a gthing science project

Posted by Sam at September 27th, 2007

Even though Sony is at the top of my “most hate companies on earth” list, they came out with probably one of the most awesome commercials I’ve ever seen. Some of you may remember this from back in 2005 when it was released.

They dropped 250,000 colored bouncy balls down Russian street in San Francisco. They had 23 people on cameras to film the event and the results were absolutely amazing. Sony has a page up with behind the scenes videos, pictures, and other downloads related to the advertisement. Check out how they launched those balls!

The song being played in the background is by José González and is a cover of s song called Heartbeats by The Knife. He released a single of the song using an image of the bouncy balls as the cover. Check out Sony’s page for some background on González, the song, and its use in the commercial.

The Knife is a very unconventional band, shunning the public spotlight and commercialism. Gaining their support on the project basically came down to, ironically, Sony offering them a lot of money. They used the money to launch their own record label.

Here is a video from The Knife’s only tour ever performing Heartbeats, the same song as in the above video.

Posted by Sam at September 26th, 2007

As many of you know, I installed a computer in my car some time ago. While this was fine and dandy in theory, in practice it has been a whole different story. As much as I hate to admit it, ever since I installed the computer it has been plagued with problems. For the amount of money and time I put into the project, its sad that it doesn’t do one simple thing: work reliably.

I have traced most of the problems back to one thing: My Carnetix CNXP1900 power supply. The features on this power supply are great: automatic power switching, battery protection, computer standby/sleep, fully automatic, etc. etc. The unfortunate part is that it has never worked as advertised.

Since the beginning I have had nothing but problems with the P1900. First were isolated battery drains. I’d come outside and try to start my car only to find that the battery was completely drained. I researched the problem and learned that I had wired my USB devices incorrectly, and that this was the most likely culprit. I fixed the problem so that the P1900 managed power directly to the USB devices. Still, I would get frequent battery drains.

Eventually I wasted some money on buying a new battery, thinking that might be the problem. But no, the battery still drained frequently. In fact, I’m sitting at home right now, unable to go anywhere because my battery is dead again. I have to wait for it to trickle charge.

Besides the non-working power features, the Carnetix P1900 is just plain shoddy. I’ve had problems with cables coming out of the backs of the plugs, wires completely ripped out of the backs of plugs under normal stress, and other issues.

Also, the automatic power on (button simulation) worked maybe 5% of the time. The computer would power up by itself when the P1900 sent to it, and then it would simulate a button press, causing it to immediately shut back down. I found I had better success just disconnecting the button press simulation cable and letting it power up by itself (actually I didn’t have a choice, since the cable ripped apart several times until it was no longer repairable). Even then, most times the computer will wake up from sleep and then the Carnetix P1900 will inexplicably shut off.

Again, I was told these problems were due to USB devices, so I unhooked all my USB devices and kept testing. I would have the exact same problems. I tested and tested and re-wired and double checked the instructions, browsed the forum, and no matter what I did the P1900 never performed as it should.

To add insult to injury, Carnetix never responded to repeated support requests. The last email I sent them was several months ago, simply asking if they offer a warranty and what it entails. I never got a response.

Even mp3car.com offers a one year warranty on everything they sell (according to their FAQ) but refused to take back my power supply saying it didn’t qualify (mp3car has been really cool usually, but that’s a but shady if you ask me). This was not stated on the product page or anywhere else on their website (although they might have fixed it by now).

So the lesson kids, is don’t buy from Carnetix. Even if you buy one of their newer power supplies and even if they’ve worked the bugs out, they won’t support it or help you when you’re having problems.

Posted by Sam at September 24th, 2007

Hey everybody, go take a sneak peek at my new blog, WEIRDBOT. There you’ll find the weirdest, most bizarre stuff from around the Internet. It is still in the pre-launch phase so if you see something out of place in the theme, content, or whatever don’t worry about it. I will be officially launching this blog this week or next.

Let me know what you think or if you have any good ideas!

Posted by Sam at September 17th, 2007

Here are some handy steps to help you install Windows Vista, based on pervious experience.

1. Insert Install DVD

You will need to have a DVD drive or the copy of Windows Vista that comes on 2,000 floppy disks. We assume you have already chosen the right version for you.

2. Follow the prompts

Starting out it will be easy. Click on things that say “yes” or “install.”

3. Choose “Upgrade”

You will be given the choice to upgrade your previous Windows XP install or start from scratch. That’s a nice feature! Choose upgrade.

4. Delete incompatible programs

Vista will check for any programs that are known not to work. It will give you a list of programs to uninstall and then try again. At this point the installation will fail.

5. Wait, what programs?

The programs it wants you to delete don’t exist. They’re not on your computer. Stop trying to look for them.

6. Curse Bill Gates

Pray to the dark lord of the underworld to bring fire, famine, and locusts upon Bill Gates. Depending on your religion, this may require an incantation of some sort or a special dance. Please do this many, many times. Sacrifice someone to appease your god requires appeasement to answer your request.

6. Give up on upgrading

Since you cannot continue without uninstalling those programs, and since those programs don’t exist, just give up. Resign to your fate of a clean install. Its probably better in the long run anyway. You might also try buying the software it wants you to uninstall, install it, and then uninstall it.

