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Focus

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Gabe

When you walk, where do you look?

I noticed around 13-14 that I usually looked down at the ground relatively close to my feet. Walking to and from school was a relatively easy path so watching my feet was not really necessary.

This might have had 2 effects on me:
1. Near sighted, though I’ve always been near sights since I went to the eye doctor when I was 5, so that’s probably untrue.
2. Planning, I rarely plan thing that far in advance. I don’t think about what I’ll be doing in 5 years, 10 years, etc. I focus on the present and maybe next week, but not much farther than that.

I haven’t read any study that confirms the relationship, but now I try to look out in front of me, at the people walking by, the sky, my surroundings, etc.

Where do you look?

Tron 2.0

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Gabe

I downloaded the Tron 2.0 Multiplaye demo.

I was very sad because my computer is not fast enough to run it! *CRIES* I had to turn the settings down to low detail to be able to move.

Its a very cool demo, lets you play light cycles and Disc tournaments. I had to run a server because every time I tried to connect to someone else’s server the game crashed to my desktop. Other than that and the sound not working for a tournament (went off at the end of the 1st tournament, and magically came back on at the end of the 2nd tournament) it was pretty smooth.

I bet it looks REALLY nice with a fast computer and a nice graphics card. I think it supports some new DirectX 9 features that should make it look really cool.

If you’re a fan of the original movie, I suggest you check this out!

Backup

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Gabe

Well I successfully made a backup of all the files on our web sites onto my other server. I did that so I could add another hard drive to the existing server and not have the site be down. Although I did not install Movable Type on the backup server (yet) so the comments and dynamic pieces did not work, the static files where still there which served the majority of the purpose.

Samba was a little annoying to setup (its no where near complete) but I got it working (had to copy the files to my user directory, then copy them to the web server home). Had to edit the server to accept default.htm as a document to consider instead of just index.html. It was fairly easy except for a slight confusion about “editing the default” and editing the “default virtual host”.

Next I’ll get movabletype installed, but copying the database seems far from trivial.

Import Comments

3 Comments
Gabe

So I’m submitting my MovableType update to mt-plugins.org.

Luciana wanted to import her comments from HaloScan (she was using this before movabletype.org in conjuction with blooger.com) so I modified the movabletype source to include an “Import Comments” link. The code is horribly ugly, and barely tested (it worked with Luciana’s comments, and that’s about all the testing I was able to do).

It would be cool to add more commenting systems, but I don’t have them to test. Feel free to let me know if you have some you’d like added.

Information link: README

Download link: ImportComments.zip

Time

1 Comment
Gabe

Can someone make the earth spin slower on its axis? 24 hrs in a day is not enough! I need to sleep 7-9 hrs, work 8-10 hrs, but that doesn’t leave enough time to do things I need to do (cut the grass, clean, organize, pay bills, etc, etc) and do things I want to do (play video games, write programs, learn new things).

Looks like Mars has a similar day: 24 hrs, 40 minutes. That doesn’t help. (Not likely people will be going to Mars in my lifetime).

A day on the moon is an entire month, which might be a little too long. But if the Sun was up for 15 days and down for 15 days, I could sleep when I wanted to and wake up when I needed to. (There is a better chance of going to moon in my lifetime but still seems unlikely).

I think I was born too soon! I want to live in the future!

DDR Dance Pad

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Gabe

We have 4 dance pads and only 1 works!

I got one for christmas, nice and big MadCatz (although a little thin). It was our first one so I had no idea what to expect. Worked great until I took it to my dad’s house. Either being folded or something killed it. Just dead.

I ordered one from RedOctane. They came highly recommended. However my experience was less than great. The first 2 pads they sent the Start button was stuck on. Finally the third one they sent worked. Its nice and thick (doesn’t bunch up as much as the MadCatz one did). They did send the other 2 free of charge, but I’m still very sad about their quality control.

