Well, I thought it’s about time to upgrade from wordpress 2.0.5 to 2.6.2. Hopefully this new version of wordpress is somewhat impressive, as I’ve been starting to lean towards MovableType as my new blogging engine of choice.
But we’ll see…
The personal blog of an old-fashioned geek
by Aaron
Well, I thought it’s about time to upgrade from wordpress 2.0.5 to 2.6.2. Hopefully this new version of wordpress is somewhat impressive, as I’ve been starting to lean towards MovableType as my new blogging engine of choice.
But we’ll see…
by Aaron
I subscribe to Real’s Real Rhapsody music service. I really enjoy it, and like the fact that I have their entire music collection at my fingertips. Their music search utility is easy to use, and works great, and I can build my own music library/playlists.
My desktop computer at home runs windows XP, so everything is fine there. However, when I work on campus at UMD, my workstation is running Suse Linux 9.1 (My choice). Well, I wanted to be able to listen to my Rhapsody playlists while working on campus, so I figured out how to get Real Rhapsody working under Linux. Here is how I did it:
To get started, you need to have a computer, already running Linux, with X-Windows working, and wine working properly. This means that you already have to have wine set up with your fake windows folder etc. With Suse 9.1, I just installed wine via YaST, which configured wine, and created the fake windows directory for me.
I had to update to the latest version of wine, so I downloaded the updater, and upgraded my wine to the latest stable version. This upgrade changed the way the fake windows directory was linked to, so I had to create some symlinks in the ~/.wine/dosdevices folder.
Real Rhapsody will not install into wine by itself. The installer will error out because it cannot find Windows Media player 7.1. Well, Windows Media Player 7.1 requires Internet Explorer. So we have to install Internet Explorer and MP7.1 first.
For anyone who has tried getting IE and MP to work under Linux/Wine, it is sometimes pretty tricky to do so.
This is why I used the Sidenet Wine Configuration Utility. With my working wine install, I ran the Sidenet Utility and it set up Internet Explorer 6, and Windows Media player 7. It automatically downloaded installed and configured IE and WMP7 like a breeze. Once it was done, I tested IE, and it worked great!
Next, install real rhapsody. You can get the installer file here. A simple “wine RhapsodyReal.exe” did it. The installer completed, created a shortcut on my desktop, and started running. I entered my username/password and was able to start playing music from my library.
Real Rhapsody runs, but there are some issues with it. I start up rhapsody from the icon on the desktop. It takes about 30 seconds to start up (P3 866mhz w/256ram). Once it is running, it appears on all desktops, and stays on top of all windows. Minimizing it will put it down in the lower left hand corner, out of the way, but still slightly intrusive.
Not all of the features work within Rhapsody either (at least for me). I can browse the music catalog, but cannot search it. It also tends to freeze if I try adding music to my library, or clear my playlist. I’m perfectly content with adding to my library on a windows machine, and to clear my playlist, I right-click it, do “select all” and then do “remove tracks”.
The “X” also does not work to close Rhapsody, so when you want to quit the program, you need to go to console, I do a “killall -9 wine-preloader” and that stops rhapsod (since it is my only wine app that I run regularly).
I hope you found this article useful. If you have any comments, questions, or want me to add-update this with anything you find out about running Real Rhapsody under linux, please email me at amish [at] amishgeek.com
by Aaron
It’s been a while since my last post. So I figured I’d dust off the old keyboard and try to get back into the habit
The past few months have flown by, I’ve been working on my cars quite a bit. It seems like I’m either at work on the computer, or I’m out with a wrench tinkering under the hood.
On my NG900, I’ve done quite a bit of upgrades. I have a nice 3″ downpipe, a larger front mount intercooler, and a Nordic Stage 3+ ECU. Last fall I dyno’ed the car bone stock and it put down 185hp and 198tq at the wheels. With these upgrades, I should be putting down 240-250hp and 270-280tq. In June there is another Saab Dyno Day at Marty’s dealership in Iowa, so then I’ll know what I’m putting down for numbers.
