| DiscountNewAgeBooks.com $1 sale until Feb. 2nd, 2010 |
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Monday, January 25th, 2010 21:01:24 GMT |
| Books |
DiscountNewAgeBooks.com, one of my favorite booksellers, is having another one of their wonderful $1 book sales.
The cost of shipping is also extremely reasonable for U.S. buyers, and I'm guessing it's probably reasonable for international buyers as well.
The sale is going to last until Feb. 2nd, 2010. They even accept PayPal. So, you needn't use credit cards to order. (Though they accept credit cards too, as well as some other things).
To stay informed of future incredible sales by them, you can join their mailing list, or subscribe to their blog or Twitter page.
I have no affiliation with DiscountNewAgeBooks.com - I'm just a happy and grateful customer. I've bought from them several times in the past (and would have bought a lot more, and a lot more often, if not for my chronic financial difficulties), and have never been disappointed.
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| Astroblahhh Desktop v1.12 |
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Saturday, December 5th, 2009 17:41:35 GMT |
| Site Update Software Release |
I have released Astroblahhh Desktop v1.12. What a long and horrible ordeal it was, but at least now I finally have an adequate solution for my disorganization.
The most notable things about this update are probably:
At least two things got broken (the export scripts for links DBs and idea DBs), and assorted other useful things have not yet been made, and who knows what giltches I (or maybe others) might stumble across and have to repair. So, there will probably be updates in the future.
However, this is still the best and most complete version yet.
I uploaded its zip file at 12:42 PM, and I announced Astroblahhh Desktop's release at the time above this blog post. Here's an Astrolog 5.40 command line:
(Edit, 12:43 PM. Well, 12:42 PM according to my computer. Once again, it seems my website and computer are not in agreement about what time it actually is.
Writing it wasn't too fun, so I guess I can't exactly call it a labor of love, but I do love having it, at least. Being able to much more quickly and easily find things has granted me surprisingly large amounts of peace of mind, already saved me a lot of time, and removed a lot of needless stress from my life. It was definitely worth all the time I spent writing it.-qa Dec 5 2009 12:42 EST 80:34W 41:09N
Location: Hubbard, OH.
-qa Dec 5 2009 12:41:35 EST 80:34W 41:09N
The time above this blog post.)
Anyhow, I hope Astroblahhh Desktop will be useful to you. Despite all its flaws and possible dangers, it is quite possibly the best, most useful thing I've ever created.
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| Astroblahhh Desktop v1.0 |
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Thursday, September 10th, 2009 01:08:46 GMT |
| Site Update Software Release |
Finally, I have released Astroblahhh Desktop v1.0. Now, in addition to the Astroblahhh Links Organizer and Astroblahhh Idea Organizer, it contains the new Astroblahhh File Organizer.
So, now, I can much more easily find things, and add search tags, ratings, notes, and other info to those things' records in the database, so I can easily tell what everything is for without having to guess.
The Astroblahhh File Organizer also gives me a way to literally melt my hard drive. Yes, really. Having 255,000 file records in a single database and then adding/removing 20 indexes (each taking about 28-40 seconds to add or remove) is not a good idea.
Fortunately, my hard drive still works, but, it was pretty scary accidentally having it reach 69° Celsius, the highest temperature I've ever known it to reach (I didn't think it could get higher than 66°), and actually smelling the melted plastic. 69° Celsius = 156.2° Fahrenheit. :-O
Here's a picture of my hard drive. Unless I'm mistaken, the plastic on it is supposed to all be smooth, not rough in spots like it is now. (Click the picture for a larger version).
So, in light of my experience, it's probably best to use the Astroblahhh File Organizer for multiple small databases, instead of packing way too many file records into a single database. How many is too many? I don't know. :-)
So, please only use Astroblahhh Desktop at your own risk. The other organizers' databases could conceivably have the same problem if they had too many records in them, but, compared to file records, it's harder to add a ton of idea or link records, so it's less likely that your ideas or links DB will end up being dangerously huge. Nonetheless, be careful with them too.
Here's an Astrolog 5.40 command line for any curious astrologers:
(Edit, 9:13 PM. Drat! My computer's clock said 9:09 PM, but maybe it was a little fast, since my blog post is actually dated 01:08:46 GMT (9:08:46 EDT). Oh, well. Since I uploaded the file before I posted the blog post, that might mean I actually uploaded it at 9:08 PM, Sept. 9, 2009.
Oh, well, at least I was early instead of late. Then again, maybe I was on time. I have no idea which clock is more accurate, my computer's or my website's.)
Yes, Mercury is retrograde, and because of the technical and communications snafus many astrologers associate with Mercury retrograde, many astrologers would probably advise me not to release this now. I don't care, though. It's just too good to hold back for three weeks just because of astrology.
