the time to transcode all that material to standard DVD (the media is still unreliable and the selection and recording process is very time consuming too). What a geek's got to do then?
Well, several manufacturers are now offering HDD cases with built-in decoders and video ports. Get one, add your hard disc filled with DiVX, XviD, Mp3 and many more files, connect it to your TV and you're set!
Only problem is, they are also rare around my neck of woods. Ack!!! Curse this company-driven market.
But while I wait for my decoder HDD case to arrive, I found another solution: a dvd-player/home theater set which also plays many kinds of mpeg-4 video. It's not as flexible as the aforementioned option, but at least I think I can set aside some time to transcode everything I have to DivX (their decoder is free, and the encoder license is quite affordable). Thanks to their advanced compression format, I can make a whole season of Stargate SG-1 fit within a DVD-R.
Let's take a look at the steps I took on this geek-x-periment:
1 - Select DVD/HTS device.
After shopping around, I settled for the Philips HTS3300. You can take a look at it here. There are several sub-versions depending upon where you live (RCA or SCART connectors at the back, for example). But I'll give you a short list of reasons why I chose it:
* Decodes and displays DivX versions 3 thru 6. Be forewarned though that video files encoded using QT (quarter pixel) or GMC (Global motion compensation) are not supported.
* Built in support for separate subtitle files.
* Plays and converts NTSC or PAL DVDs to the appropiate format for your TV.
* It's Region-free hackable.
* Even though the manual states only DVD+R(W)s can be used, it also plays DVD-R(w)s.
* Built-in Radio tuner.
* AUX-in input. Hey! I can use it as an amplifier for my synths too!
2 - Installation.
This HTS comes with 5 little speakers, a subwoofer and plenty of wiring with Easy-Fit color-coded connectors at the end so you can plug-in each speaker without confusion. I suggest you to obtain a kit of 5 speaker mounts though. Also, only the frontal channel speaker is magnetically shielded (don't put the others to close to your CRT TV or you'll end up creating color spots on the screen).
After installing the speakers and routing the wires appropiately, plug the power cord into an AC outlet and connect the TV selecting the appropiate composite video input (Component progressive video must be enabled manually, but that's piece of cake). Cross your fingers and turn power On.
3 - Configuration.
Now is when the geek side of the force shows up!!!
Make the unit multi-region capable:
Grab the remote control, push [OPEN] and wait for the disc tray to open, then push [9] [9] [9] [9] [0]. Cycle power and you're done!
Upgrade the firmware:
Click here and decompress the file on your desktop. Read the PDF instructions first!!! Not all units require a firmware upgrade.
If you decide to continue, burn a CD with the .BIN file (single session disc-at-once), insert it on your DVD-player and press PLAY. The rest is automatic and the unit will shut off automatically at the end of the process.
Select the appropiate color signal conversion:
Depending upon where you live, you'll want to use the color mode (NTSC or PAL) Native to your region. The unit will automatically convert based upon your choice. Check your manual for the appropiate instructions.
4 - Transcode contents.
Go back to your computer and acquire an encoder license of DivX-Create (20 USCY).
Make sure to select the Home Theatre profile. After that, the process is as simple as dragging and dropping files into the encoder icon.
Rename your files using less than 30 characters. This is only so you can identify them more easily on the DVD navigation screen. Also, if you have external subtitle files, they must be named exactly as the video file that uses them. The supported formats are .srt .smi .sub .ssa and .ass
You don't have any subtitles?? May I suggest then the excellent SubTitle Workshop? It's a movie translator's dream come true!
5 - Enjoy!
Why not, it's a snap and you'll appreciate your files comfortably sitting at your coach-potato spot :)
Let me know what you think. Okie?
For a while, I have been enjoying watching video recordings from several sources on my TV, which is also used as a secondary display for my computer. This arrangement makes it possible for me to decode almost the whole plethora of formats available. But there is a drawback: the noise emanating from the fans that prevent my computer and associated storage units from overheating and burning are annoying as heck. I also fear they might impair my hearing on the long run, so obviously something has to be made about this situation.
