evanroberts.com

Happy birthday Canada!

141 years old. Man, that’s a LOT of candles!  

One of the perks about Leopard (OS X 10.5) is that it comes with a feature known as “Time Machine“. Basically, it is a built-in backup solution, runs in the background, and mirrors your drive to another drive via USB or Firewire, and even over your network, if you have Apple’s Time Capsule.

Personally, I have no need for another wireless router, even if it comes with a hard drive, as it is one more thing on my network to worry about, maintain, and the thing ain’t cheap to begin with. Yes, this is a gadget that I decided NOT to get due to cost. How weird is THAT!? 

Anyway, last week, the drive for my work Macbook died. When I say ” it died”, I mean the type of drive death where it clicks, clunks, grinds, and won’t mount. Basically, I can’t do anything with it, so everything I had on it is gone. Was I backing it up? Nope. After setting up everyone else’s machines to backup their data, I never got around to setting up mine. Not much is gone, I use IMAP at work so my email wasn’t stored locally, but all the images, documents, and other things I’ve worked on for the last 3.75 years was lost. Either it hasn’t hit me yet, or I just don’t care. Dunno. But, it made me paranoid about my own machines, so I figured I might as well set up Time Machine at work, ensure it does the trick, and then set it up at home.

I heard rumours about people being able to set Time Machine to use standard SMB (Samba) mounts using 10.5.2 or higher, which makes sense, as OS X is based off Unix, and pretty much operates within the same standards. Sure enough, I came across this site, and it was easy as pie:

http://www.stocksy.co.uk/articles/Mac/getting_time_machine_to_work_how_i_want/

A quick snippet of what was involved:

Within Terminal:

sudo defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1

Then:

sudo hdiutil create -size [number_in_GB]g -type SPARSEBUNDLE -nospotlight -volname “Time Machine” -fs HFS+J -verbose ~/Desktop/[mac_network_name]_[eth_mac_addy].sparsebundle

Transferred *.sparsebundle to desired remote directory.

As I have a few Linux boxes that are there only for storage, it made sense to set up Time Machine on my Mac Mini to use one of them rather than spending a chunk of cash on a new device. I had to reinstall Leopard as years of upgrading left me with an operating system that had issues with permissions over network mounts (the weirdest thing), so I backed up my Mac Mini to my Macbook, and started from scratch. After Leopard was installed, it took no time to set up Time Machine. The initial backup took FOREVER, as was expected, but since then, all has been well. I’ll move over the important documents as time goes on, but for the moment, only 14GB on the Mac Mini was used. I’ll have to clear some more space to be able to back up the Macbook via Time Machine, but that shouldn’t be too difficult.

So, long story short: if you’re not backing up your data, you might want to look into that. If you want to use Time Machine, and you have a machine on the network that you can use as a network mount via SMB, check out the link above, and save yourself some cash. Why Apple doesn’t allow you to do this by standard, who knows, but I’m glad that the process to do so wasn’t too much of a hack.

Thanks to Stocksy for the instructions.  

Greedy bastards.

So, here in Canada, we’ve been itching to get out hands on the iPhone since it was released in the States. Some even went so far as to get one anyway and have it hacked to work upon the Rogers network. On June 9th, Apple announced that the iPhone would officially be coming up to Canada (and the rest of the world). Needless to say, this will be the hot item of the summer around the world, if not the entire year. It was no surprise that Rogers would be the carrier in Canada; they’re the only one up here who has the infrastructure. This roughly translates to them having a monopoly, which again roughly translates to them being able to charge whatever the fuck they want.

Many thought that this would be the turning point for Rogers… that Apple would pressure them into FINALLY having an unlimited data package for a decent price. For a time, it looked like this might be a possibility. Rogers caving to demand for fair prices. Ha.

Guess what? Rogers said “bollocks” to that (yes, they used that word), and released the following:

400MB per month at the lowest rate? It’s not like I’d be surfing a lot on the thing, but I don’t want to have to worry about paying extra should I go over, especially at $0.50/MB. That shit adds up. I also have the “$20 Value Pack” already with my Nokia 5300, as I like being able to send txt msgs without a cap, and the early evening calling is nice (usually their unlimited evenings and weekends starts at 9pm?! WTF?!), so I would need that too with the iPhone. Right there: $80/month. Then, their system access fees, and taxes, blah blah blah… I’ll be paying close to $100 per month for the damn thing.

