As for naraku, I’m not entirely sure what to turn this domain into yet. There’s a lot of history here and a decent number of visitors still for the archives. So it’ll probably continue to “live on life support” for now at least.

Head on over to Fun To Think About to keep up w/my daily Internety antics. Or follow me on twitter here and funtothinkabout here. Thanks for visiting!

1) Get a “rescue OS” iso, System Rescue CD is the one I used
2) Create a new hard disk in Virtual Box by going to File -> Virtual Disk Manager
3) Update your current Virtual Machine settings to use the new disk image as a slave hard disk
4) Mount the rescue OS iso file in the CD-ROM settings
5) Make sure the boot order will boot off the CD
6) Once booted, type startx
7) Once in X, type gparted in the terminal
8) In gparted, select the primary partition you wish to make bigger and choose copy
9) Use the drop down menu to select the new second hard disk
10) Right click on the representation of the disk and click paste
11) gparted will prompt you for the size of the disk, drag the slider to the new size, leave space for a swap partition if desired then click apply
12) Once complete, right click on the disk and choose Manage Flags, check Boot then Exit gparted
12.5) If you’re Guest OS is Linux, you’ll need to reinstall grub; if not, you can skip the next two steps
13) To reinstall grub type these setup commands in the terminal:

• sudo mount -t proc none /mnt/root/proc
• sudo mount -o bind /dev /mnt/root/dev
• sudo chroot /mnt/root /bin/bash
• sudo grub

14) In grub, type these commands:

• find /boot/grub/stage1
• root (hd0,0)
• setup (hd0)
• quit

15) Shutdown the rescue OS and update the Virtual Machine settings to use the new disk as the primary master
16) Make sure you Unmount CD iso
17) And now you’re done, go ahead and Boot the VM and you’re new size disk is ready to go

Supposedly you can use vditool to do something like this but I think the preceding is the method most people will find easiest.

as a fan of the original “The Show”, I see that Time has essentially allowed Ze to exercise his presentational art form to it’s near fullest. while I doubt very much we’ll see anything as awesome, like “fingers in food” (see vid below,) coming out of this new venue, I am excited for the world at large that once we again may bask in his comedic and insightful interpretation of current events.

while IANAD, and have not yet seen one, I believe conforming to basic ergonomics (the passive ways I personally have always abided by) can help a lot. But on top of that, and possibly more important is stretching frequently. I hope that doing some simple exercises will help me and possibly you avoid similar and annoying pain while ultimately preventing carpal tunnel and/or other equally unpleasant syndromes.

first up is this guy, who demonstrates some simple, quick and (likely) effective stretches:

and then for more, mostly full body, including some bad ass animated gif action, is this link to Preventing and healing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome & Repetitive Stress Injuries and exercises for RSI tendonitis.

this brings a smile.

while no solution is offered, the purpose is elegantly achieved – a clear outline of the cause of and contributing factors to the problem our global economy contemporarily faces.

so today, thank your friendly neighborhood developers, who work feverishly deep in the underbelly of modern-day-internet-society, and share a drink. maybe a scary story, too.

[via 1234567890day]

most courtsey of BARF patrons (it’s not what you think.)

funny, was just talking about this. questions like, do women actually have to track their cycle? can’t they just feel it coming on? apparently there are many who keep a record on a calendar. (fortunately for me, this is not an issue, my lady is as cool as a cucumber.)

while the site is targeted to men, perhaps the ladies too, could saddle up to a new e-pal – for the good and civility of a peaceful relationship.

related links: pmsbuddy pms stories, pmsbuddy tips!

When all else fails, flowers will always do the trick. They are kryptonite to PMS.

[via slantback]

crooks and liars has the speech for download in wmv and mov formats.

enjoy and be humbled by our 44th president’s speech, which was written 27 year old, Jon Favreau.

The pilot for The Remnants, written and directed by John August. Starring Justine Bateman, Michael Cassidy, Ben Falcone, Ze Frank, Ernie Hudson, and Amanda Walsh.

