Monthly Archives: April 2005

Fully-KVMed Workstation

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My Workstation
Originally uploaded by PeterWood.|fff

Our KVM puzzle is finally complete, now that we’ve got a mouse that works with the KVM. We ended up getting an ***AOpen Five-Button Optical Wheel Mouse|http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=26-156-007&depa=0*** for $11.24 from NewEgg. I was led to believe from the product description that it was a PS/2 only mouse, but, in fact, it was a USB mouse with a PS/2 adapter, just like the previous Microsoft mouse that we tried to use. This mouse, however, works with no problems. So we’ve been able to ditch the dedicated mice, and we now have a fully-KVMed setup – one keyboard, one mouse, and one monitor for two computers. w00t!

The mouse, by the way, is a great value. You can feel that the plastic used in its construction is pretty cheap when compared to a MS mouse, but it’s still very useful. In Mac OS X, we can use the excellent ***USB Overdrive|http://www.usboverdrive.com/*** tool to gain access to all of the buttons on the mouse. So I have the two extra ‘side’ buttons mapped to volume up and volume down, which is incredibly useful.

The photo in this post shows what our complete workstation setup looks like. If you click the photo, you should be taken to a flickr page with annotations describing all of the various system components. Enjoy!

Finally, a use for flickr

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As I’ve ***previously mentioned|http://prwdot.org/archives/002299.html***, I’ve found it difficult to find a use for ***flickr|http://prwdot.org/archives/002299.html*** the social, taggable photo sharing site. We already have a well-established ***photo gallery|http://gallery.prwdot.org/***, running on the web hosting space that we’re already paying for. flickr’s free service wouldn’t allow me to upload the amount I currently do to our regular gallery, so I’d have to pay. Also, I don’t want to migrate over all of our photos, nor do I want to publish them to both places. But I have found one thing that flickr is especially good at, and I’ve decided that it fills a nice niche in my digital photo sharing needs: annotated photos. By this, I mean a photo that has a number of features I would like to describe, like people at a party, locations on a map, or peripherals in a computer workstation. flickr lets you add ‘notes’ to a photo, so that when others are viewing the photo, they will see boxes in certain places on the photo indicating notes, and if they hover over the boxes, the note text will pop up.

The best way to understand it is probably to just *** check out the annotated photos|http://flickr.com/photos/peterwood/tags/annotated/*** over on flickr. I’ll post some other blog entries here about some specific photos in the collection.

Freedom Song

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I think that it is important to expose myself to different cultures around the world. So when I choose books from the library I try to span the globe when topics are concerned. My latest read comes from the sub-continent of India. aaa|Freedom Song|0375704000|aaa is a collection of 3 novellas by Amit Chaudhuri.

I enjoyed reading these three tales which paint pictures of life in India, as well as life as an Indian in London. I was, however, left wondering how accurate those pictures are. I feel the same way I often do after reading short stories. It is as if I have tuned into the show in the middle and then leave before it is over. I’m just never satisfied.

That being said, Chaudhuri’s descriptions are beautiful, his prose is lyrical and the novels were pleasant to read.

Tuning In

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Behold the power of the internet: I can now listen to my two favorite radio stations just by logging on to iTunes and double clicking! Will the wonders ever cease? Here’s the low-down…

***WERS|http://www.wers.org***: The listener supported, commercial free station run by Emerson college students here in Boston. Their programming is extreemly varied. They play everything from hip-hop to modern Israli music, from cartoon theme songs to Bob Dylan. Who could ask for more? My personal favorite shows are “The Playground”: kids music, “The Coffee House”: folk music, and “Standing Room Only”: Broadway showtunes.

***WMVY|http://www.wmvy.com***: Progressive radio broadcast from Martha’s Vineyard. This is the station most often playing in the kitchen in our house on MV. The music is an interesting mix of folk and rock with a smattering of reggea, oldies and more. I especially love hearing the local news, standby list and island/cape commercials. It makes it feel like summer all year round!

While I listen to these stations through iTunes you can also get a live stream through the websites above. I’d recommend you check them out. Listen for a while and let me know what you think!

Help me decide!

