everwas

a blog by Ian Kennedy

Tag: off topic

  • Performing File System Surgery

    Ugh. In the middle of moving files around on my home Windows PC the filesystem was corrupted and I lost access to my files. I knew the files were there but the the few configuration files that Windows XP needed to give me rights to my folder were kaput and because I was the administrator on this machine, it couldn’t even boot up.

    I installed another copy of the core Windows files into a new directory (c:\windows2) so that I could at least boot up.

    Access Denied when I tried to navigate to my Documents folder.

    I found a helpful forum post on a site called Techspot and learned that this is what happens when you install another version of Windows on the same computer. The Administrator on the new version of Windows didn’t have rights to read the files written by the old Administrator.

    Following instructions on the forum post, I then booted up off of that new install in “safe mode” and re-assigned the file permissions and am now copying over the files out of that old directory into a new disk.

    Disaster averted! Without my old Outlook .pst file, I didn’t even have my Grandmother’s phone number! Yet another reason why I really should get this stuff uploaded to the cloud!

  • Multi-tasking, today is busy

    What happens when you get more screen real estate by adding a 24″ second monitor? You fill it up.  This has got to be a record.

    • 9 IM windows active (5 people from Yahoo, 4 from outside)
    • 9 Firefox tabs (one playing sound off of a video)
    • 6 Outlook windows (1 calendar appointment, 4 half-written emails, 1 reminder)
    • 1 File Download window (pulling down a mix tape mp3)
    • iTunes (idle)
    • Powerpoint
    • Excel

  • Getting back to what’s real

    After a breathless day at the office with multiple IM windows open, twitter updates pinging away in my snitter window and heavy discussions on internal email lists, I retreated to a dinner party with my suburban neighbors to unwind from the week’s events. My mind was bubbling over with thoughts from the day’s news and the significance for the valley’s latest star, Facebook and mid-conversation over a tumbler of Maker’s with my neighbor who builds HVAC systems for companies like Cisco, Google, and Yahoo my neighbor interrupts and asks, “What is Facebook?”

    Solipsists’ bubble popped I realize what a small corner of the world I exist. In the grand scheme of things, none of this really matters. With that in mind, allow me to share two items of mind-boggling impact that really send the mind reeling. These come to you via Todd Sampson, co-founder of MyBlogLog who sits next to me at the office and, in true renaissance form, has his fingers in all sorts of interesting developments.

    Fab @ Home – full plans for a kit that will allow you to “print” a 3-d object out of any material. Check out the video. Because blueprints for the objects are just files with instructions for the printer, it’s now possible to download plans for things like spare parts for your washing machine or even a wedding cake. Imagine being able to email someone a chocolate bar!

    Wired Science video on Body Builders which describes a process where researchers have been able to “grow” body parts for transplants.  Watch them grow a blood vessel which, after a few weeks, begins to pump blood on its own. Cell substraits are “printed” using recycled HP inkjet cartridges.

    In light of this news, advancements in social networking seem so, trivial.

  • Ballpark promotions gone horribly wrong

    Ballpark promotions gone horribly wrong

    As we slide into the World Series we remember the Cleveland Indians 10-cent beer night.

    Management forgot one small detail: drunk people get restless. More than 25,000 fans showed up for the event, most of them already tipsy at the gate. Among the more tame incidents was a woman who flashed the crowd from the on-deck circle, a father-son team mooning the players (good bonding experience, I guess) and fans jumping on the field to meet shake hands with the outfielders. Then, in the bottom of the ninth, the Indians tied the game, but never got a chance to win. Fans started throwing batteries, golf balls, cups and rocks onto the field and one even took the glove of the Rangers right fielder. As the player rushed into the stands to get his glove back, fans starting swarming the field to stop him and threw chairs to block his way.

    Quoted from at Mental Floss.

  • Long Journey West to the Farallons

    Sleeping

    Photo by Todd Sampson

    Our first trip on Todd’s sailboat out beyond the Golden Gate was very relaxing. There was pretty much no wind so we ended up motoring almost the entire 90 miles out and back to the Farallon Islands. Not that I mind – I was a bit nervous having never ventured out in open water. Seas are quite a bit rougher than the Long Island Sound that I’m used to and the fog in the morning was a bit creepy. The emergence of a warship slipping out of the fog like a silent warrior was a wake up call for everyone. On board along with Todd was my brother-in-law Dav and co-worker at MyBlogLog, Chris Goffinet.

    It was the perfect dry run in preparation for another trip sometime when we have some wind. We did get a chance to see some wildlife. Seals, dolphins, pelicans, whales, and even a sunfish. We also learned a very valuable lesson that, for some odd reason (maybe practical joke?), is not written up in any of the books we read about the Farallon Islands. Never, ever, anchor off the Farallons in calm seas unless you want to be covered in flies for the entire return trip.

    It was so nice to spend time on the water and even spending the night on the boat the evening before our 5am departure was a reminder of trips I used to take with my father. It was great to get away, just 24 hours on the water but I feel like we went on a long camping trip. We went somewhere and saw things you don’t normally see and have stories to tell about it.

    Thanks Todd, I look forward to more trips and explorations and hopefully a tad more of a breeze next time!

  • There’s more where that came from

    motivation.jpg
    Head on over to Demotivational Posters for a full gallery of these as well as a link to a site where you can make your own.

  • Anybody want a Pownce invite?

    I have some Pownce invites left over. If anybody wants them, drop me a comment. First come, first served.

  • Things to do while your friends are playing with their new iPhones

    simpsonavatar.pngWhile the rest of Silicon Valley is going to be blogging about their new iPhone, I figured I might as well point you to a few things you could be doing instead. You know, productive things:

    1. Make your own Simpson’s Avatar (right). Be sure to turn the sound on because the sound effects are an important part of the experience.

    2. Reserve your tickets to Ratatouille because that’s going to be the first thing everyone’s going to do to impress their friends with their new iPhone.

    3. If you charged anything to Visa or Mastercard while overseas anytime between 1996 and 2006, you may have some money coming to you. Total up your overseas charges and you may get 3% of it back. I’ve got almost enough for my own iPhone.

    4. Download your own iPhone ringtone and fake out your friends.

  • Tango, the world’s fastest (and thinnest) urban car

    Tango, the world’s fastest (and thinnest) urban car

    So I was at Maker Faire this past weekend which I cannot recommend highly enough. There were so many cool things to see and a really wish I hadn’t lost my camera at the Web 2.0 Expo otherwise I would have been posting tons of pictures of all the wild and crazy things I saw today. If you’ve never been, go next year and if you have kids, bring them along for sure. I went when the gates opened at 10 in the morning thinking we’d pop by for a couple of hours and poke around but ended up having to drag them out at 3pm while they were both in the middle of creating their own board game. My 5 year old daughter left decked out in a tin foil cap with Mickey Mouse ears, a crumpled sheet of mylar strapped to her back as makeshift fairy wings, along with a wand of rolled up magazine paper and lace and tinsel fixings – it was a day well spent!

    I could write about the fantastic Neverwas Here Victorian landship, the 200 lbs. battling robots, the standup acoustic bass made from the fuel tank of a Triumph motorcycle, or the dude who was teaching my son the art of hydroponic farming but it is hard without photos to capture the image.

    I saw the Wrightspeed electric car but what caught my eye was the Tango. Made by an outfit in Spokane, Washington, this electric car is so thin and short that it can park between cars making it the ultimate urban car. Seating two (one behind the other) it can get from 0-60 in 4 seconds and, because of the weight of batteries in the floor, can turn corners as smartly as a sports car.

    Check out the image below taken from the Commuter Cars website – no, that’s not a distortion!