But you know what? As much as I bitch and whine about the prices, I’m going to be paying them, as I want the iPhone… and Rogers knows this. Sure, they throw in unlimited Hotspot access, which is cool of them, but how often will I hang out at a Second Cup? Almost never.

It’s so fucking irritating that Rogers gets away with this. Looking at the rates down in the States, this hardly seems fair. Rogers makes hand-over-fist in cash, and they still feel the need to squeeze even more pennies out of the average customer. Sure, it’s all about business, but this goes beyond that. This is just simple greed.

All said and done, though, I can’t wait to get the iPhone.

Update (July 3rd, 2008): To hell with Rogers. I’m not going to get roped into a three-year contract where I essentially agree to pay ridiculous prices just to enjoy an innovative device. I’m going to sit back and wait for the competition to get their act in gear and offer the iPhone on their network. Rumour has it that Telus is working on this for early 2009, and I’ll be taking my number over to them if they’re successful.

This past weekend, Molly, myself, Sparky, Alison, Perry, and Seth all went up to OWL Rafting, which is located just outside of Forester’s Falls near the Ottawa River. I’d been whitewater rafting once before in Alberta, but it wasn’t that hardcore; certainly not like the videos I’m always seeing with people being ejected out of their seats and into the drink. However, my Father told me that he once whitewater rafted down the Ottawa River YEARS ago (perhaps before I was born), and he said it was a blast. Seeing as how I doubt the rapids would change much in the last 30 years, I figured this was going to be a lot of fun.

I figured correctly.  

It took a while to get up there right after work on Friday (like, 1am), but once there we set up our tents, had a beer, and then went to bed. Some jokers were laughing it up and making noise which prompted some dude, who sounded pretty big, to shout at them to shut the hell up… and they quickly complied.

The guides at OWL Rafting were hilarious. Laid back, yet serious, they put everyone into a great mood as we got ready to shoot the rapids. Our boat was guided by a dude named Billy, and we quickly learned the ropes of what was necessary when he yelled out commands. The first few rapids were awesome, and got the heart pumping. As it was a perfect day, sunny and warm, a lot of splash battles were going on between the boats. Unfortunately, we were one of the smallest boats in the group, but that didn’t stop me in trying to start a few wars. I seemed to be the only one up for a splash battle in my boat, however. I was even warned by the guide of a bigger boat to pick my battles. I never learned that lesson.  

During the largest set of rapids, our boat was picked to sit on standby in case anything happened with the remaining rafts as they shot down. Sure enough, the first one attempting to go down hit the rapids sideways, and half the people were thrown out. Instantly, we lept into action, and saved three of our fellow “rafters”, with one of them hurt from a scraped leg. We also paddled after some of the gear that attempted to float down the river. One of the dudes who flew out of that boat, yet was rescued by someone else, was pretty shaken up; white as a ghost, and barfing, he was later taken to the hospital to get checked out. There was a chance he hit his head, and it’s better safe than sorry. Still, I felt bad for him as everyone was watching him, but I don’t think he was really aware of that. Poor dude.

Near the end of the trip, there was a lull where we were all jumping into the river, and trying to do this backwards flip, the name of which escapes me at the moment. My second attempt, I got about 3/4 of a flip through, and it was recorded for the video of the day, which rocked. We didn’t buy the video as we couldn’t justify $35 for perhaps 30 seconds of footage of ourselves, but it was great to see once. At the end of the rapids, we were towed back to where the pontoons were waiting. On board, they had BBQed kabobs waiting with salad, and I ate perhaps two helpings. It was SO good. The trip back to OWL took about an hour, and it was a smooth ride.

Once back, Molly and I helped them load the rafts, and then watched the video of the day. Afterwards, we went for a swim, and the water was a LOT colder than I remembered. Molly took the initiative and splashed me, so in I fully went. We swam out to the raft with the slide on it and hung out there for a bit. At one point, I made the idiotic decision to try sliding down backwards. For those of you who have ever thought that was a good idea, let me help you out and state that the backflop I performed kinda hurt. Anyway, the rest of the evening was spent hanging out at the pavilion attached to the lodge, listening to a live band that came it (yet was under appreciated unfortunately), and having some beers that Perry and Alison were kind enough to pick up.