This August is SOC, Saab Owners Convention. This year is the 25th Annual SOC, and it is Saab’s 60th anniversary as well. I’m planning on going to it, and an overwhelming majority of people want me to bring my SPG instead of my NG. So I have quite a bit of work to do on the SPG before it’s ready to go to SOC. I’ll be posting more about that later.
by Aaron
Well Tuesday was my birthday. This year was rather uneventful, but pleasant. I went to the cities for a meeting for work, and afterwards I met my parents for dinner. We ate at Champs, and I had this really good spicy jambalaya. Other than that, I didn’t do much.
It’s been so cold out I haven’t had time to work on my cars lately. This is a sad thing because my SPG needs some more attention, and my NG900 wants more power. I ordered myself a birthday present for my NG900, an Autometer Sportcomp II boost gauge (30hg/30psi) so I can tell how much I’m boosting with the turbo. The OEM boost gauge doesn’t have actual PSI values. I’m also tempted to get a MBC+A (Manual Boost Controller + Anticipator) so I can crank the boost up, but I’ll only max out at 15psi with my current ECU. Most likely I’ll set aside a little bit each paycheck for the car, and then in April/May go straight for a Stage3 Nordic Tune.
I can’t wait for the weekend, then I can take my mind briefly off work and relax. I’ll probably finish my book this weekend and start another one.
by Aaron
I have officially decided that I dislike Christmas shopping. It’s not that I don’t like buying gifts for others, or spending money on friends and family, I just don’t like shopping. I spent a couple hours this evening wandering around the mall, trying to figure out what to buy for people. But the problem is that I don’t see my family all that often, so I don’t know what they want, or what they need, or what they already have.
And then since it’s Christmas, there is the assumption that gifts are supposed to be thoughtful and meaningful, specific for the individual. This is what makes it difficult. If I was to go on vacation somewhere, and buy some random shirts or trinkets for people, they would be happy even if it wasn’t something they wanted or liked. It’s the thought that counts. But at christmas time, if someone gets you something you don’t want, you just return it. It takes away from the spirit and the thoughts behind the gift giving.
I’d much rather buy someone a present out of the blue (like a DVD or CD, or a funny/cute item) or treat them to a movie, or pay for a meal. That shows more of the spirit of giving than trying to buy something that they will like or want on a day when everyone is expected to.
That and the crowds and shoppers at the malls and the crowdedness of the stores just annoys me.
Anyways, enough about that. I stumbled upon a goldmine of funny cat pictures the other day (the link was sent to me by a friend). So I saved all the pictures I could, and put them together in a gallery at http://amishgeek.com/g2/. I’m slowly going through all the photos, and naming them, and adding keywords so all 1000+ photos are easily searchable. I’ll also be re-uploading my collection of random funny pictures of other stuff soon too.
by Aaron
Having roommates can be quite humorous at times. For example, just tonight, my roommates Steve and Jacob were arguing about fantasy football stuff. Steve was making fun that Jacob was all of a sudden in last place in their fantasy football league. All this in the midst of watching the Colbert Report together. Jacob and I decided it would be kind of fun to make a “Colbert Report Drinking Game”. So we might have to do that over the next week.
To talk about how random the stuff we do, Jacob put in the “School of Rock” DVD just to watch the last scene where the kids play at the battle of the bands. Steve thinks that if he could just play drums he could do it all.
Meanwhile, here I sit with my laptop, playing around with photobooth and my isight camera taking before and after pics of my haircut. (no i’m not narcissistic).
Ok, so I’m bored on a Wednesday night and have nothing to do. I need a garage so I can work on my car.
by Aaron
I came across this personality test today, and decided to take it. Now normally, I don’t waste my time on these personality tests, but a bunch of other people I know were taking it, and so I thought I would see how it pegged me.
Well I was shocked to find out that it had me nailed down almost to a T! The test said that I am ENTP “Extroverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving”. Here is what it has to say about people with an ENTP rating:
http://typelogic.com/entp.html
Profile: ENTP
Revision: 3.0
Date of Revision: 26 Feb 2005
“Clever” is the word that perhaps describes ENTPs best. The professor who juggles half a dozen ideas for research papers and grant proposals in his mind while giving a highly entertaining lecture on an abstruse subject is a classic example of the type. So is the stand-up comedian whose lampoons are not only funny, but incisively accurate.ENTPs are usually verbally as well as cerebrally quick, and generally love to argue–both for its own sake, and to show off their often-impressive skills. They tend to have a perverse sense of humor as well, and enjoy playing devil’s advocate. They sometimes confuse, even inadvertently hurt, those who don’t understand or accept the concept of argument as a sport.