Where I live, it's not easy to find liquid cooling systems. Also, I don't have the time to transcode all that material to standard DVD (the media is still unreliable and the selection and recording process is very time consuming too). What a geek's got to do then?
Well, several manufacturers are now offering HDD cases with built-in decoders and video ports. Get one, add your hard disc filled with DiVX, XviD, Mp3 and many more files, connect it to your TV and you're set!
Only problem is, they are also rare around my neck of woods. Ack!!! Curse this company-driven market.
But while I wait for my decoder HDD case to arrive, I found another solution: a dvd-player/home theater set which also plays many kinds of mpeg-4 video. It's not as flexible as the aforementioned option, but at least I think I can set aside some time to transcode everything I have to DivX (their decoder is free, and the encoder license is quite affordable). Thanks to their advanced compression format, I can make a whole season of Stargate SG-1 fit within a DVD-R.
Let's take a look at the steps I took on this geek-x-periment:
1 - Select DVD/HTS device.
After shopping around, I settled for the Philips HTS3300. You can take a look at it here. There are several sub-versions depending upon where you live (RCA or SCART connectors at the back, for example). But I'll give you a short list of reasons why I chose it:
* Decodes and displays DivX versions 3 thru 6. Be forewarned though that video files encoded using QT (quarter pixel) or GMC (Global motion compensation) are not supported.
* Built in support for separate subtitle files.
* Plays and converts NTSC or PAL DVDs to the appropiate format for your TV.
* It's Region-free hackable.
* Even though the manual states only DVD+R(W)s can be used, it also plays DVD-R(w)s.
* Built-in Radio tuner.
* AUX-in input. Hey! I can use it as an amplifier for my synths too!
2 - Installation.
This HTS comes with 5 little speakers, a subwoofer and plenty of wiring with Easy-Fit color-coded connectors at the end so you can plug-in each speaker without confusion. I suggest you to obtain a kit of 5 speaker mounts though. Also, only the frontal channel speaker is magnetically shielded (don't put the others to close to your CRT TV or you'll end up creating color spots on the screen).
After installing the speakers and routing the wires appropiately, plug the power cord into an AC outlet and connect the TV selecting the appropiate composite video input (Component progressive video must be enabled manually, but that's piece of cake). Cross your fingers and turn power On.
3 - Configuration.
Now is when the geek side of the force shows up!!!
Make the unit multi-region capable:
Grab the remote control, push [OPEN] and wait for the disc tray to open, then push [9] [9] [9] [9] [0]. Cycle power and you're done!
Upgrade the firmware:
Click here and decompress the file on your desktop. Read the PDF instructions first!!! Not all units require a firmware upgrade.
If you decide to continue, burn a CD with the .BIN file (single session disc-at-once), insert it on your DVD-player and press PLAY. The rest is automatic and the unit will shut off automatically at the end of the process.
Select the appropiate color signal conversion:
Depending upon where you live, you'll want to use the color mode (NTSC or PAL) Native to your region. The unit will automatically convert based upon your choice. Check your manual for the appropiate instructions.
4 - Transcode contents.
Go back to your computer and acquire an encoder license of DivX-Create (20 USCY).
Make sure to select the Home Theatre profile. After that, the process is as simple as dragging and dropping files into the encoder icon.
Rename your files using less than 30 characters. This is only so you can identify them more easily on the DVD navigation screen. Also, if you have external subtitle files, they must be named exactly as the video file that uses them. The supported formats are .srt .smi .sub .ssa and .ass
You don't have any subtitles?? May I suggest then the excellent SubTitle Workshop? It's a movie translator's dream come true!
5 - Enjoy!
Why not, it's a snap and you'll appreciate your files comfortably sitting at your coach-potato spot :)
Let me know what you think. Okie?
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
The future is... disturbing.
I grew up in a world where science was believed to be the best way we had towards understanding everything around us, maybe even ourselves. I even had dreams of becoming an astronaut, working in space and contributing to the embetterment of our species as we began to spread around the neighborhood of our homeworld.
However, things didn't turn up exactly as many expected.