Sunday, we woke up to the rain, which sucked, but we were leaving anyway. On the way home, we stopped off to visit Sparky and Alison’s parents and had lunch. Then, the final trip home was spent mostly sleeping for me. The weather alternated between torrents of rain, to blazing sun. Quite odd.

Would I go back to OWL Rafting again? Hell yeah! Would I recommend others go there as well? But of course! It was a great time indeed. Special thanks to Perry for setting all that up.

Sparky also had his waterproof camera with him, and took some snaps of the day. Check ‘em out here:

http://gallery.naturespocket.com/?mode=album&album=Owl+Rafting+2008

About a month ago, I ranted about some graffiti on a wall in a parking lot between the Keele and Dundas West subway stations that I liked. Turns out, Danielle had some pictures of it up on her Flickr page! Check ‘em out!

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=keele&w=80901997@N00&m=&s=&mt=

My favourite is this one:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielle_scott/433857610/

As I mentioned in my previous post, I liked the one with B.B. King, yet it was defaced. It’s nice to see it as it once was.

Thanks Danielle!!! 

Jared passed this chat quote from “bash.org” my way this afternoon. It made me laugh, so I had to share it:

Apparently, bash.org is a site that has a database full of user-submitted IRC quotes. I can’t get to it right now to check it out, but that one above was hilarious, so I’ll be sure to check it out again sometime in the future.

Back in January of this year, the BBC had an interesting article listing key events of how the price of crude oil per barrel has increased from a few dollars back in the 1970s, all the way up to $100 per barrel:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7083015.stm

This past Friday, the price of crude oil was $139 per barrel. WTF. I don’t drive, so I’m not hit by these prices (I do offer to help pay for gas for those who offer me rides, though), but it really makes me wonder how people can afford to keep using their cars.

I also find it funny how Dubya is now trying to reverse a ban on offshore drilling in an attempt to deal with the high prices Americans, and the rest of the world, face at the pumps:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7460767.stm

He calls the ban “outdated and counter-productive”. Hmmm. You know what is outdated? The constant meddling of the United States government in the affairs of foreign countries, especially in the Middle East. You know what is counter-productive? The Bush Administration and the conflicts they have started around the world, mostly in the Middle East.

Oh, and let’s not forget McCain, the rising Republican star. He is for offshore drilling (surprise!), but is also trying to reign in the environmentalists to his side by pledging a goal of 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/us/politics/19nuke.html

What is it with politicians setting goals, especially during campaign times, that far exceed the term of office they are seeking? At best, McCain (God forbid) could serve an eight year stint in the White House. Quick math puts that up until 2016. Not 2030. So… why is this a goal HE is setting? Chances are, he won’t live to see 2030 in the first place, considering he is 71. He is setting a goal of 45 nuclear reactors to be built within the next 22 years to deal with the energy crisis we’re dealing with today!? Read that again: 22 years from NOW. What kind of a pledge is that? I seriously hope American voters don’t fall for this. Lofty goals like this are only used to grab more votes, and the last thing the Republican party deserves are more votes in their favour.

Anyway, that’s enough ranting for one post. 

Yesterday’s workout at the gym didn’t hurt at the time, but later on in the day I started feeling it in the arms and the back. I knew that the following morning I would probably be aching, and sure enough, this morning, I was. It was painful to lift my backpack and put it on my back. Good lord… am I THAT out of shape?

I think not.

Being my first upper body workout in quite some time, my muscles were more than likely screaming “WTF!?!?”, followed by threats of “YOU SHALL PAY TOMORROW!!!”. As expected, they came through with their threats. But, this shall not deter me. For far too long I have not worked out when I had the chance, and then hated myself for it. Even last year, I set a goal with myself that I would weigh a certain weight by last August, or I would buy Windows Vista. As it turned out, I found a loophole in my goal, as Windows Vista was included with the Dell I bought at the time.

I ended up looking for a way to cheat myself out of my goal.

That’s sad.

Not any more. The pain, while… uh… painful… is a surprising motivation to continue. Eating right, I’m doing that. Riding the bike, love it. Going to Spinning classes, hell yeah. Playing Ultimate Frisbee, as soon as my ankle is no longer an issue. What’s missing? Good old fashioned working out. Time to bring that back into the mix. The only thing that is a pain in the ass is knowing what the exercises I’m performing are called, so I can then note them down. But, that’s a small bump in the road.

