Comments Off on First post on the new iBook

By Dave, November 5, 2004 11:43 pm

Made it to Huntsville today. Went about 25 miles out of our way due to a wrong turn and me not stopping to look at the map. Found MacResourse easy enough. Went in and they had Filemaker on the self. Got it and looked around. The iMacs were nice, both the old 800mhz ones and the new 1.6ghz ones. But as I keep thinking the laptops make the most sense. The iBooks are plenty fast and the new ones will take 1 gb ram chips on top of the 256 they come with. The Powerbooks were nice too but a bit out of our range.

Anyway got a new iBook G4 with a 1.2 GHz processor and added the 1 GB ram. Also got a bag for one. Would have liked to get 2 but at 40 a pop will swap as necessary. Total was more than I like to think of but tis done and paid and home.

The swap to this machine was wonderful! Put a firewire cable between them and rebooted the 933 while holding down the T key and it booted into harddrive mode or some such. need to look into just what the deal is there. Have done it with pc's before for just data swap but not with firewire. anyway the 1.2 took about an hour to move all the programs and my home directory and the settings over. took up 20 GB or so. Told me to take the cable out and shut off the 933. then finished the boot process. came up with my desktop and the stuff open that I had left on the old machine. Had to reregister a couple of programs but as of now most everything is working. Some of the x stuff isn't like gimp but I using graphic converter for most of the things I do now and don't really need gimp. will reinstall it and the x server and such but for now I can work right along.

And though it's only a 1.2 GHz processor it is perceptibility faster in normal operations. I don't know if this processor or bus or memory or all of the above but opening and closing programs and documents is quicker. Boot time is about the same.

Cleaned the junk off the 933 and cat is using it. She is upstairs watching star trek movies on it right now. downloaded a avi player and showed her how easy it is to install programs on a mac.

New iBook Hardware Overview:

Machine Model:        iBook G4
CPU Type:        PowerPC G4 (1.1)
Number Of CPUs:        1
CPU Speed:        1.2 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU):        512 KB
Memory:        1.25 GB
Bus Speed:        133 MHz
Boot ROM Version:        4.8.5f0

Now to get a bar code reader.

And build the database. Got filemaker installed after removing the program and pref folders and reinstalling. I was pissed but it worked the second time. I had removed them before the first install from where I had installed a trial version a few days ago but something didn't get removed or something. Anyway tis installed and running now. Now to go through the tutorial and start working on the project. Am thinking bigger all the time but i think most of it is doable. whether it will be worth doing is a different thing entirely. I guess we will see. Got to get the form from filemaker and get Cat a copy too.

New keyboard feels nice. Touch pad too. Won't be that way long if its anything like the other one. But there is also bluetooth wireless. That I am gonna look into for the home and store computer stations. Plug a bluetooth usb dongol in and have everything already there of course a usb hub would do the same but with wired components. and a lot cheaper with no batteries to buy. will see what is available.

Tis late and the eyelids are heavy. Till the morn…

Comments Off on another not good day

By Dave, November 4, 2004 12:37 pm

so far today i have gotten up, fixed and drank a cup of green tea and eaten a cup of yogurt. tried to figure out what i was doing with the website and blosxom and gotten the basic setup going. feel like shit with mood to match. slept about 12 hours last night. or was in bed that long. about 2 to 3 hour at a stretch actual sleep with 15 minutes to an hour between actually sleeping. numb as usual with that time of sleep but getting less so now that i have been up for almost an hour and a half. mind not here yet. don't know if it will be today or not.

and closing in on 10 pm now. been nonproductive in the extreme today. most of the day just existing. feel a bit better than this am but still just barely. may just have a bug, still not sure what the problem is.

called macresource in huntsville this afternoon to check on filemaker pro 7 and they have it in stock. checked the map and there are a couple of ways to get there from here. or rather from attalla anyway. the two roads come back together right at or in huntsville and seem to be within 2 miles the same distance. gonna take the one we haven't been on before. the intersection that the restaurant that we stopped at coming back from the festival in florance is where we turn north onto 231 so have traveled all but about 30 miles of the roads anyway. that is other than the shorter way to get from 431 to 77 that we are gonna try. the map of alabama that we got at wallyworld has been very helpful. just hate that we got it there…

Comments Off on not good day

By Dave, November 3, 2004 9:54 pm

other than the obvious just not a good day. neither for the us or the world nor me. in order of importance of course.

