January 28, 2004

Do you subscribe to any online newsletters? You know, email newsletters? For the longest time, I was a member of many different ones, until it got to be too much for me. I've long since stopped reading LockerGnome and other such lists, not due to a lack of quality (Nay, this is a high quality newsletter), but just because I don't have the time on a daily basis to go through TONS of email.
However, there are TWO lists that you should subscribe to, and never turn off, especially if you're into technology. One of these is Mike's List, and the other is The Jeffrey Harrow Technology Report. Jeff has been writing his synopsis of the future for a few years, and Mike has been scoping out 'new stuff' for a shorter period of time (still a few years).
What I like about both lists is that they only come out occassionally, and they're both full of new stuff that shows just where we are going on the technology front. What!?!? You're still reading? Get a move on - go subscribe!

January 17, 2004

My son is standing in front of the TV, wailing his arms about wildly. The Playstation 2 and the TV are turned on, but he's not holding the controller. He appears to be having some type of epileptic fit, but there's a smile on both of our faces. Of course, he's playing with the new "Eye Toy" from Sony Entertainment. It's a video camera that sits on top of the TV and makes you part of the game. You use your hands (and maybe your head, your hips, and other body parts...) to play games like Dancing, Boxing, Kung Fu, Window Washing and other cutesy games. I had a go at it earlier today, and even I enjoyed playing it while I got some sorely needed exercise.
The camera sits on top of the TV, and can be swiveled and tilted. It has a red light to let you know if your lighting is too dark, but it doesn't warn you when the background items' darkness might interfere with your game play. I'd suggest a lamp somewhere in front of you for optimum performance. Our cherry-wood bookcases at the back of the room really play havoc with some of the games, while other games remain playable. There are 12 games in all on the enclosed DVD, and Sony has already published other titles for the toy. Considering we traded in a bunch of games that no one plays any longer and only paid $7. out of pocket for the thing, thanks to GameStop, I'd say we've gotten a good deal.
Now he's breaking boards with his head on the bonus round of Kung-Fu. I better go make sure he doesn't get any splinters.

January 16, 2004

I believe I've tracked down the problem with video captures freezing when trying to capture video from my DV Camera/Camcorder. The problem appears to be related to Dynamic Disks. You see, when I added my 200GB HD to my computer, I configured it as a dynamic disk, just in case I wanted to try out software RAID configurations. That means that the partition I created is not on a static partition, but a dynamic partition. Apparently other folks who have had the same problem have reported the situation happening with their RAID-0 and RAID-1 configurations. Well, I tried it without dynamic partitions, and the video capture no longer freezes. Which means the digital video capture drivers seem to not like dynamic disks! Now, this is pure hypothesis, but it seems to fix my problem. I'm going to convert my disk back to a static partition table (once I move all the data off it) and that should fix my problem, but so far, it's worked with both the other disks in my system, even the slow 60GB one.

January 13, 2004

Dual-monitor support for OpenGL applications in Windows XP seems to switch to software rendering for the OpenGL driver. This can affect applications that use the OpenGL libraries on machines with dual monitors installed. Most recently, this affected me when I was trying to use Blender v2.31 on a dual monitor machine. The software seemed extremely sluggish, and was taking forever to paint menus and draw, even rotating views. It was unusable. Once I removed the second monitor (disabled and disconnected it and rebooted), Blender worked like I remember it.

January 09, 2004

Just wanted to keep this link available - funny review of 1lb breakfast from Swanson's Hungry-Man line: click here.

January 03, 2004

I've moved my food log to: FitDay - This website tracks my weight and the foods that I've eaten. It allows me the public log, as well as private reports on nutrition and other aspects of my diet and exercise.

January 01, 2004

Day 2
  • One Mozarella Cheese Omelet for breakfast cooked in olive oil
  • 4 oz of kielbasa (1 of 4 from a 1lb package)
  • 6 slices of corned-beef with 1 slice of mozarella cheese in the microwave for lunch
  • Salad - 2+ cups of iceburg lettuce, 3 tbps of a low-carb dressing, and part of the hamsteak diced
  • A hamsteak - 1/4 -1/2 in thick slice of ham heated in the microwave. Put some on the salad. Shared a little with my son.
  • For snack - 5 oz of bologna - unsliced
I should probably drink more water - I haven't had much today.
This morning I got out the olive oil and cooked me up a 3-egg omelette with a slice of mozorella. Normally I would have used margarine, but that's a no-no. The eggs tasted great, and the pan was still oiled enough to cook a 4-oz kielbasa (yummmm). I gave maybe 1/4th of my omelette to my mother-in-law. It looked huge.

From the diet, I've noticed lots of intestinal gurgling. Also, last night before going to bed, I weighed myself. I weighed 230.4. This mornining when I woke up I weighed 226.8. Both times I weighed myself twice. You can't tell me that I've lose 3.5 lbs in one night, can you?
Atkin's awayyyyyyy - doing good this morning - woke up with slight muscle aches all over, some from the bowling last night. We went out to Disco Bowling for New Years. Also, had LOTS of energy last night. New Years Party usually kills my energy and I'm asleep before I drive home. Not the case this time. Also, woke up with almost exactly 8 hours on the sleep clock - not normal for me. I usually drag my ass out of bed about 9-10 on my days off, reluctantly. Had plenty of energy this morn.

Day 1
  • One Ham and Cheese Omelet for breakfast - 1g carbs for the ham?
  • 3/4 lb. of Jumbo Shrimp for lunch (mmmm) - 0 carbs?
  • Salad - 3 cups of lettuce, 1/4 cup tomato, 1/4 cup of bacon, and a low-carb dressing.. Total 12-13 carbs w/dressing/tomato
  • 4 oz of bologna - unsliced.
  • 7 smaller-sized slices of corned-beef with a slice of mozarrella in the microwave (pre-party snack)
  • up to 10 pieces of pepperoni as munching snacks at New Years party
  • 2 finger-sandwiches without the bread (cold cuts/cheese) - about 1 slice total of each