Besides, Mercury retrograde is actually rather appropriate for a program with such a major problem as the ability to overheat and melt your hard drive if you add/remove a lot of indexes of a huge 255,000-record database. :-)
But, there are still some more things that I'm going to have to complete before I'll feel like it's really done. (Or at least, as done as I can make it for the time being, until I become a better database programmer).
Since it took a long time for me to add 255,000 file records to my personal file DB, I don't want to just discard it. So, I'm going to have to write yet more scripts so I can split up my DB into smaller portions. I'd also like to make it easy to switch between multiple databases without having to edit source code.
I'm so tired of working on Astroblahhh Desktop, though, I don't know when I'm going to get around to that. So, I just thought I ought to release what I already have so far, since it might be months before I get the rest done.
Edit, 11:24 PM. Too bad I didn't even think of naming it Astroblahhh Desktop v0.99 until just now. Oh, well - too late now. :-) It would have been cute - Astroblahhh Desktop v0.99, released on 9/9/09 at 9:09 (or 9:08) PM. :-)
Edit, 12:04 AM, 9/11/2009: As usual, I had to reupload the zip file numerous times after the initial upload, since I kept noticing minor problems, typos, etc. that needed to be fixed. The last upload was at 11:58 PM EDT, 9/10/2009. If I change it again, I'll update this post again.
I tried to both upload the zip file and post this post at 9:09 PM, simply so I could say I released Astroblahhh Desktop v1.0 on 9/9/09 at 9:09 PM. :-) (I was too tired to do it at 9:09 AM).
-qa Sept 9 2009 21:09 EDT 80:34W 41:09N
Location: Hubbard, OH.
-qa Sept 9 2009 21:08 EDT 80:34W 41:09N
The program is actually useable as-is, and I'm guessing it probably won't melt your hard drive unless you do what I described above, or something else which is incredibly taxing for it. (Nonetheless - again, please only use this program at your own risk).
-qa Sept 10 2009 23:58 EDT 80:34W 41:09N
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| Avoiding Distractions on the Web - How to Block Websites Using Your Hosts File |
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Sunday, May 24th, 2009 03:12:36 GMT |
| Self-Help Productivity |
If you're trying to get useful things done while you're on the internet, but find yourself habitually wandering over to distracting websites like forums, YouTube, or web-based email, you might like to use the following instructions (or an adaptation of them, if you're not a Windows user) to block any sites you want from appearing in your web browser even if you try to go to them.
The location of the hosts file can vary, but, if you're a Windows XP user like me, you might find it in this folder:
If the hosts file isn't at that location, you can look in the Wikipedia article Hosts file for some other possible folders/file paths where it might be. (Alternatively, you can search the web for a different source of info which is more trustworthy than Wikipedia, the encyclopedia that can be edited by anyone).
In Windows, you can navigate to the above file path simply and easily by opening Internet Explorer, copying and pasting the above file path into the address bar, and pressing Enter on the keyboard.
If your hosts file is set to be read-only, you'll have to change that before you can edit it. In Windows, right-click on your hosts file and choose Properties, and then make sure there's no checkmark in the box that says "Read only".
(You can put either spaces or tabs between the 127.0.0.1 and the domain name).
Save the file, and restart your web browser. Now, you won't be able to reach YouTube, because all your web browser's requests for anything at youtube.com or www.youtube.com will be redirected to 127.0.0.1, the localhost IP address - your own computer.
Unless you're running web server software on your computer for some reason (such as to run Astroblahhh Desktop or the Astrosorting Music Organization Database (AMODB)), you'll only reach a blank page.
Then, if you ever want to block YouTube again, you can just delete those pound signs.
In not only Windows but other platforms, there's something called a hosts file which allows you to block sites. The way it does this is by making it so any attempts to access anything at certain domain names are redirected to some other IP address.
C:/WINDOWS/system32/drivers/etc
Make a duplicate of your hosts file, so you can put it back the way it was in case you mess anything up. (In Windows, this can be done by single-clicking the file, pressing Ctrl and C at the same time on your keyboard, then pressing Ctrl and V at the same time on your keyboard. A new file titled "Copy of hosts" should appear).
Next, open the hosts file with a plain text editor like Notepad. To block YouTube, add some lines like these.
127.0.0.1 youtube.com
127.0.0.1 www.youtube.com
If you want to stop blocking YouTube without deleting the above lines altogether, then, you can put some pound signs at the beginning of the above lines, like this:
#127.0.0.1 youtube.com
#127.0.0.1 www.youtube.com
Another tip - don't make it too easy for yourself to access and edit your hosts file. If you're using a particularly nice plain text editor like my favorite, NoteTab Light, you might be able to bookmark the hosts file. But, it's better not to, because that would make it too easy to unblock the sites you want to avoid.
