Nigma Dot Info (v3)

How to…

…repair a coax cable break.

First, one must find the break in the cable. Most times, if you’re looking for it outside, one end is likely to be shielded, so that you can’t remove it. This means that you must repair the break itself, instead of just replacing the cable.

In a pinch, you can go to Radio Shack to get the parts and tools you’ll need. I spent about $30 total.

You’ll need something to cut the coax cable with, they sell a tool for this, it’s only $5, and worth the cash.

You’ll need a coax stripper. This tool will allow you to strip off the end of the coax cable to attach the coax connector.

In addition to the tools, you’ll need two coax ends and one barrel connector. The coax ends should be of the twist one variety. These are less stable than the crimped variety, but require less tooling to work.

Cut on either side of the cable break, this should leave you with two exposed ends of coax wire.

Run the coax stripper over both ends of the cable. This should leave you with two stripped pieces of coax wire. Attach the coax ends to the stripped cable. Attach both ends to the barrel cable.

I can’t…

…remember the first time I was betrayed.

Odd you’d think? Something like that should be something that sticks in your craw. I guess all things pass into the nigh upon impenetrable fog of forgotten memories. I should find some comfort and solace in that, but I’m having trouble with it right now.

The last time I remember being betrayed was January 1st, 2003. A friend of mine since I was 7 moved into a place with me. He lied and betrayed to me a couple times during the course of our co-habitation. The first was when he brought 5 mewling kittens home to live with us. He swore he’d take care of them. I don’t know about you guys, but taking care of a cat usually means cleaning out it’s litter box. Taking care of them does not involve leaving for 5 days at a time, and hoping the smells get so bad that your roommate will take care of them for you.

Then, I got arrested. That’s a bit of a pisser, but almost nothing compared to the kick in the balls it is hearing that your oldest friend advised someone else not to help you with the bail money so you could get out of lockup.

Understandably, him and I don’t speak anymore.

The similarities between that event, and more recent wounds, gives me pause.

Theories…

…on the origin of the Universe.

This has all happened before, and it will all happen again.

Not exactly this mind you, but a version of it.

We know the Universe is expanding. It’s doing this exactly fast enough to keep it from collapsing back in on itself, and exactly slow enough to keep it from spinning itself apart.

This will end.

The Universe will contract, and then, unbeknown to any of us (most of us will long since have been consumed by the inevitable heat death), it will expand. This has happened before, and it will happen again.

But all is not lost. Your contributions here will not go unnoticed.

Consider a plant, any variety.

It grows, then dies, back to the earth from whence it came. The dead plant fosters the next generations of living plants, and so on. At each iteration, cell division and thereby mutation occurs. It’s Evolution. It has happened before, and for quite some time to come, will happen again.

We can change. It’s slow, but we can change.

So that answers the major questions of when did this start, will it end, and can any change occur from iteration to iteration.

Still more to think on, communication between iterations?

This is being posted…

…from my PC. The monitor for which is now a Hitachi 50v500. It’s ruddy fucking amazing. Some minor issues with font and resolution rendering, but those were easily solved. It’s currently upconverted to 1080i, or 1600×900. It’s not perfect, there’s about an inch of black space all around the screen, but it’s a small price to pay for having your monitor be damn near 50 inches. I’d post another “You Know You’re Jealous” picture, but the field would have to be to large for you to accurately see the TV. Just follow the link if you want to check it out.

It may not…

…be a game. But anything that allows you to intuitively design a three dimensional avatar, and save that avatar as a .gif, it going to be wildly successful.

I have zero artistic talent, and I did this:

Like a carrot…

…on the proverbial stick

Seen in an email -

“Hey - I did talk to Phil about your situation - he’s in the middle of getting all necessary approvals (it DOES entail some red tape)…..”

Keep the faith brothers and sisters…

My world…

…has expanded.

This has had a number of unexpected consequences. One of which has become that loss has become the cost of doing business.