did a bit but overall was a washout. tried to work a bit on the 14 wide but between the dizzies and chest not a lot got done. better then worse again seems the pattern this time. had a period of time I was considering a trip to the er but that too passed. mostly gas i think. sure hurts like hell though.

figure tomorrow on taking some of the walls inside the greenhouse down and moving things around to get the remaining plants inside for the cooler weather headed our way. one thing that will have to go is the carpet. I hate to expose the dirt again but can't have both plants and carpet in the same area. not sure what we'll do in there yet. guess will figure it out as we go.

did get some of the books moved inside the 12 wide. they are now arranged along the walls only one box deep so are a bit more accessible. I think they are arranged so that even if we have a heavy rain that soaks the floor around the door they should stay dry.

got the scanner going on mac again. downloaded the newest graphic converter and scanned the front and back of a couple of paperbacks. I need to learn more about it's apple script capabilities. I am wanting to scan these covers at a fairly high resolution and then save a copy at 2 or 3 different resolutions for different site requirements.

gonna have to see about ordering filemaker tomorrow. I really need to get started on that soon.

looking back at blosxom again too. the biggest holdup on the live site is the format and ability to move it at will. not that will has anything to do with this mess but if need be I want to be able to move it easily without having to back up and restore a database and all that involves. with blosxom all that has to be done is move text files. that is no problem. and I suspect that i can build templates in filemaker to allow the entire thing to be built in there and simply exported to the site as needed.

Comments Off on bad title fair book

By Dave, November 2, 2004 9:25 pm

The title is "Ring For Tomb Service". I rather enjoyed the book but the title is a bit of a put off. One other area I had problems with was one of the kitchen helps constant use of profanity in the form of bloody, bleeding, flipping and such like. It just had a wrong or forced feel about it and in my opinion the book world have been better without it.

The book takes place at the Pennyfoot Hotel in England around the turn of the century or slightly there after. The Detective is Cecily Sinclair, the owner of the Pennyfoot. While the St. Bartholemew's Week celebration is going on there is a murder and the theft and substitution of a valuable goblet that is on display at the local church. The murdered man was the bell ringer at the church. When things don't quite mesh for Cecily, she starts investigating and trying to deal with the reappearance of her ex-manager who she loves.

Of course there are also a few other little problems she has to cope with, like overworked domestic help who are in turn trying to cope with a 50 something strong woman's bicycle club staying at the hotel and the Bishop that brought the goblet to town for the celebration who also has a room there. Then there is the new doorman that has a bit of a cockney rhyming problem and the new manager that seems to stay in his office working on the accounts.

Over all a pleasant read. I will certainly be visiting the Pennyfoot Hotel again. Tis a fun book and though one in a series it stands well on it's own.

—————–

Listening to Inside Mac Radio at http://www.osxfaq.com/radio/ and one of the spots was about envision http://www.opendoor.com/envision/EnvisionDetails.html. they claim it's a new way to experience the web. will see about downloading it and see what the buzz is. not sure what it has above the standard browser but…

Comments Off on why to vote against bush

By Dave, November 2, 2004 12:42 am

http://www.wilwheaton.net/mt/archives/001732.php

Comments Off on Monday all day

By Dave, November 1, 2004 11:16 pm

Got a bit done today even with the down time I had to take.

Steve brought to my attention that I had neglected to say what the van was. I thought I had posted something on that but looks like i didn't.

Tis a 1989 Plymouth Voyager Turbo SE. 4 cylinder turbo with automatic transmission. Power locks but manual windows. Mechanical and vacuum controls on the heat/ac control panel. Manual seats. 2 front doors. One rear on passengers side and a rear hatch. Need to burnish and coat with silicone grease the rear side door lock contacts. It works fine until it rains and then quits locking and unlocking. May need to put a spacer behind them as the rubber may have fatigued a bit over the years.

Got some boxes front the front moved upstairs earlier in the am while cat was at the post office mailing a book. Also moved a chest of drawers out from in front of some of the shelves in the front room. Need to move both of them to the trailer. Tomorrow.

Got worn out quick. Cat came in and I went and got the toyota truck and drove to the 12 wide. tis close to a city block if you go around by the drive and I am feeling poorly today. read a bit then came back here and had lunch then returned to the 12 wide to stare at the world for a while. Bill came by and we bsed a bit then went and started on the nissan.