During the 70's, the interest on sending people to space and establishing a permanent residence on the moon simply faded. Governments changed their agendas, the public shifted its attention to more mundane matters... funds were cut almost without mercy. We still explore space with automated probes though, and that's not bad because they are relatively cheap, easier to manufacture and more resilient to the hazards of space. But I still find our present efforts lacking: all the expertise we managed to create during the late 60's to the mid 70's will soon be lost; practically everyone involved in the manned exploration of the moon has died (or at least retired). Training a new generation of experts shall be costly. But maybe, just maybe, we'll do it correctly this time.
My worries now are focused on the social phenomena that slowly, but firmly, seem to have taken ahold of key positions in governments and media around the planet:
- Mysticism is showing its ugly head everywhere, posing as pseudo-science and making everything it can to discredit real science, even in schools.
- People are more concerned about the latest misadventure of some famous fool instead of the impending global climate change.
- Strong line conservatives abound and have taken leadership of several countries around the planet, blindly and simply ignoring criticism against their manifest destiny. Oh, and in the meantime, why not make some profit too by staging a war here and there?
The world was complex enough before we arrived to it, so we created technology and science to make it easier for us. Now we have become very dependent upon technology, but only a small fraction of the population has a deep understanding of it. Trouble is just around the corner.
The late Carl Sagan foresaw this situation more than 20 years ago, and even was able to predict its outcome to a certain degree. People fear what they don't understand, so they retreat from it and instead take comfort on the easier and more readily available junk data. But at the same time they become more dependent on technology (they can't help it, it's an everyday's requirement of the world we live in).
Slowly, they become users and consumers of magic.
Most industries know this, and even rely upon it. How else can one explain things such as the infamous DMCA and heavily encrypted HDMI signals between media receivers/players and displays, presented to the uninformed as "essential for their own benefit"?
Lies... Lies!
Ah well, I feel a little better now.
On the next installment I'll comment on the joys of hacking and bending to MY will an interesting item of consumer electronics.
However, things didn't turn up exactly as many expected.
During the 70's, the interest on sending people to space and establishing a permanent residence on the moon simply faded. Governments changed their agendas, the public shifted its attention to more mundane matters... funds were cut almost without mercy. We still explore space with automated probes though, and that's not bad because they are relatively cheap, easier to manufacture and more resilient to the hazards of space. But I still find our present efforts lacking: all the expertise we managed to create during the late 60's to the mid 70's will soon be lost; practically everyone involved in the manned exploration of the moon has died (or at least retired). Training a new generation of experts shall be costly. But maybe, just maybe, we'll do it correctly this time.
My worries now are focused on the social phenomena that slowly, but firmly, seem to have taken ahold of key positions in governments and media around the planet:
- Mysticism is showing its ugly head everywhere, posing as pseudo-science and making everything it can to discredit real science, even in schools.
- People are more concerned about the latest misadventure of some famous fool instead of the impending global climate change.
- Strong line conservatives abound and have taken leadership of several countries around the planet, blindly and simply ignoring criticism against their manifest destiny. Oh, and in the meantime, why not make some profit too by staging a war here and there?
The world was complex enough before we arrived to it, so we created technology and science to make it easier for us. Now we have become very dependent upon technology, but only a small fraction of the population has a deep understanding of it. Trouble is just around the corner.
The late Carl Sagan foresaw this situation more than 20 years ago, and even was able to predict its outcome to a certain degree. People fear what they don't understand, so they retreat from it and instead take comfort on the easier and more readily available junk data. But at the same time they become more dependent on technology (they can't help it, it's an everyday's requirement of the world we live in).
Slowly, they become users and consumers of magic.
Most industries know this, and even rely upon it. How else can one explain things such as the infamous DMCA and heavily encrypted HDMI signals between media receivers/players and displays, presented to the uninformed as "essential for their own benefit"?
Lies... Lies!
Ah well, I feel a little better now.
On the next installment I'll comment on the joys of hacking and bending to MY will an interesting item of consumer electronics.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Music is food for the soul
Today I was listening some Smooth Jazz at work, when they suddenly began playing a melody whose name I have been looking for several years... probably more than 10.
Anyway, I wasted no time and googled for it. Not only found who plays it, but I also found a wonderful midi reconstruction and thought I'd share:
Freedom at night, by David Benoit.
