Author: david

WWDC06

Posted on by david

It’s the last day of WWDC06. I’ve got one more session and then it’s a wrap. I’ve got to say I’m quite stoked about the changes to WebObjects. Apple is suppose to be writing a public statement on everything that has been announced (though it won’t cover the Leopard specific NDA stuff) and I’ll link to that when it comes out.

I’ve had a great time. I’ve managed to put faces to a lot of names from the lists and it seems like the WO presence at the show really jelled. I remember the first year I attended WWDC (2003) trying to get a WebObjects BOF to happen and failing miserably in my attempts. This year there was lots of activity and excitement and things just kinda popped.

I’ve got the joy of international air travel to look forward to this evening, and then we are off to camp for a week. But I am looking forward to getting home even if it is only for one night.

Unslung

Posted on by david

"Well, the good news is you’re not in pain."

I had my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon on Friday, and that is what he had to say after looking at my X-rays. It turns out that after 7 weeks there is no sign my clavicle has healed at all.

I’ve been instructed to stop wearing the sling (yay!) and to start doing some stretching exercises (ouch!) but I’m not allowed to use any weights. I’ve got another appointment in 5 weeks to assess my progress.

Basically, the bone may never mend, the fragments may just be too far apart for that to happen. I just have to wait and see if it causes me pain or not. If it does, the only option is to operate and remove the fractured end of the bone.

Quit frankly, I’m bummed. This was not what I was expecting at all. The prospect of having to treat my arm with kid gloves for another 5 weeks, followed by the possibility of having to undergo surgery and another 6 weeks in a sling is not attractive in the least.

Sigh. Well, at least I can type with two hands for a while.

Lucky Number 7

Posted on by david

8 AM, a Wednesday, exactly 7 weeks ago, I found myself flying through the air, my bicycle mysteriously absent from beneath me. The resulting impact with the ground, and the unbending nature of bone, left me without the full use of my right arm. The arm is still in it’s sling – that will hopefully end with the visit to the fracture clinic on Friday – but I’ve broken the rules, and I’m typing with both hands today.

Bliss.

PVR: Upgrades

Posted on by david

I stoopeedly hosed the MySQL database on my Myth box the other day (don’t ask). I didn’t feel like spending several hours manually identifying recorded shows. And since I was faced with re-creating all my schedules, essentially starting over, I figured now would be a good time to apply some upgrades.

Previously, I’d managed to upgrade the CPU to the 3.2GHz Celeron and get it working at acceptable temperatures by adding a new slot cooler (the one that came with the Aria case was defective) and installing a Zalman CNPS7000B-AlCu CPU cooler. The box ended up being a little noisier than I wanted but after applying the 7 volt hack* on the slot cooler everything quieted down nicely.

This time out, I wanted to upgrade to the latest version of KnoppMyth (R5C7) and upgrade to a 500GB harddrive.

I had a few problems with the install: It was difficult to install the new drive using only my left arm; I had to burn the install CD twice because the first one was a dud; The new drive wasn’t happy being set to cable select I had to explicitly set the jumper to master.

Once I got passed those hurdles though, the install went swimmingly and with the help of my notes, I was up and running in no time. At the end of the process I ended up netting 460GB of media storage (about 225 hours worth). A nice little upgrade. Maybe I’m showing my age but it still feels a little weird to have half a terabyte of storage sitting in my living room.

* My mod is actually a little different than that article, I installed a switch so I could choose between 7 or 12 volts.

New tacow meeting and location announced!

Posted on by david

We’ve posted the details for next tacow meeting. It will be held on July 11th and the big news is that we have a new location. The amazing folks at Ryerson University have graciously offered to host our meeting. This gives us a much more accessible location, close to the subway, a plethora of eateries, and just a few short blocks from the Eaton Centre Apple Store.

Mark Ritchie has agreed to give the presentation and this is the last tacow meeting before WWDC. Everyone is invited, so I hope to see you there. If you plan on attending please RSVP from the tacow site