tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:17:14 +0000http://www.zigg.com/journal/matt@zigg.com (zigg)Blogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-889437800816717651Wed, 28 Apr 2010 10:50:00 +00002010-04-28T08:17:14.541-04:00internetubuntumetaThis is "the end"—and I guess it's also a little bit of a test. I received a final notice overnight indicating Google's intention to shut down (S)FTP publishing for Blogger, which I previously wrote about. I'm curious how long it will take for this post to go through, given the general lack of reliability of the publisher that I've experienced since I started this little thing here; how many http://www.zigg.com/journal/2010/04/this-is-end.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-1483157678750257395Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:39:00 +00002010-03-05T18:59:28.299-05:00metaYou may or may not have heard of Google's decision to shut down FTP publishing for Blogger-based sites, of which mine is one. I actually use SFTP, but I still face the same deadline, recently extended to May 1.I have no intention of moving my journal to Blogger hosting. I suppose it's a bit of idealism, but I highly value the ability to keep full control of my namespace. The choice to use http://www.zigg.com/journal/2010/03/closing-up-shop-for-now.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-1038904290023544609Fri, 01 Jan 2010 14:49:00 +00002010-01-01T10:08:43.959-05:00shinytechcapitalismWhile everyone else is probably thinking this year about how to better themselves through laughable New Year's resolutions (a little tip from yours truly: to really commit to something, try not attaching it to an arbitrary date. Weight-loss in particular. You're giving yourself a ready-made "oh, well, I'll try again next year" excuse. Solve your problems now), I'm thinking about others' http://www.zigg.com/journal/2010/01/shiny-black-plastic-please-die.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-154753172624297835Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:53:00 +00002009-12-30T20:40:41.751-05:00linuxlucidubuntuBack in September (I feel appropriate shame for letting the journal go for so long), I mused about the troubles I was having with Ubuntu Karmic.I didn't end up skipping it; I left it installed. I felt ext4 was manageable with regular backups, ath9k was manageable by flat-out replacing it with ndiswrapper, and whatever else I could deal with as it came up. One thing I did have to do on a http://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/12/taking-lucid-for-spin.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-3980121775184832991Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:50:00 +00002009-09-01T07:14:36.454-04:00linuxubuntuEver since I originally discovered Ubuntu—I think it was in 2007—I've followed every release, many early on. While it's true I've had a handful of problems over the years with various things (though no more than using any other operating system), Ubuntu has simply been the best Linux experience I've had. So much just... works.I've been testing the next version of Ubuntu, "Karmic Koala", since http://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/09/maybe-ill-skip-ubuntu-karmic.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-6969960118629555469Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:50:00 +00002009-08-30T19:11:09.254-04:00palmI was about ready to give up on my beloved Palm LifeDrive—which was already a refurbed replacement for the original—as it had recently kicked the bucket, refusing to turn on just like the last one and many others I've heard reports of. It was way out of even the extended warranty I'd bought. So I carefully extricated my data and started using an old Sony CLIÉ PEG-S320 to keep my life in http://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/08/tribute-to-chris-short-resurrector-of.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-2958329757410152043Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:17:00 +00002009-08-21T09:50:34.077-04:00technotespalmnvbackupI suppose I've never made this confession here yet, but I'm a Palm addict. It's been going on since the original Handspring Visor came out and my core Palm databases are the same ones that I created nearly nine years ago, brought from system to system.These days, I've been using Palm's disavowed LifeDrive, and mine just kicked the bucket. This is my second one; the first I got replaced through http://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/08/getting-my-data-back-out-of-nvbackup.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-5096130014640014611Sun, 09 Aug 2009 02:37:00 +00002009-08-08T22:56:38.227-04:00gamesmustafacodedsOkay, so 70 KiB/s that's not as good as your broadband. Heck, it's not even as good as my broadband, and I'm a cheapskate.But I'm pretty thrilled with it. My early TFTP proof-of-concept code was only able to manage a bit over 40 KiB/s—though you'll fall back to near that (maybe slightly faster? I have tuned a number of key things) if your client makes a request without requesting a larger http://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/08/mustafa-downloads-to-pc-at-70-kibs.