Be sure to visit the whole page too. It's a hidden treasure and surely has improved my mood by 2 orders of magnitude.
Now, if only I could convince the local radio stations to begin implementing RDS services...
Anyway, I wasted no time and googled for it. Not only found who plays it, but I also found a wonderful midi reconstruction and thought I'd share:
Freedom at night, by David Benoit.
Be sure to visit the whole page too. It's a hidden treasure and surely has improved my mood by 2 orders of magnitude.
Now, if only I could convince the local radio stations to begin implementing RDS services...
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Ah yes, the holidays...
Well, holidays are here. They were to be expected.
The overwhelming majority of people find this season enjoyable; but what do others (like yours truly) who find themselves outside that segment do while waiting for it to end?
Spending time at home is not as bad as it used to be. There are more choices for entertainment, true. But somehow, I don't find it very enthusing to spend a whole week watching tv or surfing the web.
Instead, my approach is different and might be described as early-spring cleaning:
* Clean up the mess I have let to accumulate during the year. Not always easy as it sounds, because that implies moving furniture around and leaving no spot undusted.
* Clean up the other mess. This includes rearranging books and magazines while coughing up the accumulated dust, deep cleaning the fridge and washing machine... you get the idea.
* Ordering the rest of the mess. Wires behind an entertainment center have a tendency to reproduce and become so entangled, it's quite a miracle I haven't suffered from any sort of EM radiation poisoning... yet.
Leaving aesthetics aside, this also makes them prone to interference. On most occasions, I end up totally redesigning the connection scheme after a couple days of careful thought.
* Take care of the daily mess. A bachelor can have time for his laundry or to party, but rarely both; guess which one has priority. But this part involves sorting and pairing clothing while also getting rid of old stuff.
Do you begin to sense a pattern?
By bringing order to chaos, interesting things happen at the conscious and subconscious levels: You are doing plenty of physical activity, which helps keep things like S.A.D. at bay. But you are also rearranging things and rediscovering forgotten spots, taking care of them. You are getting rid of old stuff and junk you have neglected for months.
I'm not a psychologist, but I feel that because of these activities, my burdens become lighter. Mood improves too.
Of course, when the holidays are over one is very tempted to return to the old ways. It's ok to do so, I think... but only as long as the cleanup ritual is respected as well.
Oh boy, and I have lots to do for this year.
The overwhelming majority of people find this season enjoyable; but what do others (like yours truly) who find themselves outside that segment do while waiting for it to end?
Spending time at home is not as bad as it used to be. There are more choices for entertainment, true. But somehow, I don't find it very enthusing to spend a whole week watching tv or surfing the web.
Instead, my approach is different and might be described as early-spring cleaning:
* Clean up the mess I have let to accumulate during the year. Not always easy as it sounds, because that implies moving furniture around and leaving no spot undusted.
* Clean up the other mess. This includes rearranging books and magazines while coughing up the accumulated dust, deep cleaning the fridge and washing machine... you get the idea.
* Ordering the rest of the mess. Wires behind an entertainment center have a tendency to reproduce and become so entangled, it's quite a miracle I haven't suffered from any sort of EM radiation poisoning... yet.
Leaving aesthetics aside, this also makes them prone to interference. On most occasions, I end up totally redesigning the connection scheme after a couple days of careful thought.
* Take care of the daily mess. A bachelor can have time for his laundry or to party, but rarely both; guess which one has priority. But this part involves sorting and pairing clothing while also getting rid of old stuff.
Do you begin to sense a pattern?
By bringing order to chaos, interesting things happen at the conscious and subconscious levels: You are doing plenty of physical activity, which helps keep things like S.A.D. at bay. But you are also rearranging things and rediscovering forgotten spots, taking care of them. You are getting rid of old stuff and junk you have neglected for months.
I'm not a psychologist, but I feel that because of these activities, my burdens become lighter. Mood improves too.
Of course, when the holidays are over one is very tempted to return to the old ways. It's ok to do so, I think... but only as long as the cleanup ritual is respected as well.
Oh boy, and I have lots to do for this year.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
An image is worth a thousand words.