They say “No pain, no gain”. Well, I’m feeling the pain right now. Let’s continue so I can see some gain.

This past Saturday, Sparky invited me out with his friend Eric to go “wheeling“. Basically, this is a form of off-roading… but with a Jeep. The idea of a road-worthy vehicle driving up rocky paths that are difficult as it is to traverse on your own two feet is astounding. He’s been doing this for years, and after many invites, I finally was able to go along with him.

We went to a place known as Greens Mountain, which is about 40 minutes outside of Bobcaygeon. Its a mini-mountain located out on Crown land, and what I initially thought was going to be the trail turned out to be the trail TO the trail. During the day, we caught up with other dudes with Jeeps who were going over the same obstacles, which ranged from muddy hills, ponds, and rocky slopes. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, which was great, and the weather was pretty much perfect. The only complaint I had was the amount of mosquitoes and deer flies… my legs were chewed to pieces. Still, we were going through some swampy areas, so it wasn’t too unexpected.

I recorded some videos on my Nokia, but they’re pretty crappy (Nokia isn’t known for it’s amazing ability to create camera phones). Also, it records them in a *.3GP format, so Windows users may need Quicktime installed. Either way, they’re better than nothing, so if you so choose, here they are:

• Sparky’s first obstacle - 1.6MB
  • Sparky takes his Jeep down a minor rocky incline, and drives up the other side. Essentially, this was a giant rock ditch with some water at the bottom.
• Eric decends the “Superman 1″ - 2.5MB
  • There’s a certain decline known as the “Superman”. Apparently, it is so called due to the fact that it looks like you’re angled at 170 degrees and about to topple over. There are two ridges side-by-side though, so it’s questionable which one is the actual “Superman”. Both look insane though. Here, Eric goes down one of them, which we’ll call “Superman 1″.
• Sparky decends the “Superman 1″ - 2MB
  • Sparky takes his Jeep over the edge. I’m standing in a swamp to film this, which also happened to have the highest .
• Dude decends the “Superman 2″ - 2MB
  • One of the other dudes on the trail decends the larger of the “Superman”s.
• Dude plows through water - 2.6MB
  • It was either go through the pond, or go down one of the “Superman”s. This guy decided that the risk of water damage is preferable to structural damage from driving off a cliff.
• 2nd dude plows through water - 3.2MB
  • Seeing that the other dude made it through without lasting injury, the last dude of the group makes his way through the water.

All in all, a fun day.

Afterwards, we headed back to Lindsay to get some wings at Wild Wing, which were decent wings. The service wasn’t the best, and they had the air conditioning on full for some reason, but wings and beer were a welcome reward for getting through the day unscathed. There, we met up with a dude named Mitch that Sparky and Eric met before, and visited his place for a bit to check out his shop, and then made the journey home.

I’ll spare you all image of what my legs look like, and instead, provide you with this nice image of Sparky and Eric’s Jeeps:

Just one of those useless little things on sites, but I wanted to have my own favicon, which is the little picture that displays right next to the URL in the address bar. I used to have one, waaaaay back in the day, which is sort of a funny story:

I found this little red maple leaf image that I liked, but it wasn’t a favicon. I was using my Windows machine a lot during that time, and so I opened up MS Paint, imported the image, and then saved it in *.ICO format, which is necessary. During that process, MS Paint reduced the colours in the image to 16, which effectively turned my innocent-looking red maple leaf into something that resembled a marijuana leaf. I found this hilarious, and installed that on my site. However, a few years later, during a crash which resulted in the hard drive in my old FreeBSD box melting, I lost the image, and the site. Turned out to be a good thing as I wasn’t happy with the site, and hardly updated it. I was also using PostNuke, which at the time was a pain the ass to maintain and update.

Anyway, this one wasn’t that difficult to create as all I had to do was take a snapshot of myself, crop it, resize it to 16×16 pixels, and then used “convert” to change the image format from PNG to ICO. Then, placed the file within my theme directory, and voila! Searching for instructions on the ‘net resulted in all these shareware applications that would convert the image for you… blah blah blah. It’s amazing how many programs are out there that you have to pay for to do the most simple things if you’re too lazy to look up how to do the task yourself. I’m not paying for a one-time process… that’s idiotic.

So. There we have it. Yet another mugshot of myself on my site. Exciting, eh?