ENTPs are as innovative and ingenious at problem-solving as they are at verbal gymnastics; on occasion, however, they manage to outsmart themselves. This can take the form of getting found out at “sharp practice”–ENTPs have been known to cut corners without regard to the rules if it’s expedient — or simply in the collapse of an over-ambitious juggling act. Both at work and at home, ENTPs are very fond of “toys”–physical or intellectual, the more sophisticated the better. They tend to tire of these quickly, however, and move on to new ones.
ENTPs are basically optimists, but in spite of this (perhaps because of it?), they tend to become extremely petulant about small setbacks and inconveniences. (Major setbacks they tend to regard as challenges, and tackle with determin- ation.) ENTPs have little patience with those they consider wrongheaded or unintelligent, and show little restraint in demonstrating this. However, they do tend to be extremely genial, if not charming, when not being harassed by life in general.
In terms of their relationships with others, ENTPs are capable of bonding very closely and, initially, suddenly, with their loved ones. Some appear to be deceptively offhand with their nearest and dearest; others are so demonstrative that they succeed in shocking co-workers who’ve only seen their professional side. ENTPs are also good at acquiring friends who are as clever and entertaining as they are. Aside from those two areas, ENTPs tend to be oblivious of the rest of humanity, except as an audience — good, bad, or potential.
Some Famous ENTPs:
Alexander the Great
Confederate General J. E. B. Stuart
Sir Walter RaleighFictional:
Mercutio, from Romeo and Juliet
Horace Rumpole, from John Mortimer’s Rumpole of the Bailey series
Dorothy L. Sayers’s detective Lord Peter Wimsey
Take the test yourself, and see what you are!
by Aaron
Often times it is difficult to know what to get someone for the holidays. As my family and friends already know, I can be a difficult person to buy gifts for. So I’m providing info and tips for what is hot this holiday season for the geek in your life who also happens to be a Saab nut.
Anyone who enjoys working on cars often times has a wish list of things they would like to buy for their car, or things they would like to do to their car. Here are some suggestions of things to get for the Saab Enthusiast. These are this years hot items:
Front Mount Inter Cooler (FMIC), $90 + shipping – Many Saab lovers that are tuning a classic 900 desire to mount a FMIC to the front of their car to help improve their turbo charging system. The FMIC acts to help cool the air after it passes through the turbo and on into the engine. Definitely one of the bigger ticket items to make a Saab guy happy.
Gauges and Gauge Cluster – When improving and tuning a car, it is always helpful to have live information about the condition of the engine. This is where a 3-gauge DIN cluster that mounts in the radio slot comes in handy. With a Boost Gauge ($68.95), Air/Fuel Gauge ($71.95), and a Water Temp Gauge ($60.96), you can add character and better improve performance of you Saab.
Another big ticket item this year is the JT 3″ Downpipe ($257) for the exhaust system. By upgrading to a 3″ downpipe you can better imrove the flow of the engine so the turbo can spool better for improved power and performance.
As always, a Saab enthusiast can never have enough tools. No Saab tuner should be without a full set of (metric) ratchet wrenches ($179.99). These ratcheting wrenches can mean the difference between a 30 minute job and an hour long job, and save your knuckes as well.
by Aaron
For those who may be wondering what is on my Christmas wish list this year… one item is a new FMIC for my Saab 900 SPG I found a good one on ebay that would work very nicely.
by Aaron
I just noticed that Firefox released version 2.0. So I decided to go against my normal habits and decided to install it and give it a whirl.
So far, it looks pretty cool, and once I finished installing it, I was browsing the addons and found this addon called Depest Sender. It is a blogging addon that lets you blog right from within the browser. It’s pretty cool! I’m actually making this post with it.
We’ll see if I actually like version 2.0 enough to keep it. As long as I don’t have a lot of bugs with the sites I usually use, I should be good.