So sayeth the folklore... but what happens when we are able to manipulate images at whim? What would happen if hackers "0wnz3d tah w0rl|)"?
Take a look here
One of my favourite places on the net, worth1000.com holds contests regularly to challenge image manipulation adepts.
A never exhausting source of inspiration.
Take a look here
One of my favourite places on the net, worth1000.com holds contests regularly to challenge image manipulation adepts.
A never exhausting source of inspiration.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
The background story of Battlestar Galactica
As promised, this post will be about the background story for the reimagined fictional series Battlestar Galactica, of which I'm a big fan.
In case you have not seen yet the miniseries, be forewarned there are spoilers ahead.
Ok? Let's begin!
Two thousand years ago, humanity lived in a planet called Kobol, a word which means "Heaven" in ancient persian. Due to an unspecified cathastrophe, they fled for a new home and founded the 12 colonies of man, spreading across 12 worlds named after the zodiacal constellations: Aquarion, Pico, Arilon, Tauron, Geminon, Canceron, Leonis, Virgon, Libris, Scorpia, Sagittaron and Caprica.
The series does not clearly state whether all of them are located in a single star system (highly unlikely, unless the Kobol civilisation was capable of extensive terraforming and maybe even orbital relocation) or along several of them, although located relatively close to each other.
Another group, however, chose a different direction and was never heard of again except for their destination: A planet called Earth.
The colonial civilisation is more advanced than ours, but certainly not utopian. While it is capable of regular interplanetary and short FTL interstellar travel, quality of life is not uniform; cities have nice and "bad" neighborhoods, at least a grand scale war has been fought between the colonies and the losers were forced to slavery, and one of the worlds (Sagittaron) had to endure a corrupt military dictatorship.
There are also interesting differences. Government and religion are not separated, although priests act as advisors more than rulers. Religious beliefs are polytheistic. The colonial sacred texts esentially tell about how life was back on Kobol, but until the actual planet was found by the survivors of the second exodus, many thought them to be meant as parables or moral lessons about living in harmony.
However, the archeological teams sent to explore the ruins discovered evidence of a large scale conflict and massive genocide: human skeletons were found piled together, unburied and hidden only by the local vegetation and forests. Only then the reason behind the first exodus actually became clear but only to a very few.
In order to take care of harsh duties first, but ultimately used as weapons to fight against each other, the colonies built robotic humanoids and called them Cylons. One day, they turned against their masters and all of mankind had to unite together if they were to stand a chance for survival.
The Human-Cylon war had a great toll of lives and resources and ultimately had a deep influence on the development of the colonies. Because Cylons were capable, among other things, of infiltrating the computer networks aboard battleships and turning them against their crews, this lead to a growing distrust of technology.
Very few automated equipment remained onboard the vessels, and even then, it was forbidden to network it together. Most flight operations, including landings, ended up being done by hand.
A ban on artificial intelligence research was also raised on all colonial worlds.
The war suddenly ended 40 years ago with an armistice and withdrawal of the Cylon forces to an unknown location and nothing else was heard of them afterwards. 12 years before that, an alliance between the colonial worls was created to fight against their common enemy and later became a centralised government of sorts.
In those 40 years, Cylons underwent what could be called a technological singularity. Deeply religious and monotheistic, they covertly spawned new organic and vastly improved versions of themselves into the unsuspecting colonies. virtually indistinguishable from real humans, these bio-droids paved the way for the Cylon return. In a single day, Humankind was all but wiped out of the surface of all the colonial worlds by nuclear bombardments; only those who were aboard space vessels (less than 50,000 people) survived the attack.
Thus began the second exodus. Homeless, the survivors began searching for the rumored 13th colony with the Cylon closely in pursuit... and still with some covert agents gathering intelligence and/or waiting to strike.
There. I hope you liked it. Like I said at the beginning of this post, I'm a big fan of the series and it disturbingly seems to show.
Let me know what you think, okie?
In case you have not seen yet the miniseries, be forewarned there are spoilers ahead.
Ok? Let's begin!