Got the tools gathered up after a hunt for 12 and 13 mm sockets. got to buy a bunch next mountain top trip. or flea market trip. took the valve off to get to the alternator and removed it and the block mount. drilled the broken bolt out in the drill press and then through drilled the mount to receive a long bolt and nut using the bridgeport milling machine. so much easier than a hand drill and vice when drilling through that long an area. put it back in and relocated the front bracket and after a bit of adjustment and tightening cranked it up and was much less vibration than before. So hope that go it. Talked a bit bad to the boy when he came and got it. ;-)>

Spent several hours tonight working on organizing books in the front. Got a long way to go but it's a start. gonna move things out tomorrow and clear room to put the parlor stove in there. I think it will give enough heat for the whole building most of the time. with the big one in the greenhouse should be able to do fairly well without electric this winter (i hope)…

Need to get the plants in tomorrow too. so much to do and so much more that needs attention. not gonna get it all done this year I am afraid.

looking at getting filemaker pro 7 to handle the inventory and website data. I am leaning toward php-nuke for the website. still got to decide on the look. Cat has been working on it a bit and I like her logo concept. will see how it goes. Site url is http://www.bluespringsbazaar.com/ just fyi but it is just a blank page right now. Name is Blue Springs Bazaar. Figure that way we can sell whatever and not be too out of character.

figuring on filemaker cause I have used it before and is so much easier to develop in than m$ access or mySQL or any of the other ones I have worked with. or it is for me. 7 is a lot different but I can still get it done even having to relearn how a lot of it works ( or i hope i can). I started seeing a bit of the data structure tonight while walking around here looking at books and whatnot. tis gonna be a bitch but I think I can do it. the big part is going to be exporting the data to the different sites. But it's just a script with filemaker. Or so I am hoping. And I can have a script and one or more layouts for each site that the books need to be uploaded to and have them controlled by another master script to created each and upload and or post it to each site in the proper format. I am thinking of using static pages for each book on the site and using the built in search in php-nuke to locate book and author or text or whatever and display a list. a link to the book at abe books or paypal to buy it and a menu and tis done. as they are static pages the search engines will be able to catalog and point to them.

Guess this will be my winter computer project.

Comments Off on Tarantino plans old-style kung fu film – in Mandarin

By Dave, November 1, 2004 11:15 pm

http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,12589,1341354,00.html?=rss

Comments Off on Domestic Mail Manual R100 First-Class Mail and Priority Mail

By Dave, November 1, 2004 10:00 pm

http://pe.usps.gov/text/dmm/R100.htm

Comments Off on priority mail shipping info

By Dave, November 1, 2004 9:55 pm

http://pe.usps.gov/text/qsg/q120.htm

Comments Off on Fly Press

By Dave, November 1, 2004 9:33 pm

http://www.reil1.net/flypress.shtml

This thing is COOL! gotta see what i can find or make.

Comments Off on The Great Old Pumpkin

By Dave, November 1, 2004 8:36 pm

http://www.strangehorizons.com/2004/20041025/pumpkin-f.shtml

just plain cool!

Comments Off on South Carolina Book Festival

By Dave, October 31, 2004 10:07 pm

http://www.schumanities.org/bookfestival.htm

Comments Off on still kicking

By Dave, October 29, 2004 11:53 pm

just not too high or hard. cat got me some more mega-chel and between that and not drinking the water i am doing much better. drink the water and gas starts forming and hurting. juice, milk, boiled tea doesn't seem to do it. just the water here. haven't tried other water so don't know yet. drinking water is filtered through a britta pitcher filter and the filter is fairly fresh but doesn't seem to be doing any good.

as i said on the mend but slowly. still hard to walk across the room and tire easily even reading. will see what the morrow brings. things to do but not going to push it right now.

Comments Off on new BOFH up!

By Dave, October 29, 2004 4:03 pm

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/29/bofh_2004_episode_37/

Comments Off on wednesday morn

By Dave, October 27, 2004 9:30 am

the festival was ok but not exactly what either of us had expected. mostly sales booths. some demos and acts but was lacking a lot. I don't think it was sca sponsored from the bare blade demonstrations that we watched. or then again maybe they have relaxed their rules on that. the fighting was more trying to stay out of the way of the opponents blade than actually sword fighting the way it is with the bamboo blades.