7. Go online to get updates

Vista installation will tell you that without updates, the installation will fail.

8. Eh, forget updates

Wait a sec, I’m installing Vista because Windows XP broke and won’t go online anymore. No amount of finagling will fix it. It is, for lack of a better term, FUBAR’d.

9. Begin the install

Okay, we’ve given up on the upgrade, and we’re going to proceed without updates, against Microsoft’s recommendation but its really the only option we have. Go ahead and start installing.

10. Cross your fingers

Although there is no scientific proof that crossing your fingers will help, it certainly won’t hurt (unless you try to type in your product key with your fingers still crossed).

11. Install drivers

ZOMG - we still have to do this?! Okay, you’re using a SATA RAID array … you’ll need to go hunt down the drivers. Use a different computer - preferably a Mac or Linux box that is still functional.

12. Curse Bill Gates

Pray to whatever god you know that he may rein down judgement upon Redmond, Washington. Pray that it is swept away by flood, buried in quicksand, or that a mountain will fall over on top of it. If no god is available, one will be assigned to you.

13. Find drivers

Hmm… The manufacturer’s website is down. You’ll need to find the drivers with some advanced google searching. Once you get to the drivers page that may or may not be for the hardware you actually have, choose one of the 10 or so different driver files. It doesn’t matter which one you pick, this probably won’t work anyway.

14. Put the drivers on external media

XP made (yes, made) you use a floppy disk to load external drivers. No longer do we need to go buy a floppy drive and disks and another computer that already has Windows to install Windows. Use a CD, USB drive, or (uggghhh….) floppy disk. Remember, use another computer (Linux, Mac, or Commodore 64) to download and transfer the drivers. A Windows machine won’t work. It will break. Nobody knows why.

15. Load the drivers into the Vista installation

Good luck.

16. Call an ambulance

For the aneurism.

17. Wait a really long time

Congratulations, you’re now off and away installing Windows Vista. You only had to give up a few of your morals and pray to two heathen deities so far. You have now graduated to “step 2″ of the Vista installation process: “Installing Windows.”

18. Take a break

While you are waiting for Vista to install, you may want to take a relaxing break from your hard day’s work. Consider making some lemonade or reading The Great Gatsby.

19. Repeat

Windows will repeat the same thing several times but call it something else. First it will “copy windows” then it will “expand windows” then it will “install features” then it will “install updates” then it will “complete installation.” I think this is to lead you to believe all sorts of complicated things are happening in the background when they only thing that is really happening is Windows rendering the next error message.

In true Windows fashion, the installation will restart your computer 30 times.

20. Contemplate suicide

Most ways that might seem pleasant usually are not. Be sure to do you research. Use a Mac or Linux box for this.

21. Check FIle System

At some point the Vista Installation will want to check your hard drive for all the errors is has caused. Go ahead and let it go.

22. ZOMG IT WORKED!

If you did the proper incantations, and if the planets are aligned, it will have worked! You will now see Windows Vista for the first time!

23. Nevermind, it’s still installing

Sigh…

24. Choose your settings

If you get far enough, Vista will ask you for some settings. Just remember that your computer name cannot contain only numbers, only letters or letters and numbers or symbols that are equal to “q98*(H)” and also it must be shorter than 10 characters and longer then 12.

25. Watch some marketing

Once the installation is complete, it will keep going for a while. Installing Windows Vista is like watching Lord of the rings, there’s like 85 endings before it’s actually over. You will see some info from Microsoft’s marketing department about how awesome Vista is and how exciting the features are. This is to amplify the let down you will surely be feeling shortly. Also, the completion bar will move from 0%-100% about 30 times.

26. Face the final boss

If you’ve gotten this far, it is now time to face the final boss, the login screen. You should see your login icon and username (hopefully you chose the robot because its awesome). Type in your password and hit enter. You will see a message saying “logging off…” and the computer will reboot. Microsoft does it this way because it makes sense.

27. Face the final boss again

After the reboot you’ll get the login screen again. It’s like you have an extra life! This time it might work.

28. Congratulations, you’re done!

If you’re one of the lucky few, you will now see a desktop! You can now proceed to my 87 step tutorial on opening a program! See you then!

Notes:

Installing Windows Vista will make you have a bad day. Start on a day that is already bad.

Whatever problem you were having with Windows XP will still be a problem in Vista, making the last 8 hours of your life a waste.

Technorati Tags: vista, windows, installation, tutorial

Posted by Sam at September 13th, 2007

The Powerless website is gone, so I have archived the MP3’s of our music here. Download and share freely.

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Posted by Sam at September 11th, 2007

I imagine this kind of stuff happens a lot, but the average citizen doesn’t have a camera in their car to capture it.

This kid gets pulled over for no reason. When I say no reason, I’m not saying it like there is a reason but I’m playing dumb, I mean the cop admits he has no reason. He says he will throw the kid in jail on 9 made up charges. It’s really unbelievable.