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| Tapestry Analogy |
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Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 21:48:55 GMT |
| Self-Help Link |
At Donald Trump's blog, I found an encouraging analogy, comparing your life to a tapestry, in this blog post:
Why We Want You To Be Rich: Winners Take Control (5/15/2009)
I found it cheering, so, just thought I'd point it out.
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| Opalescent Skies of Amethera |
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Friday, May 15th, 2009 16:36:54 GMT |
| Wallpaper Entropia Universe |
Here are the most beautiful skies I've ever seen in Entropia Universe. I just discovered them two days ago, mostly thanks to a glitch which blocked my character from walking east - otherwise I wouldn't have ended up in the region where the skies look like this.
These are from somewhere south of Amethera 24497, 2562, 76, near the ocean. They were all taken May 13, 2009, around 6:14-6:16 PM EDT. The files below are all around 300-400 KB and in PNG format.
I can't decide which near-duplicates to arbitrarily exclude, so, I'll just include them all. Might as well, since some people might like some ocean in their wallpaper, while others might prefer just sky alone.
Five which are largely the same, with varying amounts of ocean visible:
Four which are largely the same, with varying amounts of ocean visible:
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| Astroblahhh Desktop v0.55 |
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Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 11:14:14 GMT |
| Site Update Software Release |
You can now get Astroblahhh Desktop v0.55. It has not only the Astroblahhh Links Organizer, but the new Astroblahhh Idea Organizer.
I last uploaded its zip file at 6:39 AM EDT. As usual, here's a copy-and-pasteable Astrolog 5.40 command line for any curious astrologers.
The time above this blog post is the time at which I announced Astroblahhh Desktop v0.55's release:
I might have released it days earlier if I hadn't gotten a cold.
The last thing I need to complete before Astroblahhh Desktop will be version 1.0 is the file organizer part of it. No idea how long that will take. I'm not even sure I'm going to focus primarily on that next.
In any case, I'd rather not talk about my future plans, because I don't want to feel obligated to carry them out, nor do I want to disappoint anyone by taking a wretchedly long time to get them done. I'd rather just surprise you all every so often.-qa May 13 2009 6:39 EDT 80:34W 41:09N
Location: Hubbard, OH.
-qa May 13 2009 7:14 EDT 80:34W 41:09N
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| Second Life shop moved |
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Monday, April 27th, 2009 03:04:01 GMT |
| Site Update |
I moved my tiny shop in Second Life today. The (free) MagnaMural, the Huge 32m x 24m Movie Screen (not free because it's more of a luxury than a useful tool), and the box people can pay to donate to me, can now be found at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Highflyer/74/229/761.
I didn't really want to move my shop, but, once I found out my neighbor really needed the land for something, I didn't want to inconvenience my neighbor for no really good reason by refusing to sell my land, so, I sold it. At least I got to move to a sim with a nicer name than Oddjob. :-) That name had bothered me for a while, actually, but that wasn't a good enough reason by itself to bother to move my shop.
Moments after I sold my old land, I bought the new land at exactly 15:11:06, according to my Second Life L$ transaction history. (That's in Second Life time, better known as Pacific time). No, I didn't attempt any electional astrology.
Here's an Astrolog 5.40 command line for any curious astrologers:
-qa Apr 26 2009 18:11:06 EDT 80:34W 41:09N
I'm almost ready to release an update of Astroblahhh Desktop. The organizer for ideas/goals/to-do list items/other random text scraps is almost done. Hopefully I'll release that sometime in the next couple weeks.
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| Susan Boyle's "Cry Me A River" |
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Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 20:11:39 GMT |
| Music |
Probably everyone has heard of Susan Boyle by now. The video of her on Britain's Got Talent is everywhere.
What fewer people might have heard of, yet, is a song she sung for a CD done for charity, released in 1999. It's a slow-paced jazz/blues tune called "Cry Me a River". You can hear it (and read about it) at The Daily Record: Exclusive: Susan Boyle's first ever song release revealed - listen to it here.
It's also available on YouTube: Susan Boyle - Cry Me A River - 1999 Recording (From The Scottish Daily Record Newspaper)
Heartbreakingly beautiful. It's astounding that the world took this long to discover her.
Here's the Wikipedia article on the song Cry Me A River. Also, here's a page with some lyrics.
| Giant Rabbits |
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Sunday, April 12th, 2009 05:30:27 GMT |
| Pictures Found Pictures |
Here are some videos (and a picture) of giant rabbits. Yes, they exist. Happy Easter.