It’s a sad and strange thing to have occur.

As I meet more people, most of them at work, I increase the chance that something “bad” will happen to someone I know. It used to be that my world was very small, and as such, loss was much more profound than it is now, but it also happened so much less often.

During my time here, two people have died. I didn’t know either of them particularly well, or them me. I was just the computer guy who they called to look at their PC’s when they had some trouble with them. As such, that’s all I really know about them. One had a heart attack, the other committed suicide.

Another person’s cancer has returned.

As much as I try, I’m having real trouble seeing the “good” things that I know have happened in my life.

Why is that?

In another…

…stunning example of complete and utter fail, I missed the “sign”.

It was very subtle in my defense, just a “hey, you should go see if your iPhone works on the WiFi at that Starbucks across the street.”

I’ve replayed it more than a few times since then, and I think missing it is saying I’m moving to fast. The main reason I didn’t just go across the street was because I was grabbing lunch, and really had to get back to the office to finish up some work. We’ve been swamped as of last, due to my boss being on vacation, and it’s causing me some stress cause I fucking hate being responsible.

So yea, eff it, I’m gonna slow down now.

Since it was requested…

…that I take my argument elsewhere, I’ve decided this would be a good forum for that.

First, read this.

Alright, so apparently, I’ve touched a nerve. But then again, that’s what I do. On to replying I suppose.

First, from the author of the blog herself, Megan Hart. She has more than a few words for me.

No. I’m operating under the assumption that when someone posts “can someone give me megan hart’s entire backlist in ebbok form” and someone DOES, that person is specifically looking for me, and the other person is specifically uploading and allowing multiple copies to be made (illegally) of MY WORK. They are stealing from me, my publisher and my editors.

Please see my original point, which you completely and totally disregard in attempting to make one of your own. They weren’t going to pay you, you were denied nothing, hence, no theft occurred.

So please take your argument elsewhere.

Well sure, cause why would you want to host a discussion that might actually bring about some insight into the other side of your argument. It’s ok, were all about bringing insight here at NdI, so I’ll host it for you, I’m just a pal like that.

I guess if I were JK Rowling and had the money to go after them, there’d be a bunch of file-sharing sites crying.

Pfft, lady, if the xxAA’s couldn’t get the job done, I assure, neither you, even if you had JK Rowlings cash, could get it done.

The thing is — I totally buy the idea that someone reading something as a sample might get them to buy later work. But these people aren’t getting samples, they’re getting multiple copies of full books — and some are the uploading them to other sites and passing them out.

Let me ask you two questions, have you ever gotten a sample of food at a grocery store? Have you ever eaten a meal at a friends house? Which of the two experiences were you more likely to to buy the full product from?

If I could figure out how to send the ebooks from Eharlequin, I’d send you my next Brief (but then, you see, they’ve made it so it’s too hard to forward them on, thus saving me a bit from being stolen from!)

So, let me get this straight. You don’t want anyone to steal your work, so you encrypt it with DRM, that you can’t yourself figure out how to use? Also, clearly, as you state your books have already been “stolen” they haven’t “saved” you from anything.

Now, on to one more commenter, Lauren Dane.

Oh so clever, the “oh it’s not stealing if they wouldn’t have paid for it” argument.

Thank you, I thought it was rather clever myself.

Gosh, if people with no morals spent their time actually you know, doing the right thing instead of making up reasons why it’s okay not to, imagine how much better a place the world would be.

Gosh, if people with no understanding of a situation stopped espousing so much hate over it and started focusing that energy into gaining more readers, they’d have a lot more of them, but clearly, that’s not going to happen, either.

And hey, I’d never pay for your laptop but I doubt you’d see it as me being a future fan if I walked out of your house with it under my arm.

Your argument is without base, and frivolous at that. I’m not trying to sell you my laptop. If I was, I’d be more than happy to let you borrow for it a day, determine if you liked it, and if not, return to me.