It was shot during the WGA strike in February 2008, using the SAG internet agreement.

The project is currently in development with 60Frames in association with NBC/U, so it could in theory become a series at some point. Either way, we had a good time making it.

watch below, or go to vimeo for the hd version.

The Remnants from John August on Vimeo.

via the writer’s blog, john august. here’s wishing him and all involved luck in bringing the series to fruition!

Aesthetics and usage

While I generally prefer the color black to silver, I can’t get over the awkward wannabe-sports-car shape of the SD990IS. Further adding insult to injury is that those odd contours lead to a physically clumsy holding position. The thumb has no home like it does on the SD880IS. Holding the 880 feels far more natural. Insignificant as it may sound, this small difference has led me to generally enjoy using the 880 more than the 990.

Even so, the SD990’s optical viewfinder will inevitably be missed by SD880 users, and the quick-shot mode which makes specific use of, is very cool.

The SD880’s wide angle lens is fun – useful in both indoor and outdoor situations, simply a great feature I wish the 990 had an option for.

Manual-mode on the SD990 is as it is on all Canon camera’s – useful if you read the manual and/or are particularly meticulous about photography. The SD880’s program-mode offers a few manual options such as exposure time. I figure, if you’re the type to really tweak, you probably have or are in the market for a D-SLR camera.

Win: SD880IS (but very close)

Overall photo quality

So do the additional 4.7MP spec-advantage of the SD990IS equate to better pictures? Absolutely – the SD990IS has superior IQ and a bigger sensor (however slight) than the SD880IS. This is apparent in the clearer less noise better focused pictures in every shooting environment. Noise is the single largest complaint of the SD880IS and after taking some 200 photos with both cameras, I can see why.

Photo file sizes (.JPG only used, in auto-mode) are also advantage SD990 – at 9MP/Large which is comparable to the SD880’s 10MP setting, files – in general – are almost ½ as big as the 880. With the larger file size there is no discernible quality advantage. At full resolution, a typical 14.7MP 990’s image file range from 3.5 to 5.5MB depending on settings.

Win: SD990IS

Which to choose?!

From the first moment I held the both, I generally wanted the SD880IS: ~$100 cheaper, wide-angle lens, huge LCD and subtle-yet-slick styling. In the weeks I wavered between the two, I really wanted to want the SD990IS for it’s better picture quality and optical viewfinder which I knew I’d eventually miss. However, I found myself more often picking up and snapping shots with the SD880IS. Its elegant and modern form factor as well as “handling” I can only continue to say is totally natural won me over – the slightly lighter and smaller body certainly helped pull the tide, too. Undeniable though, was the nicer photos the 990 consistently delivered.

Tie (yes, I know, COP-OUT!)

So… wait, what?

I’m keeping the SD990IS. The facts are that aesthetics are ultimately irrelvant and awkwardness is hardly a reason to dismiss an otherwise superior camera. I want to take great pictures after-all, and while the wide-angle lens is a loss, the additional zoom and capabilities are definite gains.

The final factor was made by a weight neither camera had control over. Dell is fantastic for returns and I waited too long to return the 990IS to Adorama (they only offer 14 days from order, oops!)

Ultimately both Canon’s are fantastic point and shoot cameras. Their differences place them in similar yet different target audiences: SD990IS edges towards the professional photographer type and the SD880IS is certain to be a favorite among party-goers, like those who love(d) the infamous Polaroid camera.

—-
Miss part one or two of this “series?”
one) Sizing up the competitors
two) Through the eyes of the combatants

Place The Hand on your car, home or apartment window (suction cups included) and let the world know how you’re feeling! Simply press one of the buttons on the wireless remote (with visor clip) and choose 1 or all 7 of the built-in hand gestures.
…
[Gestures include:] I love you, Hang Loose, Devil Horns, The Bird, Loser , Power and Peace gestures.

ahh technology, the world is so much more fun wit’ ye’.

via senor slantback, and it can be purchased at perpetualkid for $40 (though, no thx, my hands work just fine)

Seeing is believing and this battle aims to expose what each competitor is made of. So, I took many many auto shooting-mode photos to simulate the typical life of the point and shoot camera. that is: no tripods, no ideal lighting, no expert photographer (me.)

