I love this video! I’ve already watched it five times straight. It’s an affirmation of what humanity is capable of—that we can create something simple, happy, playful, beautiful, and cool for the love of it, of creating, of doing.
Many thanks to Emily for introducing me to Lykke Li and Bon Iver. If I ever take over the world, she’s definitely my top pick for Minister of Cool.
Before:
After:
And after again (in close-up):
Sorry, but there are no “middle” shots. If you’re curious, just imagine components strewn across that nice looking table, boxes stacked in the corner, instruction manuals piled up on top of each other, and me going very, very slowly so as to not wreck any of the beautiful parts.
I’m still missing a sound card and a good keyboard, but so far things are looking good. It was certainly the easiest build (of the three I’ve now done). I didn’t even have any problems installing Vista. Blessed indeed, and my oh my, but the thing is so snappy. *big grin*
I spent an hour at Fry’s Electronics looking for a keyboard this evening. In the end, there wasn’t a single one that I loved, so bought a cheap $15 keyboard instead. This is not where this story will end, however.
Given how much time people spend on their computers, it’s surprising to me that they often don’t invest enough in making sure their keyboards are comfortable and match their bodies and personalities.
And yes, keyboards have their own personalities too. Clicks or no? What about the size of keys and their placement? And perhaps most important of all, what’s the just-right amount of resistance when you press down on the keys. The goal is to find a satisfying typing experience.
That’s why I was at Fry’s testing out keyboards instead of ordering one sight-unseen from Newegg. Not having found one, though, I think I’ll have to take my chances.
Enermax makes a keyboard that gets great reviews. It’s supposed to feel great, but unfortunately, it’s not a brand for sale at Fry’s and so I’ll just have to roll the dice, order it, and hope for the best.
It’s $80, but if it’s as good as the reviews say, it’ll be worth it. And for those that blink at the idea of spending $80 for a keyboard, just think—it (and the mouse) are the interface between you and the computer. Given how much time you spend at the computer, you’re going to want a tool that will fit you as well as possible. And if you’re a writer, the case especially holds true.
I’m spent out till my next paycheck. Thus the $15 keyboard is needed to get the computer built. But once I have some cash on hand again, I’ll be ordering something (hopefully) a bit better. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Several weeks back, the hard drive in my computer became corrupted such that the computer couldn’t complete a boot up. The only solution was to reformat the drive, but there was some panic when I discovered that my automatic backups somehow excluded all of my writing. Fortunately, a solution was found, the hard drive reformatted, software reinstalled, documents restored, and all was merry again.
Until the hard drive failed. Again. This time with a horrible death screech, and no matter how much I pried and prodded, there was no sign of recovery. Oh, and I’ll mention that this incident took place 12 days after the warranty expired. Ahem.
This time the backups did include my writing. Yay! Except for the last day’s worth before the failure, so my last writing session wasn’t included; the session in which I broke through a thorny problem that had been holding me back. Boo!
Such is life though, or should I say such is the nature of hard drives. Every single computer I’ve ever owned has had its hard drive fail. Correction—not my old Apple IIc. That venerable machine existed before hard drives existed in personal computers.
I had been planning on building a new desktop anyway, so this just means that I’ll have to move the schedule. I suppose I could just buy another hard drive for the laptop, but that’s no fun. And besides, it’s a sweet little system I’m planning.
Yes, friends, the last of the components will arrive this week, and the boy’s about to unleash his inner geek again.
And this time, there’ll be backup options up the wazoo. Three hard drives in RAID 5 configuration, an online backup service, and maybe even an external hard drive just for storage/backups.
Overkill? No, not really. RAID 5 provides both speed and data parity at the cost of one hard drive. The online backup service is free (up to 2 gigabytes), and provides insurance in case of something catastrophic happening to the machine as a whole. (Fire, earthquake, acts of God, etc.) And the external hard drive is handy tool to have in any situation. Backups for all the machines in the house and all the data available in one place should I need it.
And given how cheap storage is right now, it’s a reasonable proposition. Just take a look at this 7200 rpm 640 gigabyte hard drive from Seagate. Three of those will run me $255 at Newegg.com, and set up in a RAID 5, I get data security and 1.2 terabytes of relatively zippy storage. That’s a frickin’ steal.
As for the rest of the machine, I’ll have more later this week. Mwuhaha!
Subterranean Press is a small publisher that puts out beautiful editions of classic and new science fiction, fantasy, and horror fiction. Recently, they had a “grab bag” promotion—pay $100 and get a random collection of their books guaranteed to be worth $400. Not one to pass up a bargain, here’s what came in my mailbox.
It’s a nice collection of authors. Included are classics like Ray Bradbury and Jack Vance (one of my favorites as a kid); some well established “modern” authors lke Kage Baker, Tim Powers, and Mike Resnick; and perhaps most exciting of all, there are also authors I’ve never read before. This is what I was hoping for, as I’ve been feeling like I’m in a reading rut, and that this was an opportunity to go outside of my usuals.
I’m pleased with the variety, and these are high quality editions. It’s especially a treat that there are chapbooks and short novels included. You don’t see those very often.
It feels like an early Christmas!
P.S. Not that the Dumas at the top of the pile is not from Subterranean. That one I’d picked up at the local library for 50 cents. What a steal!
Gods, but I love the muppets…
Colleague Chris posted an ultra rough cut of the Flutterfrog’s flight at Flugtag USA 2008 Portland.
Flutter Frog Ultra Rough Cut - The Flight from Chris Smith on Vimeo.
Also check out the great slide show on Flickr. Damn that looks like so much fun. I especially love the impromptu basketball game—apparently frogs know how to dunk!
Did Dr. Horrible get you amped up over the prospect of world domination and mischief making? Now’s your chance to break into the world of super-villainy with an entry level job opportunity.
And yes, it’s full of awesome.
Here is a photo of the Flutterfrog fully assembled before the flight:
And she flew 40 feet in the competition! Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to win. Instead Team Yakima’s 62 foot flight took first place. But word from the crew is that it was a blast, and they want to compete again in next year’s contest.
I hope to have video of the Flutterfrog’s maiden voyage later this week. Stay tuned.
The Flutterfrog and crew are ready to go. 