Here is the contact information for the police chief at that department, should you want to express your outrage:

St. George Police Scott Uhrig
9041 Southview Lane
St. George 63123
314-631-1295
314-631-2252 fax

This reminds me of the Stanford Prison experiment where they took a bunch of students and made a fake jail with guards and inmates. They experiment had to be called off early because people were taking it a bit to seriously and it got out of hand. Power corrupts.

The cops around Provo and Orem that I have dealt with have always been reasonably courteous and helpful. Sure I’ve met some jerk cops before, but out here they seem to be small in numbers.

Remember: your fourth amendment grants you the right to refuse to show ID. If a cop asks for your driver’s license, he has to have probable cause and he has to have observed you operating a vehicle. In normal situations, the only thing you are required to give police is your name, address, and an explanation of your actions (this is the law in Utah).

Of course, if you are pulled over in your car, its wise to show ID in any case, simply because an officer will be able to come up with SOMETHING you’re doing wrong. It is still reasonable to ask “have I done something wrong?” and if they say “no.” then “am I free to go?”

Whatever the situation, police are usually not well versed in your rights. Most of them probably don’t know what the fourth amendment is. So if you try to protect your rights by refusing to show ID, only giving them the required information, etc. they might arrest you. They will probably come up with charges later.

So it’s a catch 22. You have the rights on paper, but its incredibly difficult to protect and exercise them. You can use your brain to decide how and when to use them.

A few links of interest:

When do I have to show ID?
State by State Stop and Identify Laws
When are police officers allowed to search me
When can a security officer search you

And my favorite - and only loosely related: You do not need to show your receipt when leaving a store. They have a right to ask for you receipt, and you have a right to decline. They cannot detain you or stop you from leaving unless they have reasonable suspicion that you have stolen something. Refusal to show proof of purchase for property that is now yours is not reasonable suspicion. Note: Don’t try this at Costco or Sam’s Club.

Posted by Sam at September 7th, 2007

Okay folks, here it is, the day you’ve all been waiting for. I’ve actually had this done for a month or so, but there were a few songs that just didn’t quite make the cut. In the meantime, I’ve got a good start on Volume 3 and am really excited about it.

I shouldn’t have to say this, but wait until you have some time to devote to listening to this music and giving it a chance. It took me several months to compile songs that I think are great, so the least you can do is devote some dedicated time to it!

Get it now, because I’m only leaving the link live for a few days!

Download it here.

p.s. If you never got Volume 1, it is available by request. Get creative and I’m sure you can find a way to contact me.

Posted by Sam at September 1st, 2007

I’ve been looking for a good program to help me tune my guitar for a while now. There were some ones for Windows I played with but had never found one for Mac - until now.

Freeverse (makers of such software as Comic Life) has recently released an app and widget dynamic duo for troubled Mac guitar tuners everywhere. The best part is the software package is free!

The main program window shows you mic level, note (both the name of the note and the wavelength), and a little meter that moves your note between flat and sharp. The little white dot repreenting your note grows in sized based on Tuna Pitch’s confidence in its sampling. The size of the dot and the confidence meter, therefore, show the same thing.

The widget version of Tuna pitch works much the same way, except sites on you dashboard ready to use at any time. Occupying only a small space, hitting the power button causes the Tuna Pitch widget to expand like in the picture. This is a nice feature because you don’t want yet another big widget in the way - Tuna Pitch stays minimal until you need it.

In the widget version, instead of the confidence dot, you have this yellow ball that represents … well I’m not sure what it is supposed to be. You again get mic and confidence levels up at the top.

In both versions you can select between auto tuning (i.e. the program tries to figure out which note you’re tuning) or manual note selection (which is good if you’re waaaayyyy off). Tuna Pitch comes with preset tunings for standard, drop D, drop C, open G, and open D. You can also go in and create your own tunings if you want to get really crazy.

For people who demand a little more perfection, tuna pitch will also do tone references. In other words, you can play the tone back from the computer and tune it by ear. The cool part is that the auto tuner still works in the background, so you can use your own ears and the computer as reference.

Tuna Pitch is a bit squirly - it seems to jump around quite a bit before settling on your note, which can be annoying and increase the time it takes to tune a string. The reference tone helps this out quite a bit, but it would be nice if it could be a little more accurate. Still, the app does good enough to make it a definite keeper.

Get it here: Tuna Pitch Gutar Tuner for Mac

Posted by Sam at September 1st, 2007

Thunderbird is an all around decent enough mail client. I have about 10 email accounts that I use regularly and I manage it all with Thunderbird. The search feature is nice when you want to search within an email account, as it changes the contents of your inbox on the fly based on your search terms. A more advanced find messages tool allows you to put in multiple search strings and perform basic logic. You can even create a folder full of saved searches - pretty handy indeed.

Where Thunderbird falls short is the ability to search across multiple accounts. I need this feature at least once a day and always end up banging my head against a wall trying to figure out which account I used for a particular email I am trying to find. It’s completely maddening. I cannot figure out why they would not include such on obvious feature or if I’m just too dumb to figure out how to use it.

The one workaround I have found is to create a saved search folder that searches all available accounts. The drawback is you need to edit the search folder every time you want to perform a search. Annoying, yes.