The best practice for sample shots, as determined by the sum of various intarweb photologists, is to take a crop of a 100% untampered photo (i.e. not resized.) In most cases, the size of my crop is 1280×900 and the flash is disabled. I am not a fan of the flash as it often seems to bleach the subject. But because of this, you will plainly see that a lot of these shots fair on the too-dark side. None of them have been photoshopped in anyway.

Let us begin with one of my favorite subjects both to blog about and photograph, the motorcycle.
Default focus, outside, night-time, cropped, flash on sample shot:

• rain drenched motorcycle handlebars
• SD880IS:
  
• SD990IS:
  

We see the SD990 capture more sharply the intricacies of each shape than the SD880. Additionally the 990 has more accurate and less washed-out color representation, partially attributable to the greater focus it has on the subject, versus the 880’s blurry concentration.

Moving on, lets see some holiday season detail:

• tree top crop
• SD880IS:
  
• SD990IS:
  
• tree top, crop with flash
• SD880IS:
  
• SD990IS:
  
• full tree no crop
• SD880IS:
  
• SD990IS:
  

Again, like the handlebars, the tree top crop shots make it obvious that the SD990IS certainly captures greater detail than its lesser Megapixel sibling. Although I prefer the 990 in these shots, the differentiation of detail is simply not critical for a majority of users needs (myself included.)

macro focus sample shot:

• a free-range brown egg
• SD880IS:
  
• SD990IS:
  

This macro sample is quite interesting, as it appears to expose each camera’s IQ precedence – the SD990 seems to focus on the background whereas the SD880 on the egg itself. However, the more likely explanation is user error in aiming the camera itself. I have little doubt that had I taken more shots, we would see the same or greater amount of detail on the egg from the 990 as the 880 displays here. I am blown away by the sheer detail in each grove of the table cloth and the 880 holds up admirably as well.

land and cloud scape horizon sample shot:

• 100% cropped, default zoom
• SD880IS:
  
• SD990IS:
  
• max optical zoom, 100% crop
• SD880IS, 4X:
  
• SD990IS, 3.7X:
  
• max optical+digital zoom, 100% crop
• SD880IS, 16X:
  
• SD990IS, 15X:
  

These shots highlight the dramatic difference a lens makes on each cameras overall offering. SD880IS’ wide-angle lens offers, obviously, more photo width. While the standard lens (in terms of 35mm) equipped in the SD990IS captures less width but greater magnification. This results in a complicated and seemingly contradictory conclusion: the SD990IS at 15x, has superior zoom than the SD880IS at 16x. Unlike most of the samples, I prefer the 880’s photos overall in this last sample set.

—-
Continued here: part three – choosing the victor, usage and conclusion.

These are Canon’s brand-new Digital ELPH ultra-compact point and shoot cameras, currently top of the line in each of their convoluted-naming-scheme classes. While I could list all of each camera’s specs, I won’t because their feature sets are essentially the same. (Feel free to read up on them on Canon’s website: SD880IS, SD990IS.) Like in war, it’s the differences that are the heart of matter.

Here is what each packs in its armory, aka spec deviations:

Megapixels:

• SD880IS – 10.0 Megapixel, 1/2.3-inch sensor type Charge Coupled Device (CCD)
• SD990IS – 14.7 Megapixel, 1/1.7 inch … CCD
• Be sure to check out Justin’s comment regarding what these numbers actually translate to (the short of it is that the SD990IS leads with a slightly higher concentration of MP/Sensor size.) Thanks Justin!