Gah! Ben you whiner - just fucking say, “I don’t care about anyone but myself so fuck you I’m stealing”

Gah! Lauren, just say it, you’re technophobe, hopelessly adrift in a sea of technology she can never hope to navigate her way out of because she’s to busy berating those who know the way.

All for now dear readers.

I have…

…a blog, 3 email accounts (2 from work, 1 personal), 5 IM accounts (gTalk, AIM, Yahoo!, and two Sametime’s), 3 social network accounts (Twitter, MySpace, and FaceBook), and a cellphone w/ text messaging.

I access all of this across a laptop, 2 desktops and my iPhone. Most of them are integrated, the email accounts all have forwards for mail, I can access the Sametime accounts from the same instance of Sametime, and the other 3 IM accounts from Pidgin and Adium. The iPhone get’s email, voice, and text messaging. Twitter cross-posts to my Facebook status, and my blog.

Every single instance of integration increases the power of the network exponentially. It can, and does, become greater than the sum of it’s parts.

Just renewed…

…my lease.

It was fairly quick and painless.

I looked at one other apartment complex, it was where I thought I’d like to live, and they didn’t have cable, only AT&T Uverse, and I’ve got apprehension about having my cell service and internet service run through the same company. Also, I’ve never really thought the phone company had a decent grasp of anything regarding digital mediums.

So yea, for the next 14 months, most of you know where to find me.

Seen on…

…Twitter

1.69697265625 TB array - status: online!

My Twitter to be exact.

The Time Capsule arrived today. Pictures of the unwrapping, for those that like to get down with the Applepr0n, can be found here.

First thoughts, proprietary power cable, but that was to be expected, it’s Apple after all. Bigger, heavier, and denser than I expected. Standard sleek Apple design. Easy setup. Harder to integrate with Windows network. Can’t perform backup if Time Capsule is connected to any Windows PC. Which kinda blows, but I didn’t really get it for automated backups, I’ve never liked the theory of passive backups, always though it should an active process.

Someone said…

…this was poetry.

How beautiful is this text?
I adore you.
Keep off my nuts.
Shhhhhhhhh!!!
Hello?
It is? Yeah?
Oh yeah?
You see the problem with that right now, is….
Why why why why
That’d be okay.
Oh, all right.
I see.
Yeah.
Oh, okay.
Ahhhhh
Oh, no, that’s fine.
You’re welcome….
No no no no
It’s okay.
Sure sure.
All right.
Oh wow….
The shit you can do with Craig’s List….

Bother…

…I must be bored.

A fun little game… wanna play?

Leave your name in my blog comments. Once you do that, this is what I’ll do …

1. I’ll respond with something random about you.
2. I’ll tell you which song or movie you remind me of.
3. I’ll pick a kind of alcoholic beverage to share with you.
4. I’ll say something that only makes sense to you and me.
(if possible. if not, I’ll say something that only makes sense to me.)
5. I’ll tell you my first memory of you.
6. I’ll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I’ll ask you something I’ve always wondered about you.
8. If you play, you MUST post this on your blog.

It’s 8:26…

…pm. Do you know where your iPhone is?

So, after horking my iPhone earlier today, I’ve gotten it restored and installed the script I was originally working. It’s hot. My iPhone is essentially LoJacked now. One would assume a thief savvy enough to pilfer my iPhone would be smart enough to turn it off, but you never know. I might give out the twitter address to a few people and invite them to see updates (that is if Twitter ever start sending out email again) so they can track me (or my iPhone) wherever it’s at, though I can’t really see why anyone would want to.

Lesson…

…one of modding your iPhone.

If you’re going to make changes to the base system, don’t do so without a data cable so that you can restore your iPhone should you hork it some truly amusing way. If you hork it in an unamusing way, you’re probably on your way to the Apple store anyway.

