A Few Thoughts…

I know from the start that this post will shoot over the heads of probably 95% of the internet population, but of regular readers to this blog (or, those I think read reguluarly) I think they will understand what I’m getting at.

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So it looks like the network problems I was having at home were thanks to someone using Mike’s recently created wmail server as a relay and DOSing us internally. That’s the latest theory anyway, and we’re pretty sure its a good one since when qmail isn’t running on his system everything works like normal, but fire up qmail and things slow to a halt.

Well, it’s been 10 days since my last post, so I guess I should write some more. In no particular order… (more…)

HAHA, this is just too funny not to post…
Questionable Content: New comics every Monday through Friday (more…)

I didn’t care too much when the VHS/Betamax wars were going on because of my age. Today’s format war has gone into swing - HD-DVD/Blu-Ray (BD) will prove to be an interesting mix. Personally I would like BD to take the title, and not just because Microsoft supports HD-DVD! Both technologies are a step in the right direction of storing more information on a medium that consumers are comfortable with: the 12 cm diameter flat disc. The Blu-Ray folks have approched the problem with a revolution, not just an evolution, of the current media. Both systems use a 405nm blue-violet laser for reading/writing data, but the optics used in the BD system are of a higher quality and can focus the laser to a 0.60µm dot while HD-DVD is at a 0.76µm dot. This allows a single-layer BD disc to hold up to 27GB of data! Meanwhile, a single HD-DVD disc can hold 15GB of data. For movies, this difference won’t mean much - since that much storage isn’t needed for HD versions of movies. For storing data it’s an entirely different matter!

Why haven’t we seend DVD’s with more than two layers? I don’t know for sure, but my guess is because they are working with a legacy environment. The DVD spec was created in the early 1990’s, with the dual-layer option added later. The optics had to work in the 650nm and 780nm wavelength (for DVD’s and CD’s respectively), and the smaller dot size was largely an issue of focusing by moving the lens in closer to the disc (someone correct me if I’m wrong).

Both HD-DVD and BD have 2 lens systems, but because of BD’s superior optics, the focusing can be much more precise. TDK showed a 100GB, four-layer BD disc which, as best I can tell, is possible thanks to the higher quality optics in the Blu-Ray system. I think these kinds of advances will make Blu-Ray a better option for the large consumer base - not just movies, but computing too!

All of this was inspired by this article: ICv2 News - ‘Serenity’ First Universal Title on HD DVD

Of course, I REALLY hope these guys come out with a viable solution soon too.  Imagine 1.6TB with 120MB/s data rates from a 12cm disc! Ahh holography - isn’t physics fun!

I cheated a little and included states I plan to visit in the remainder of this year. Looks like I have some work to do!

create your own personalized map of the USA

Got’s me another comic I may read occasionally (only updated on mondays, and they don’t seem to flow from one week to another, but great artwork). Here’s one from a while back that was just too funny to let go unposted. I should probably add a “comics” category, but I haven’t had my coffee yet this morning, so I will be lazy…
Point of Futility - Updated Mondays

Got in two trips to RockQuest this week - Wednesday was a nice warm up, and today turned into a nice little workout. My hands and arms are going to be feeling it later today and tomorrow, even with the stretching. I was a little disappointed with myself on Wednesday after only pulling out a 5.6, and struggling with it a little at that. So today I started back with the 5.6 as a warm up, which got sent much easier than the last time. Feeling pretty good I went to a 5.7 nearby which I used to use as a good middle-of-the-road climb, and sent it fairly easily as well. My arms were getting a little pumped after that one though.

I stuck to some easier climbs for a little while. There’s one beginner wall I hadn’t climbed in a long time which Sheri was trying to climb on Wednesday - I wasn’t much help in spotting holds since it had been so long, so I sent that to remind myself that there aren’t all that many holds up there - especially for a beginner. As a “cool down” we did some bouldering - which never really works as a cool down. There were some easy V1s and V2s probably, but it was hit or miss even on those. I’ve been having some problems with the muscles which run over the outside of my hips cramping up - once I work those out I should be able to do the sit-starts a lot easier. That and getting my upper body strength built back up. Once Wyatt starts at Xetron he can push me to work out more, which will be good!

Now, to decide when to climb next. I think I’ve been bit by the climbing bug once again - which means finding free time, friends, and disposable income to get over there. I guess it’s not too bad if I think of it as a gym membership and not just a recreational activity. Anyone up for a regular climb?

Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/ and look up your birth day (excluding the year). List three neat facts, two births and one death in your journal, including the year.

For April 16:

Events

• 1963 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pens his famous Letter From a Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
• 1972 - Apollo program: Apollo 16 launches toward the Moon from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
• 2006 - A referendum is to be held on merging Ust-Orda Buryatia, Russia into Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. If the result is in favour, the merger will take effect on 1 January 2008.

Yes, there’s already an entry for this year…

Birth:

1823 - Ferdinand Eisenstein, German mathematician (d. 1852)
1867 - Wilbur Wright, American aviation pioneer (d. 1912)

Death:

1978 - Lucius Clay, American general (b. 1897)

Waaaay back in my Obligatory First Post I mentioned I think the term “blogosphere” is a dumb term. My loathing for the term has grown since last October. Over at QC they have a shirt for me: Bomb the Blogosphere. I realize that some might think it odd for me to write in my blog about how much I hate this term. But it’s like someone saying they don’t like being called a blonde in a certain context because of the stereotypes which have been set against them. Blogosphere sounds too trendy, too mediocratic, too much like a journalist heard they’re pre-teen daughter say it and decided it was the next big thing. I might get one of these shirts to show my disdain for the term blogosphere….shudder….