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-228634055719660358Thu, 06 Aug 2009 10:24:00 +00002009-08-06T08:51:08.790-04:00gamesmustafacodesavehostdsI think this is the first project I've ever actually abandoned—well, sort of—but I don't intend to do any more work on my previously-announced Nintendo DS Save Host.It isn't that I don't want to create that tool anymore, but I found myself wanting a different approach to the problem. I was spurred down this road by my finding that dswifi's TCP stack isn't quite up to the task of sending large http://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/08/savehosts-bizarre-metamorphosis.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-5778081132640889219Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:43:00 +00002009-08-06T08:55:59.721-04:00technotesubuntuI'm sorry I haven't been "writing" writing here lately. I have been doing some writing over at N-Sider, though of course it's all games-related. Just been too busy, I suppose.Anyway, I wanted to drop a quick post to note the solution to a longstanding problem I've had with Ubuntu: getting the console to stay in 132×60 text mode (or, indeed, any other text mode). 80×25 may be just fine for http://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/06/geek-adventure-getting-ubuntus-console.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-6288411421252922195Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:24:00 +00002009-04-15T22:28:20.198-04:00codeDid I hear you say "I want a crc32sum application for Linux that can not only output CRC32 sums for a list of files, but also handle stdin if I leave its argument list blank, and I don't mind if it's hackish, so long as it works?"#!/usr/bin/env python## A CRC32 summing utility that functions mostly like md5sum or# sha1sum.## Public domain by Matt Behrens <matt@zigg.com> with NO http://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/04/ubuntus-missing-crc32sum-tool-in-python.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-3315243747322732083Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:12:00 +00002009-08-06T08:49:29.089-04:00gamescodesavehostdsAlmost two weeks ago now, I uploaded the read-only code I had so far for the Nintendo DS Save Host (which I first talked about back in February) to SourceForge. Honestly this is kind of new to me, putting incomplete stuff out there, but I have at least one person I'm talking to already who is interested in early-access stuff.Having an audience helps a little. It doesn't magick time out of thin http://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/04/nintendo-ds-save-host-up-on-sourceforge.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-6436859879801746151Sat, 14 Mar 2009 22:55:00 +00002009-03-14T18:58:38.792-04:00lifeLest you think my life is all excruciating torment...I just went upstairs to grab my fingerless gloves—hands getting a bit cold—and my wife and kids are parked in front of the iMac watching a movie on Hulu. And my two-year-old son, fresh from the tub and decked out in his footie jammies, is seated in his kid-sized director's chair, watching wide-eyed with his own little bowl of freshly-popped http://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/03/awww.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-5789359938481799503Sat, 14 Mar 2009 22:12:00 +00002009-03-14T18:44:46.912-04:00lifeTwo months and thirteen days.This is almost, but not quite, the end of my saga of trying to get my recumbent bike fixed via Dick's Sporting Goods' "No Sweat Warranty". You can brush up on the saga's history starting with adventures in diagnosis, moving on to entirely bizarre phone calls, and the latest entry as to how I finally thought I might get my bike fixed at last.On March 11, the elusive http://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/03/end-of-saga-with-dicks-sporting-goods.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-6070078196635922400Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:27:00 +00002009-02-19T18:47:37.540-05:00technotesmacFor Valentine's Day, I surprised my wife with one of the latest iMac models; specifically, the 20" 2.4GHz. I'm parked in front of it right now, typing this post... and I must say, I'm getting rather enamored with it. We're not new to Mac in this house; this iMac replaces her aging iMac DV+, which we were running OS X 10.3.9 on (and rather well, I might add)—it wasn't a horrible performer by anyhttp://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/02/sharing-wifes-new-imac.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-5914467510743057891Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:41:00 +00002009-02-12T20:47:19.396-05:00codeSo, I spent a few feverish nights postponing paying contract work this past weekend to work on a little coding for myself for a change... something I really don't do much of anymore. I get it halfway done, it works great, I just need to implement the other half, and what do I do?I start not refactoring it, but thinking about how I should. I start thinking the protocol needs reworking, so I http://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/02/perfectionism-slows-progress-yet-again.