So the MadCatz one dies and I decide to take the ones that have the stuck Start button apart to try to fix it. The inside is very interesting, but so far I’ve had no luck fixing it. I was hoping there would be something obviously stuck together causing the start button to always be on, but it must be more serious than that. I put a piece of paper between the 2 layers that must come in contact to register a step, but it was still stuck on. Must be in the circuitry or something.

Another idea is to make the 2 layers touch so as to make the “always on” be “always off”. It would render the start button useless, but hopefully make the pad useful. We’ll see what happens.

Eating Healthy

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Gabe

After buying my lunch and heading back to my desk, the guy who checks everyone’s ID (before you enter the elevator, required here at the Ren Cen) said “that is a healthy lunch”. I had a salad and a banana (and no pop/soda).

The doctor told me I need to eat salad because the fast food options I have here at work are probably too fatty. I went to see the specialist (doctor) because my triglycerides were 1800 while fasting for 8 hrs and 1300 after fasting for 12 hrs.

My wonderful wife cooks amazing food (always takes great!) and I doubt that is the problem. I rarely eat much for breakfast, usually a ceral bar and some juice. I truely believe there is another cause which the doctor seemed unable to determine.

He also suggested exercise, which I’m trying to get. Before I had volleyball on Wednesdays, and now we have softball on Mondays. But he said it was the wrong kind of exercise, I need to stay active for 15-20 minuts straight like running/swimming, not stop and go sports. Unfortunately I don’t have lots of extra energy to do things like that, which is ironic because triglycerides (I think) are energy the body hasn’t converted. It seems like a circle!

Maybe DDR is the answer!

Escalators

4 Comments
Gabe

People at work (and in general) are funny getting onto and off of the escalators.

I consider myself a rather coordinated person so maybe I’m biased, but getting onto the escalator should not be that difficult. People have to come to a complete stop before they can get on or they might fall over. They have to look down at their feet and concentraight rather hard to get off without falling over. Its very funny to watch.

I just get on the escalator as if it were no different from the rest of the ground I’m walking on. If I happen to step over two stairs, I can easily adjust after the fact, no need to look at my feet and come to a complete stop to plan my entrance before getting on.

Lunch

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Gabe

I must say I am rather hooked/impressed with the Greek Gyro place here at the Ren Cen Food Court. I’ve had both the beef and chicken Gyro and they are excellent. The meat is seasoned, the sauce is good, the onions are fresh as is the bread. The tomatoes are fine, but nothing special.

However, I have yet to have “great” fries. Today’s we rather undercooked. Seems most “fast food” places are like that to get you your food quicker. I admit I probably like my fries more well done that most, but its fairly obvious that most of the time the fries are under cooked when they are almost white (instead of golden).

My previous favorite: “The Great Steak & Potatoe Company” is closed for remodeling. They had the WORST fries I’ve ever had in my life. But the steak sandwich/sub was pretty darn good.

My step-brother keeps asking me if I’ve gone out to eat while downtown. Unfortunately I’ve gone only once, to Hallas’ Cafe in Greektown. My project requires all of my time so I don’t have the oppertunity to go out. I usually eat at my desk. I am also one of the fastest eaters I know (I can eat a Hungry Howies medium pizza in 7 minutes). Even so, the project has high demands so I probably won’t be going out anytime soon.

In-laws head home

3 Comments
Gabe

Well after 3 weeks the in-laws have gone home.

It was nice having them around, they did a lot around the house: gardening, cutting the grass, helped put the up the gutters, recycle the boxes in the basement.

I think I learned a few new portuguese words. I knew, cega/cego, but I thought it was spelled sega (because of the company probably). I learned pode, though I don’t use it much. I really do suck a foreign languages.

Life should return to normal. Cooking/cleaning/transporting 4-6 people (when we went out with my mom and step-dad) seemed like too many people. We only have 8 dishes and they rarely seemed clean at the same time so there was lots of dishes going through the dish washer often.