I was trying to install this awesome script that would upload my phone’s location to twitter, so I could track it if it ever got stolen. I seemed to have offended the iPhone with this idea, as now it cycles itself every 20 seconds, and I can’t read SMS messages any longer.

Woot for another restore when I get home :)

Me…

…version 5.0.

I’ve been a child, I was something before I was a child, but words fail such thought, shrouded deep within debate as it is. From a day old, until my 7th birthday. I was that of the very young, a kid. Young cares, what toys I had, were one of my truly few concerns, if that can even be termed as such.

I’ve been a pre-pubescent youth. After entering my 7th year of life, and shortly after exiting my 13th. School, books, learning, reading, communication. Knowledge, insatiable, unyielding, ever unquenched thirst for every answer to all questions. Television, entertainment, needs for escape.

I’ve been a post-pubescent youth. Spanning my 14th year through 21st. The physical manifestation of a split that began before I was born. I suppose I started out with a female brain like everyone else, guess I was one of the truly blessed to have evolved a little further to be a male of my species. An X replaced with a Y, then given 14 years to…mature? Though the female of the species has her own manifestation’s, and take notice I did. More school, more books, more reading, less communication. A lot of the same from my previous version, filtered though this new view. Cars. Freedom. A fake, pre-processed form of independence. Work. Money. Did I mention the girls? Their were a few of them.

I’ve been a young adult. Shedding my 21st year, and donning 7 more till my 28th birthday. Growth. Unsustainable, unchecked, growth. Further refinement, smoothing out the edges. Like grapes to wine, stepped on enough to be something suitable to have dinner with. Still more books, and finally, more communication. More connections. A network. Nascent at first, as all things all, then growing stable.

Now, an adult. Gods only know what that will bring.

Songs of myself…

…I was watching a BBC documentary on Gravity, at one point the narrator said “Stuff” and I was taken back to watching With Honors, and Patrick Dempsey, playing Everett Calloway, reading from Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself.

Probably just the addled medicine-headedness of my brain at the time, but I was consumed by a deep desire to read that very same poem. Some excerpts are in order I think.

“I Celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”

Mr Whitman, I think you were a physicist.

“Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin
of all poems,
You shall possess the good of the earth and sun…. there are
millions of suns left,
You shall no longer take things at second or third hand…. nor
look through the eyes of the dead. nor feed on the spectres
in books,
You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me,
You shall listen to all sides and filter them from yourself.”

Truly, is that all I must do? But, and tell me truthfully, how can one ever Stop?

“All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses,
And to die is different from what any one supposed, and
luckier.”

Well ok, so you weren’t a very good physicist.

“You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,
But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,
And filter and fibre your blood.”

I think that you have been, and if you’ve been to me, then I must’ve been to you.

So…

…besides owning my own bathmat, and realizing that all humans are filthy animals, their have been few other surprises to living in my own place. Except for today. Today I learned that if your bathtub does not drain, it’s good to check to make sure the drain stop hasn’t been engaged. I did appear to make the day of the maintenance man who stopped by, and then left 30 seconds later.

observ…

…ations.

this is not sages weed
it makes the dark side look different
what’s the dark side
the opposite of the light
it tickles
that’s the best way to describe it
it fucking tickles
it’s cashed

Since the beginning of time people have though they were in the Apocalypse or that is was right around the corner, it’s the carrot on the fucking stick.

i think im the creator because i posed the question
what like the cosmic version of she who smelt it dealt it?
perforations
who created the world
im gonna write about this
things that taste like cheesecake
buying new coats that are the wrong size

grease and cheesecake from the faux diner
used to be a donut place, you know?

lost vocal ephemera in the personal conveyance

back the haze and pleasing tunes

benefits of the enforced legal monagamy
weights of media and their effect on the human concentration

reading about the numerlogical signifigance of rubber pool balls

back to the dining table truths

dr tran and killing chickens

unlawful carnal knowledge and their associated urban legends