Waider's Geek Diary

Waider's Geek Diary http://www.waider.ie/hacks/hacking.html A rough account of what I did with Emacs recently. en-ie Copyright 1995 - 2010, Waider Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:54:46 IST Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:54:00 +0100 waider@waider.ie waider@waider.ie Waider http://www.waider.ie/images/people/waider/newlj.png http://www.waider.ie/hacks/hacking.html September 9 http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/september.html#9 Updates have been thin on the ground here. I plan on taking a weekend of slacking off to rectify that: movies to watch, perhaps an update to the books being read, that sort of craziness. http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/september.html#9 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:59:59 IST September 3 http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/september.html#3 I think I was expecting <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446046/combined" title="Take the Lead (2006)">Take The Lead</a> to be a bit more like Step Up, but I didn't know it was actually based on some semblance of reality which I guess makes it a more interesting story somewhat. It's not actually bad or anything, just that I somehow expected a bit more oomph. http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/september.html#3 Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:59:59 IST August 28 http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#28 Finally saw <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/combined" title="Inception (2010)">Inception</a>, which quite a few people have been raving about; it's good, but I'm not sure it's take-you-by-the-scruff-of-the-neck-and-shake-you good that the raving I've been hearing has implied. Still, a good movie, definitely worth watching. http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#28 Sat, 28 Aug 2010 23:59:59 IST August 25 http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#25 On the recommendation of coworkers I have switched off the "flood prevention" feature on the UPC modem, since by all accounts it doesn't work and only causes problems like the ones I'm seeing. Of course, I've already put a cheap MRTG monitor in place and haven't seen a single problem. http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#25 Wed, 25 Aug 2010 23:59:59 IST August 24 http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#24 Sneakers found... behind the sofa. This is the universe laughing at me for asking people if they've found stuff they're looking for "down behind the sofa", I imagine. UPC's 15MB broadband is all well and good, but they appear to suffer from periodic terrible DNS performance. I'm not sure why it's limited to DNS, or perhaps I'm diagnosing incorrectly, but it seems like I can ping things just fine in the middle of this sort of episode while being completely unable to resolve hostnames using either UPC's own servers or the Google public servers (yes, small sample set, but hey). I guess I should augment my <a href="http://www.ee.ethz.ch/~oetiker/webtools/mrtg/mrtg.html">MRTG</a> setup to include some DNS resolver testing. http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#24 Tue, 24 Aug 2010 23:59:59 IST August 21 http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#21 <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0822854/combined" title="Shooter (2007/I)">Shooter</a> was good enough, but the ending feels like it was tacked on in response to negative reception of the preceding scene, which would have been the original ending. Hard to say without reading the source, of course, but still. http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#21 Sat, 21 Aug 2010 23:59:59 IST August 17 http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#17 I've been living here for more than two weeks now, and I still haven't found my damned sneakers. http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#17 Tue, 17 Aug 2010 23:59:59 IST August 15 http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#15 I've asked the <a href="http://www.waze.com/">Waze</a> guys to set up <a href="http://www.waze.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=119">an Irish Waze Forum</a>, and got myself an Area Manager hat for the Dublin area. Lotsa cleanup to do, but there's another user also just snagged an AM hat for a slightly larger area overlapping mine, so I figure it should gradually start to look a bit better. http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#15 Sun, 15 Aug 2010 23:59:59 IST August 13 http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#13 Classic Microsoft and their Macintosh love: Launch Word. Select "Check for Updates". This launches the Autoupdater tool, which in turn tells you there's an update. Ok, install the update. The update then pops up a dialogue box asking you to close all open Office tools... including the Autoupdater. http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#13 Fri, 13 Aug 2010 23:59:59 IST August 11 http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#11 <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280949/combined" title="Miranda (2002)">Miranda</a> is ... odd. It's almost as if they came up with that hysterically funny breadboard quote that comes near the end of the movie, and then tried to construct something to fit around it. It's slow, and there are a few self-conciously arty shots that you find yourself looking at because, well, nothing's happening, but it passes the time well enough. http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#11 Wed, 11 Aug 2010 23:59:59 IST August 10 http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#10 The fridge magnet poetry has been rediscovered. Muahahahah! http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#10 Tue, 10 Aug 2010 23:59:59 IST August 9 http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#9 Back on cable for the first time in about a week or more. I have, in the interim, signed up for Vodafone's mobile broadband, but I'm not exactly thrilled with it. New connection is apparently fibre-backed so I've got 15MB down (albeit a paltry 1MB back up again). http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/august.html#9 Mon, 09 Aug 2010 23:59:59 IST July 24 http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/july.html#24 <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120603/combined" title="Beloved (1998/I)">Beloved</a>: make it stop, make it stop, make it stop. Awful. Went on too long, was incoherent, and I don't care how many people on IMDb say that it was a "difficult book" or that reading the book would somehow help, that totally misses the point. If a movie can't stand on its own it's just not good enough, and this movie can't even lie down on its own, it needs help to do that much. A new contender for Worst Movie I've Ever Seen. http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/july.html#24 Sat, 24 Jul 2010 23:59:59 IST July 21 http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/july.html#21 <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398027/combined" title="Down in the Valley (2005)">Down In The Valley</a>: a slow-burning movie that doesn't seem to start until it's almost over. Storywise it's sort of like Cape Fear, but with more delusion than menace. Not convinced I'd recommend this, really. http://www.waider.ie/hacks/diary/2010/july.html#21 Wed, 21 Jul 2010 23:59:59 IST