Lens and Focus:

• SD880IS – Wide Angle Lens 5.0-20.0mm f/2.8-5.8 (35mm film equivalent: 28-112mm)
• Macro: 0.8 in.-1.6 ft./2-50cm (W), 1.0-1.6 ft./30-50cm (T)
  Digital Macro: 0.8 in. – 1.6 ft./2-50cm (W)
• SD990IS – 7.7-28.5mm f/2.8-5.8 (35mm film equivalent: 36-133mm)
• Macro: 2.0 in.-1.6 ft./5-50cm (W), 1.3-1.6 ft./40-50cm (T)
  Digital Macro: 2.0 in. – 1.6 ft./5-50cm (W)
• BOTH – Normal: 1.6 ft./50cm-infinity

Viewfinders:

• SD880IS – No optical viewfinder, 3″ LCD, 230K pixels
• SD990IS – Optical viewfinder and 2.5″ LCD, 230K pixels

Shooting Modes:

• SD880IS – N/A
• SD990IS – Manual, Quick
• BOTH – Auto, P(rogram), Special Scene (Portrait, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Sunset, Fireworks, Aquarium, Underwater, ISO 3200, Indoor, Kids & Pets, Night Snapshot), Color Accent, Color Swap, Digital Macro, Stitch Assist), Movie

Zoom:

• SD880IS – 4x Optical/4x Digital/16x Combined
• SD990IS – 3.7x Optical/4x Digital/15x Combined

Flash Power/Range:

• SD880IS – 1.0-13.8 ft./30cm-4.2m (W), 1.0-6.6 ft./30cm-2.0m (T)
• SD990IS – 1.6-15 ft./50cm-4.6m (W), 1.6-7.9 ft./50cm-2.4m (T)

Continuous Shooting Speed:

• SD880IS – 1.4fps
• SD990IS – 1.3fps

Shooting Capacity (shots per charge:)

• SD880IS – Still Image: approx. 310 shots (LCD screen on*)
• SD990IS – Still Image: approx. 280 shots/700 shots (LCD off)

Weight and Dimensions:

• SD880IS – 3.69 x 2.24 x 0.93 in./93.8 x 56.8 x 23.6mm; Approx. 5.47 oz./155g (camera body only)
• SD990IS – 3.81 x 2.45 x 1.10 in./96.7 x 62.2 x 27.9mm; Approx. 5.64 oz./160g (camera body only)

Price:
The SD990IS is about 50-100 $USD more; I purchased the SD880IS for ~$200 and the SD990IS for ~$300. (approx. Dec. 15 ‘08)

Conclusion:
Essentially the SD880IS has it all, at 1/3rd the price. The wide-angle lens is certainly fun and oft sought after. Not having an optical view finder is a detriment however, as it can be used to gain steadier shots (use your head) and gain additional battery life. Additionally, the SD990IS has a couple of shooting modes (namely *manual*) some people will require. The dramatic sounding 4.7 sounding megapixel contrast is a toss up; chances are we won’t see the loss unless we’re blowing up our photos, poster size. Lastly, macro focus appears, according to the spec, superior with the SD880IS but I sense that is not the whole story.

The war continues: Canon Civil War part two, through the eyes of the Combatants

p.s. please excuse the pics in this post as they were taken with my elderly PowerShot S50.

here’s a couple high-quality versions of the bodies:

the install was smooth as can be, the Givi attached to my madstad as readily as the Suzuki stock shield did. with the stock shield, I had madstad adjusted all the way up and forward. with the Givi this was unacceptable as I could no longer see over the shield. so now it’s almost all the way down and pulled a little way back from fully front.

with the Madstad + Givi combo, a total cost of ~$230 new, the buffeting problem as close to gone as anyone could reasonably expect. the shield itself is of high build quality and looks great. it does have one element of concern regarding an appearent “lens effect.” in bright direct sunlight it has been reported that the Givi shield can melt the dashboard. there is a warning sticker on the shield that states this as well. while a little disconcerting, not really a problem since I keep mine covered in the summer.