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Hello readers! I am going to be going into Boston (and Cambridge, maybe) for a few hours tomorrow and doing some photography. I’d like to do a sort of theme, and I have a number of ideas floating around in my head. Here they are in no particular order. Leave a comment and let me know which one(s) you’d like to see the most!

  • Bridges: Big ones like the Zakim and Tobin, small ones like the Longfellow and Harvard, etc.
  • Numbers: House numbers, prices, license plates, signage, street signs.
  • Food: Restaurants, markets.
  • The Arts: Music shops, theaters, galleries.
  • Transit: The MBTA, cars, bicycles, etc.
  • Statues and Monuments
  • Signs: Street signs, building signs, billboards, traffic signs.
  • Religion: Churches, chapels, cathedrals, crosses.
  • Cemeteries
  • People: Crowds, groups, couples, individuals.
  • Government: City hall, state house, federal buildings, etc.
  • Shopping: Newbury Street, Quincy Market, Prudential, etc.
  • Learning: Schools, colleges, libraries, etc.
  • Ethnic centers: North End (Italian), Southie (Irish), Chinatown, Brookline (Russian), Allston Village (Brazilian), Uphams Corner (Cape Verdean), Watertown (Armenian)
  • Any suggestions?

I’ll be leaving no later than noon on Sunday, so be sure to get in your votes by then!

The end of the world (as they knew it)

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fff|ggg|worlds_end/P1010135|Boston Skyline|ggg|fff

Today, Becky and I drove down to Hingham to visit ***World’s End|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_End_%28Hingham%29***. It is a peninsular park that’s technically part of the ***Boston Harbor Islands|http://www.nps.gov/boha/***. There are some really great views of the surrounding waterways, as well as scenic views of the Boston skyline and the town of Hull. It was a lovely day for an outing and we had a great time. The park is just southeast of Boston and admission is $4.50 per person.

One thing I haven’t been able to figure out, from the articles I’ve read, is why it is called World’s End, or when they started referring to it as World’s End. Anyway, you can see all of our photos ***here|http://gallery.prwdot.org/worlds_end***.

Update
Thanks to adamg at ***Universal Hub|http://www.universalhub.com/*** for ***the mention|http://www.universalhub.com/node/704***!

Aye, Aye Captain!

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fff|ppp|Captain Vegetable|ppp|fff

For those of you, like ***Chad|http://jayseae.cxliv.org/2005/04/08/so_it_isnt_so_cookie.html***, who keep up with the goings on over on Sesame Street, I’m sure you’ve already heard the news that their newest season will be focused on helping kids become healthier. Chad writes about Cookie Monster’s new song, “Cookies are a Sometimes Food,” which is only part of their new season-long initiative.

I, for one, am glad that the show is trying to get this message out to kids. I think it can only have positive outcomes. All this talk about teaching kids about health and nutrition makes me think of a classic Sesame Street character… Captain Vegetable!! Now, don’t you think it would be cool if they brought back the Captain? I found ***a site|http://members.tripod.com/Tiny_Dancer/index2.html*** where you can get the lyrics to his fantastic song, as well as download it if you haven’t heard it in a while. Peter won’t need to download it, since I sing it at home several times a week already 🙂

Captain Vegetable first graced the small screen in 1982 and had a 13 season run on the show. I think he’d make a nice addition to the new “healthy” theme of the show.

er mcgregor

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Today, possibly to brighten my chores, TNT decided to air my very favorite episode of ER (The Long Way Round, 2/13/97). That was very sweet of them 🙂

I have to say that there are many, many episodes of ER that I love. I’m not even sure why I like this one so much, but I just do.

Perhaps it is because it guest stars Ewan McGregor. More likely it is the amazing nursing skills of Carol Hathaway. Ewan and his ‘cousin’ hold up a convenience store with Nurse Hathaway and several others inside. Things turn bad and Ewan ends up killing the store owner. Carol does her best to help the wounded using MacGyver-like skills. She uses duct tape, and the straw from a juice box and the cardboard part of a tampon and KrazyGlue for various medical procedures. Very cool.

It is also interesting to see the progression of McGregor’s character… From a guy just needing a few bucks, to a murderer, to a victim. Although he is the “bad guy” you can’t help feeling sorry for him. He makes a couple bad decisions and they multiply and come back to haunt him.

Thank you TNT for providing a pleasant break in my day of house-cleaning!