We both got a fair number of ideas that I plan to go through later. took pix of a fair number of things that will be of no interest to anyone but us too. will try to post some of them that may be of general interest when we get them off the cam and in the computer.

loaded up a little after 2 and headed home. I had done all the walking I could do and was somewhat overcome with the sun. so… came home the same way we went. had a bad meal at a crap restaurant not too far from mountaintop trade day. not too far was 15 miles or so i think. just wasn't up to trying to get any farther on the progressivally worse headaches so tried this place but won't go there again for sure… made it in somewhat after 6 so made fairly good time.

developed a noise on the way up and then got worse on the way back in the van. turned out to be the jack and handle were reinstalled wrong and banging on the right strut support. glad it wasn't more serious cause it was a really loud noise at 55 to 65 mph…

monday was recuperation. I didn't do much of anything. cat put books in the database.

tuesday got me moving a bit. got on the dozer early and finished leveling the lot for the 14 wide. also worked on the front parking area a bit and got the back leveled a bit more. got more to do there before I can pour the pad for the shop but getting it closer.

tuesday afternoon saw us get everything ready to take the trees down. could have done it then but i was all out of energy. still got to tie the rope off to the oak and the dozer but other than that tis ready to drop.

and today…

went to bills and got the pipe loaded on bertha. after spending half an hour hunting starting fluid and then using gas poured in the carb instead. then cleaning out the back. cleared and leveled an area to pour the pad for the heat/ac unit.

came home and ate and the rain started. and it poured. with no tarp on the dozer. close to an inch i think. ground is settled anyway. now to let it dry to the point we can get back on it with trucks and equipment. ah well…

afternoon was not too good. having a bit of an episode it seems. all the usual symptoms. shallow breathing, mild chest pain and lots of gas, legs won't support, dizzy. seems better now. second time in a week. today took a couple of hours to pass. wobbly legs still there. now feels like lactic acid buildup in my lower legs. and arms. and back. tired all over. will take a few days off from heavy work, i guess, and see how it goes.

Comments Off on first night in the van

By Dave, October 24, 2004 7:40 am

wasn't too bad. will add more padding to the mix tonight if we stay in it again. when we located this park it was dark or almost so and raining. somewhere around 5:30 pm. this place is right on the bank of the tennessee river.

we found a spot close to the shower house and a picnic pavilion and parked. got food stuffs and had a quick sandwich by the waters edge. cat got some pix of a tug boat pushing several barges up river. or tried to. haven't looked at them yet so not real sure how they turned out.

the festival isn't much. seems to be mostly sales of one sort or another. wouldn't mind doing some sort of booth at things like this but not sure what we would do. the leather work is basic stuff and too new looking for my tastes but seems fairly well done. there are some pouches I like that I want to look at again today and see what kind of prices they have on them.

someone trying to get a camper in next to us now. looks like they have backed it in a few times before.

not a noisy park at all other than the river traffic. had several barges come by during the night. I got up and walked out to the pavilion and sat watching the water and clouds racing across the sky. no real inspiration but was interesting and may provide fuel at a future time.

fog is starting to burn off. just after 8 am now. can see the cliffs on the other side of the river a bit better now. still quite and peaceful.

trees along the shore…

and I was interrupted on that thought and it's several days later so will close this post and go to today…

Comments Off on thursday at boaz

By Dave, October 22, 2004 12:00 am

decided to try the northern route today but only made it to boaz instead of huntsville. checked little lots and they had nothing that I was interested in. mostly china junk that is cheaper at the flea markets. then went to hammers in the old downtown section. found some tarps that were a third of what wallyworld wants for them. also got a long coat. tis an army cut and color. I think it will be a good all weather coat. don't know how water proof it is but will probably find out this weekend.

walked down the way and found an old hardware store that was still in business. been there for 45 years. got a couple of lids that don't fit anything we have and a hand grinder for a somewhat reasonable price. needs the tool rest and the stone reshaped. also needs a real handle but with a bit of work I think it will work for my jewelry making. I think I can fit a tapered mount on the nut on the output shaft and then put a buffing pad on it and use it to buff the pieces too. maybe. will see.

came back by attalla and got a few books at the thrift shop. some fairly decent pieces. one ruth rendell and a couple of others are first editions in g or vg condition. wandered around a bit and then back by the folks house to pick up a 25 lb box of rice they got for us.

tomorrow is here so i must sleep soon. gonna try for rome again i think. want to go through cave springs too if we have time. something about that place keeps drawing me back. strange.

till i type again…

Comments Off on Classic Hunter S. Thompson!