Two thousand years ago, humanity lived in a planet called Kobol, a word which means "Heaven" in ancient persian. Due to an unspecified cathastrophe, they fled for a new home and founded the 12 colonies of man, spreading across 12 worlds named after the zodiacal constellations: Aquarion, Pico, Arilon, Tauron, Geminon, Canceron, Leonis, Virgon, Libris, Scorpia, Sagittaron and Caprica.
The series does not clearly state whether all of them are located in a single star system (highly unlikely, unless the Kobol civilisation was capable of extensive terraforming and maybe even orbital relocation) or along several of them, although located relatively close to each other.
Another group, however, chose a different direction and was never heard of again except for their destination: A planet called Earth.
The colonial civilisation is more advanced than ours, but certainly not utopian. While it is capable of regular interplanetary and short FTL interstellar travel, quality of life is not uniform; cities have nice and "bad" neighborhoods, at least a grand scale war has been fought between the colonies and the losers were forced to slavery, and one of the worlds (Sagittaron) had to endure a corrupt military dictatorship.
There are also interesting differences. Government and religion are not separated, although priests act as advisors more than rulers. Religious beliefs are polytheistic. The colonial sacred texts esentially tell about how life was back on Kobol, but until the actual planet was found by the survivors of the second exodus, many thought them to be meant as parables or moral lessons about living in harmony.
However, the archeological teams sent to explore the ruins discovered evidence of a large scale conflict and massive genocide: human skeletons were found piled together, unburied and hidden only by the local vegetation and forests. Only then the reason behind the first exodus actually became clear but only to a very few.
In order to take care of harsh duties first, but ultimately used as weapons to fight against each other, the colonies built robotic humanoids and called them Cylons. One day, they turned against their masters and all of mankind had to unite together if they were to stand a chance for survival.
The Human-Cylon war had a great toll of lives and resources and ultimately had a deep influence on the development of the colonies. Because Cylons were capable, among other things, of infiltrating the computer networks aboard battleships and turning them against their crews, this lead to a growing distrust of technology.
Very few automated equipment remained onboard the vessels, and even then, it was forbidden to network it together. Most flight operations, including landings, ended up being done by hand.
A ban on artificial intelligence research was also raised on all colonial worlds.
The war suddenly ended 40 years ago with an armistice and withdrawal of the Cylon forces to an unknown location and nothing else was heard of them afterwards. 12 years before that, an alliance between the colonial worls was created to fight against their common enemy and later became a centralised government of sorts.
In those 40 years, Cylons underwent what could be called a technological singularity. Deeply religious and monotheistic, they covertly spawned new organic and vastly improved versions of themselves into the unsuspecting colonies. virtually indistinguishable from real humans, these bio-droids paved the way for the Cylon return. In a single day, Humankind was all but wiped out of the surface of all the colonial worlds by nuclear bombardments; only those who were aboard space vessels (less than 50,000 people) survived the attack.
Thus began the second exodus. Homeless, the survivors began searching for the rumored 13th colony with the Cylon closely in pursuit... and still with some covert agents gathering intelligence and/or waiting to strike.
There. I hope you liked it. Like I said at the beginning of this post, I'm a big fan of the series and it disturbingly seems to show.
Let me know what you think, okie?
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
More fresh meat for the grinders.
One day, I took my doggies (two Chihuahuas appropiately named Samson and Goliath) to the vet for their vaccine shots.
The vet has a huge Calico cat that roams freely around the premises. He's got quite a personality of his own: Runs to greet and escort customers, watches as his mistress works on the various patients, takes naps in unusual places... well, you get the idea.
On that day, the cat rushed to us and began vocalising with enthusiasm, almost like a salesman. Here's a rough approximation of what he "said":
- Welcome!!! welcome!!! Here's the place... no pain vaccines at reasonable cost. Oh, I see we have two new customers! Worry not, your doggies are in good hands.
Then, he turned his head towards the clinic, and purred:
- Hey Boss... more fresh meat for the grinders!!! two incoming.
And looked back at us, reassuringly:
- Huh... as I said, guaranteed!
Suffice is to say the doggies were less than thrilled. The shots hurted as usual, and I swear that cat was watching from high above as they were being injected.
Such is the nature of cats.