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-3484242327426053632Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:21:00 +00002009-03-14T18:33:46.386-04:00lifeThis is a continuation of the saga of my experiences with Dick's Sporting Goods' "No Sweat" extended warranty, which began with a delay-fraught diagnosis procedure and eventually led me on a bizarre journey through call-centerdom... all in the hope that I could start getting some exercise again this winter.I'm slowly coming up on two months since I originally called in my recumbent bike as http://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/02/hope-springs-eternal-will-dicks.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-6827615487818995564Sat, 07 Feb 2009 14:32:00 +00002009-02-07T10:03:47.393-05:00gamescodeOne of the code projects I've wanted to do for a little while now (at least since the release of Daigasso! Band Brothers DX) is a save host for the Nintendo DS. A brief primer, first: unlike with disc- or online-based game systems, software for the DS comes on game cards with the software itself in ROM and some kind of EEPROM or Flash chip for saving. This is tremendously convenient for me, buthttp://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/02/not-so-much-like-riding-bicycle.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-3264567418214314175Fri, 06 Feb 2009 03:02:00 +00002009-02-05T22:09:53.236-05:00lifeOur third (yes, third) WALL-E DVD arrived today, from Disney. We bought the 3-disc edition (aren't we suckers? I love special features, maybe a little too much) back in December, then exchanged it shortly thereafter when I discovered that while all the special features worked, the actual movie did not. When that replaceme had the same problem, I sent disc 1 off to Disney, who swapped it for a http://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/02/continuing-adventures-of-matt-consumer.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-4915012779902348410Thu, 05 Feb 2009 01:11:00 +00002009-02-12T20:38:29.785-05:00lifeWow, it's been nearly a month since I last posted about my experiences trying to get my exercise bike fixed under Dick's Sporting Goods' "No Sweat Warranty". I guess it's sort of fitting that I have a pretty crazy story to tell today.When I updated that past post, I said "if I'm lucky, I'll be up and running within a week." I'm not lucky. After a little over a week passed, I followed up with http://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/02/extended-warranty-or-extended-trial.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-2600858116016635262Sun, 25 Jan 2009 21:00:00 +00002009-01-28T13:39:30.356-05:00internetprivacyI've long suspected it was the case that Facebook applications were basically a backdoor to gather up info on you and your friends. I still almost choked on my iced coffee today when I saw, as I poked through Facebook's privacy settings, the following list:Profile pictureBasic infoPersonal info (activities, interests, etc.)Current location (what city I'm in)Education historyWork historyProfile http://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/01/facebook-trusts-your-friends-to-decide.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-8438349566675343693Sat, 24 Jan 2009 16:46:00 +00002009-01-24T12:34:51.646-05:00internetprivacyI rejoined Facebook the other day. I'm not sure quite what spurred it on, in retrospect, though I can point to a few catalysts.I originally left because of the Beacon debacle. I don't know why it'd never occurred to me before, but Beacon exposed a vector I'd not considered before: my e-mail address. Everyone who I'd registered with as matt@zigg.com (which isn't exactly private) could aggregatehttp://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/01/social-networking-automatic-gossip.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-2962053510117786052Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:37:00 +00002009-01-12T07:49:38.112-05:00internetWhen I am signed in, there is no obvious button to take me into the bowels of the Blogger application to update my journal with.I can get in there, mind—I just have to click the freaking logo.How unintuitive is that?http://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/01/brief-critique-of-blogger-toolbar.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-2501645093178764821Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:33:00 +00002009-01-12T08:08:54.047-05:00In-between VPN hiccups and bills to pay yesterday, the N-Sider chat, as it is often wont to do, spurred a long-lost memory. This time, it was a game I used to play, oh, probably a decade ago now, on an IRC much like said chat. I'm proud to say I started it, though I can't be held responsible for where it went or whose lives it might have destroyed in the process. I'm not so proud to say I http://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/01/nonsense-game.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6174623235494954755.post-8663763163830379762Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:47:00 +00002009-01-07T21:14:12.733-05:00musichardwareThe last part of my holiday haul finally arrived on Monday: a set of Koss PortaPro headphones. If they look like something out of the '80s, that's because they are; they were introduced in 1984 and as I understand it have not been changed since. (Well, my pair actually come with a ridiculously small plug thanks to Apple's infamous flouting of the headphone jack standard, but that's really not http://www.zigg.com/journal/2009/01/portable-aural-joy.htmlmatt@zigg.com (zigg)0