By Dave, October 21, 2004 8:30 pm

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/_/id/6562575?&rnd=1098394261180&has-player=true

Comments Off on nothing much day

By Dave, October 20, 2004 11:15 pm

lay around most of the day. what little i got out was to move the van to the 12 wide and unload the books from the other night. with bill, neil, cat and I it didn't take but a few minutes to get them all inside. Would have rather put them in the 14 wide but the distance from the door that I wanted to put them in was too far and embedded with too many obstacles so will move them over with all the rest of the stuff that is gonna get moved into that one.

looked at the area I want to move the 14 wide to and made some mental adjustments to the layout. may not cut the sweet gum after all. or may get them all cut. bill talked to a phone company person today that is supposed to get engineering to phone me.

may go to rome tomorrow. there are several things we need for camping and such that I would like to go ahead and get before the weekend. some of them can be gotten locally and some not. been to b'ham too many times lately so figure the other way may lead to different things. guess we will see when the new day dawns.

got the tent set up in the back room of the 12 wide airing out for now. we may get another tent or use it to store stuff in and sleep in the van. haven't decided yet. tomorrow will tell more. another possibility is a car top carrier. I am not into unpacking and repacking stuff.

other possibility is totes in the bottom of the camper for stuff and bamboo mat unrolled on top of them and futon and sleeping bags on that. will look into curtains for the windows also. check building material supply for bubble pack with aluminum on outside. screws in walls and ceiling of van and hooks on shock cord to attach it with on bubble pack. 5 areas to cover. long drivers side rear windows. rear hatch. short rear window passengers side. door on passengers side. behind seats. windows bubble pack. behind seats curtains make more sense. rod or wire will work there. or bamboo with cord on ends to hand from hooks on each side. hang blanket across it. same for each side and back. quick up and down and no cost but time.

another option is to use the rear hatch for a storage area by enclosing with a tarp and stacking the totes and such there, leaving the van empty for sleeping. which makes a lot more sense but involves unloading and reloading. will try all of the above that stand the test of daylight sometime tomorrow or friday. will get tarps and such and see what else will be needed for a test run this weekend.

partial list of stuff.

cooler with assorted food and drinks
tote with sleeping bags (will they both fit in one tote? check)
water 5 gallons
shallow tote or kitchen container with watertight lid for washing up and grey water containment
kitchen tote with stove, cookware, dry and canned food, eating and cooking utensils, dishes, and cups.
camping table
2 buckets with lids (1 for toilet and one for sawdust)
or a tote with a bucket inside with the sawdust around the bucket. one lid with hole in it and another to seal it off? or a toilet seat on bucket and lid of tote to seal for transport.
tote for clothes with clothes for both of us for 3 days minimum and extra socks, shirts and underwear for 5/7 days if space allows
remaining space empty totes for books and other stuff we collect on the way
bamboo for curtain rods and retainers
split bamboo for roll up deck
rope
bungie cords
futon
pillows
headlights with spare batteries
towels
washcloths
soap
shampoo and conditioner
comb
extra hair ties
tooth brushes and paste
deodorant
duct tape
toilet tissue
paper towels
camera, charger, extra memory card
iBook
card reader

and on and on…

may go to huntsville tomorrow instead. and boaz. will see when the sun rises. foggy out there right now.

the huntsville thing is case for laptop, car charger for same, or inverter, camping stuff at little lots, maybe iPod with mic and iTrip for broadcast to van radio. or not. will see. like the 40 gb version. lotta space for talking on there.

Comments Off on can we?

By Dave, October 19, 2004 10:10 pm

little question, wide open query.

my mind wanders so much.

what to do? not about the mind wandering but about here. the homestead. or farm (though it hasn't produced much but dreams for years) or place. this part of the earth that I call home and the area surrounds it. known as blue springs. the area that surrounds the farm that is. is known as blue springs.

anyway.

I have been thinking on the book store. again. the volume that is required to make money is more than I suspect we will have out here. so the internet. but the labor is the killer there. little money coming in but still lots going out. we can do flea markets and trade days. or combine the books with other things. a friend wants me to sell other stuff. maybe. got to get the trailer in place first.

it rained today so the ground may be workable by friday if we don't have more tomorrow. may and it will be welcome but will put off finishing the grading and moving the trailer. tis a trade off.

if I go back to an old idea that i have shelved for a while this place could work after all. but the level of work is extreme. and gonna take a long time. artist, craft, colony, sales center, hippie commune, private nature what have you. some combination of the above. got to build cabins. alternative technologies institute. work wood and stone and iron. got the raw materials so need to get off my ass and start on this madness. or go forward with less focus. if that is possible. but with the book situation that has developed I have to get that trailer moved into place and on piers quick!

looks like we are blue springs books. now to get the paper work started on permits and numbers and such. and work on logo and sign. got business cards done and ready to print. one bit of wording needs changing but still working it out. Need the cards done so guess I will try the changes and be back soon…