My dear friend Bruno suggested me to write about the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series. So you have been warned what to expect on next post.
The vet has a huge Calico cat that roams freely around the premises. He's got quite a personality of his own: Runs to greet and escort customers, watches as his mistress works on the various patients, takes naps in unusual places... well, you get the idea.
On that day, the cat rushed to us and began vocalising with enthusiasm, almost like a salesman. Here's a rough approximation of what he "said":
- Welcome!!! welcome!!! Here's the place... no pain vaccines at reasonable cost. Oh, I see we have two new customers! Worry not, your doggies are in good hands.
Then, he turned his head towards the clinic, and purred:
- Hey Boss... more fresh meat for the grinders!!! two incoming.
And looked back at us, reassuringly:
- Huh... as I said, guaranteed!
Suffice is to say the doggies were less than thrilled. The shots hurted as usual, and I swear that cat was watching from high above as they were being injected.
Such is the nature of cats.
My dear friend Bruno suggested me to write about the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series. So you have been warned what to expect on next post.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Back on track
Yesterday night was the end of a very hectic, but also rewarding week.
Since last week, the art director asked me to generate no less than 30 different versions of a picture mosaic outlining one of our client's logo.
Why so many? Well, let me explain...
Picture mosaics are images made up of collections of other pictures. A computer program divides the target image in cells, then tries to match each cell with another image from the collection based several criteria, including:
- Overall color contents
- How many repetitions of a given image are allowed, in the overall image as well as within a region of cells.
However, it is of the utmost importance the image collection is as varied and abundant as possible. Otherwise, the result will be monotonous and uninteresting.
For this project, our client wanted us to create a mosaic consisting of red SUVs he's giving away on a sweepstake. Since their logo is also red, they thought it would be easy.
Well, it was... in theory.
How many cells should we divide in our target image? Since it is a logo, too few will result in a blurred, unrecognizable color splat. But too many not only will eat up available memory, each cell might become optically smaller and thus difficult to discern from the others. Not to talk about the resulting mosaic resolution should be at least 300 dpi.
We began with a small collection of 4 images, each one from a different SUV model. After adding a white cell to it (to include the target image's background color), first resulting mosaics ended up being dull and repetitive.
After that, we tried increasing the collection with dissolved versions of the original images in 5 percent steps. Results improved dramatically, but the background began to exhibit faint aliasing patterns where there shouldn't be any.
More tweaking on the source collection, this time using a non-linear step scale, lead us to better results. One of them underwent minor retouching with the almighty Photoshop and so was finally accepted by our client.
I won't bore you with more detail, but I'll just mention we had to tweak many parameters to come up with a varied, yet error-free mosaic. Waiting at least 40 minutes to end up with "Sorry, ran out of memory" errors is no fun.
The results were published this week on a local newspaper. Check them out:
Let me know what you think.
Since last week, the art director asked me to generate no less than 30 different versions of a picture mosaic outlining one of our client's logo.
Why so many? Well, let me explain...
Picture mosaics are images made up of collections of other pictures. A computer program divides the target image in cells, then tries to match each cell with another image from the collection based several criteria, including:
- Overall color contents
- How many repetitions of a given image are allowed, in the overall image as well as within a region of cells.
However, it is of the utmost importance the image collection is as varied and abundant as possible. Otherwise, the result will be monotonous and uninteresting.
For this project, our client wanted us to create a mosaic consisting of red SUVs he's giving away on a sweepstake. Since their logo is also red, they thought it would be easy.
Well, it was... in theory.
How many cells should we divide in our target image? Since it is a logo, too few will result in a blurred, unrecognizable color splat. But too many not only will eat up available memory, each cell might become optically smaller and thus difficult to discern from the others. Not to talk about the resulting mosaic resolution should be at least 300 dpi.
We began with a small collection of 4 images, each one from a different SUV model. After adding a white cell to it (to include the target image's background color), first resulting mosaics ended up being dull and repetitive.
After that, we tried increasing the collection with dissolved versions of the original images in 5 percent steps. Results improved dramatically, but the background began to exhibit faint aliasing patterns where there shouldn't be any.
More tweaking on the source collection, this time using a non-linear step scale, lead us to better results. One of them underwent minor retouching with the almighty Photoshop and so was finally accepted by our client.
I won't bore you with more detail, but I'll just mention we had to tweak many parameters to come up with a varied, yet error-free mosaic. Waiting at least 40 minutes to end up with "Sorry, ran out of memory" errors is no fun.
The results were published this week on a local newspaper. Check them out:
Let me know what you think.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
A blast from the past
Back in the 80's, 8-bit computers still were rare items found in a household.
Putting processing limitations aside, their capabilities could also be considered "marginal" by today's standards.
Still, necessity really is the mother of invention.
Imagine a simple flip-flop IC whose output is connected to a speaker via a small amplifier transistor. Each time the computer addresses a particular memory location, the flip-flop toggles, causing the speaker to "click". Do that many times per second and you'll end up generating beeps of varied frequencies and durations.
This was the primary sound circuit found on the venerable Apple II computer, but do not let its simplicity fool you.
Because such beasts also had limited memory capacities, the best way to make the best possible use of available memory and processing power was to write programs in assembly language. Small and fast, yet very difficult to debug.
Nonetheless, geniues like Paul Lutus managed to push the simple beep generator to the limit by making subtle alterations to the click timing loop. The results were astounding: multiple voices (up to 4) with some variations in timbre.
Shortly after that, specialised music hardware began to appear either integrated into the computer's motherboard (like the SID chip in the C=64) or as add-in cards (the Mockinboard for the Apple II). The main CPU could dedicate its attention to more important tasks instead of wasting precious clock cycles in timing loops.
It was in this scenario that Demo Coders appeared. Pushing things to the limit and then some, the main objective was to do as much as possible (graphics, sound) in as little memory space as possible.
Some demo coder groups disappeared while others prevailed. Today I found one of them, specialised in music and as creative as ever:
Vibrants homepage
Listen to their music, and think back how things were in the old days and how much they have changed.
Putting processing limitations aside, their capabilities could also be considered "marginal" by today's standards.
Still, necessity really is the mother of invention.
Imagine a simple flip-flop IC whose output is connected to a speaker via a small amplifier transistor. Each time the computer addresses a particular memory location, the flip-flop toggles, causing the speaker to "click". Do that many times per second and you'll end up generating beeps of varied frequencies and durations.
This was the primary sound circuit found on the venerable Apple II computer, but do not let its simplicity fool you.
Because such beasts also had limited memory capacities, the best way to make the best possible use of available memory and processing power was to write programs in assembly language. Small and fast, yet very difficult to debug.
Nonetheless, geniues like Paul Lutus managed to push the simple beep generator to the limit by making subtle alterations to the click timing loop. The results were astounding: multiple voices (up to 4) with some variations in timbre.
Shortly after that, specialised music hardware began to appear either integrated into the computer's motherboard (like the SID chip in the C=64) or as add-in cards (the Mockinboard for the Apple II). The main CPU could dedicate its attention to more important tasks instead of wasting precious clock cycles in timing loops.
It was in this scenario that Demo Coders appeared. Pushing things to the limit and then some, the main objective was to do as much as possible (graphics, sound) in as little memory space as possible.
Some demo coder groups disappeared while others prevailed. Today I found one of them, specialised in music and as creative as ever:
Vibrants homepage
Listen to their music, and think back how things were in the old days and how much they have changed.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Woot! first post
First of all, thank you for taking an interest on this blog.
But before we proceed, some things need to be told beforehand:
1. English is my second language, spanish my first. Please bear with me if there are times my phrasing is poor. However, I'm a fast learner.
2. As I'm in the progress of upgrading my life and hence, my future, updates might not be regular at first. But I'll always try to post something interesting in the hope it can be interesting to you too.
So, let us begin.
But before we proceed, some things need to be told beforehand:
1. English is my second language, spanish my first. Please bear with me if there are times my phrasing is poor. However, I'm a fast learner.
2. As I'm in the progress of upgrading my life and hence, my future, updates might not be regular at first. But I'll always try to post something interesting in the hope it can be interesting to you too.
So, let us begin.
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