Mazes and Walls
You spend your life solving the mazes around you... Sometimes, after finding yourself in the same maze yet again, you just want to break the walls down - but then others interpret it as your defeat.
331 unique view(s)
Blabberbox: | Random blog-like posts from pftq. |  |
Perfect World
Had this whole script idea in my dream this morning. It was like watching a live-action movie with really good effects. It even came with an ending credits song - recorded a bit of it, maybe will make it a full fledge song later one day.
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An advanced society is led by one man (the leader) who seems to have invented a means for everything (free energy, robots, etc). He himself seems immortal and omnipotent now from his own inventions. His daughter - he turned into part machine so she does not grow old. His company headquarters is actually a giant parked spaceship in the city.
One day, however,...[More]
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An advanced society is led by one man (the leader) who seems to have invented a means for everything (free energy, robots, etc). He himself seems immortal and omnipotent now from his own inventions. His daughter - he turned into part machine so she does not grow old. His company headquarters is actually a giant parked spaceship in the city.
One day, however,...[More]
747 unique view(s)
Red Bean Recipe
3 cans (18oz) of red bean paste.
2 cans (14oz) of condensed milk.
Equal water to all cans used.
Mix and stir until boiling.
Freeze for popsicles or serve as drink.
1262 unique view(s)
New Optoma PK320 Pocket Projector
Picked up a new Optoma PK320 pocket projector after my first one (PK301) broke down after lending it out (colors all green). Maybe for the better - this new one is twice as strong so I don't even need to turn out the lights anymore.
In the future though, if you do borrow it from me, please be more careful with it.
Edit: After some usage, I have to say I prefer the older PK301. The newer one, while brighter, actually is a little blurier (for when you have to project something of high detail). It also tends to not detect the correct aspect ratio, forcing you to manually switch from 4:3 to 16:9 and vice versa if your video changes.
In the future though, if you do borrow it from me, please be more careful with it.
Edit: After some usage, I have to say I prefer the older PK301. The newer one, while brighter, actually is a little blurier (for when you have to project something of high detail). It also tends to not detect the correct aspect ratio, forcing you to manually switch from 4:3 to 16:9 and vice versa if your video changes.
1191 unique view(s)
Who You Are on the Inside
Two friends have known each other since childhood. One has always been a bit weaker and slightly ill with an unknown virus. The other friend makes the promise to one day find a cure to the other's condition and studies to become a doctor.
Twenty years later, the doctor gets close to understanding the nature of the illness and finding a cure. Both are excited at the prospect, but as the cure is applied, the friend seems to gradually get weaker. The doctor scrambles to figure out what went wrong, but each day that passes, the friend seems to slowly lose grasp on the world. Eventually the friend becomes bedbound and the doctor caring daily for the friend.
Over time, the doctor notices that, although the friend is losing mental capacity, the friend seems physically fine. In fact, as the friend becomes healthier, the friend becomes less mentally stable, as if gradually fading away.
The doctor...[More]
Twenty years later, the doctor gets close to understanding the nature of the illness and finding a cure. Both are excited at the prospect, but as the cure is applied, the friend seems to gradually get weaker. The doctor scrambles to figure out what went wrong, but each day that passes, the friend seems to slowly lose grasp on the world. Eventually the friend becomes bedbound and the doctor caring daily for the friend.
Over time, the doctor notices that, although the friend is losing mental capacity, the friend seems physically fine. In fact, as the friend becomes healthier, the friend becomes less mentally stable, as if gradually fading away.
The doctor...[More]
786 unique view(s)
Freedom vs Power
You clamored for freedom, but what you really wanted was power. What good is freedom if you can't actually do anything?
492 unique view(s)
Printing Online
Printing postcards, posters, buttons, bags, t-shirts, cups, etc, etc
Just my reference on what I've gone with over the years. Not necessarily the cheapest or the best quality but what best suites what I needed (maybe cheapest for that particular item or whatnot).
Postcards
GotPrint.net...[More]
539 unique view(s)
Limiting Per Each Group in MySQL
Not sure what this type of query is actually called. The basic idea is you have multiple tables linked together, but you want to only grab n rows from Table C per iteration of each row in Table A.
A more illustrative explanation: Suppose you have a table listing 10 albums and a table listing 100 records. You only want 5 records per each album.
As you might expect, Googling such a solution was pretty hard. A common solution was:
However, this returns a flat 5 records total, not per album.
Took me a bunch of playing around to finally come up with something like this:
So far this works but I'm not sure whether it's the most efficient way to go about it. Any improvements are definitely welcome. Hopefully this helps those of you also looking for the same solution but having trouble find it.
A more illustrative explanation: Suppose you have a table listing 10 albums and a table listing 100 records. You only want 5 records per each album.
As you might expect, Googling such a solution was pretty hard. A common solution was:
Code:
SELECT r.* FROM albums as a
LEFT JOIN (
SELECT * FROM records LIMIT 5) r ON r.album_id=a.album_id
LEFT JOIN (
SELECT * FROM records LIMIT 5) r ON r.album_id=a.album_id
However, this returns a flat 5 records total, not per album.
Took me a bunch of playing around to finally come up with something like this:
Code:
SELECT r.* FROM albums as a
LEFT JOIN records as r ON r.album_id=a.album_id
WHERE 5>(
SELECT count(rr.id) FROM records as rr
WHERE rr.album_id=a.album_id
AND rr.id>r.id)
LEFT JOIN records as r ON r.album_id=a.album_id
WHERE 5>(
SELECT count(rr.id) FROM records as rr
WHERE rr.album_id=a.album_id
AND rr.id>r.id)
So far this works but I'm not sure whether it's the most efficient way to go about it. Any improvements are definitely welcome. Hopefully this helps those of you also looking for the same solution but having trouble find it.
1043 unique view(s)
Ignorance on MIDI - It is Not Sound
There seems to be a trend going on lately that whatever was used back in the 90s must be dated and irrelevant today. This isn't just on MIDI but more on that maybe some other time.
Some of the more frustrating comments I've heard these days is that somehow MIDI "sounds" dated or cheesy. There is always so much surprise when someone finds out I use MIDI to record my music but worse is when they suggest *not* using MIDI as a way to improve the quality of the sound.
Now you can say - sure, there's always going to be misconception about various things, especially technology related. The more troubling thing is this was being taught in a few university classes I took on music and computers. Hard part is hearing the lecturer rant against MIDI as some old way of making music that sounds cheap to the ear, when really MIDI does not "sound" like anything at all. It is merely a sequence of recorded notes in digital form (like digital sheet music).
Needless to say, I didn't really take much away from those classes, but this has bothered me a lot. I wasn't sure if it was just my own misunderstanding of the MIDI issue, but some quick googling brought up similar confusion. This topic, for example, from Gearslutz.com hits the nail on the head: Realistic Midi?
Glad to know it isn't just me wondering what people are talking about when they refer to MIDI as sounding like anything at all. Of course there is definitely the aspect of vibrato etc not being recorded but that's where the editing comes in depending on your software. For now, I guess I'll blame Microsoft for making such a cheesy default soundbank for MIDI in the first place.
Some of the more frustrating comments I've heard these days is that somehow MIDI "sounds" dated or cheesy. There is always so much surprise when someone finds out I use MIDI to record my music but worse is when they suggest *not* using MIDI as a way to improve the quality of the sound.
Now you can say - sure, there's always going to be misconception about various things, especially technology related. The more troubling thing is this was being taught in a few university classes I took on music and computers. Hard part is hearing the lecturer rant against MIDI as some old way of making music that sounds cheap to the ear, when really MIDI does not "sound" like anything at all. It is merely a sequence of recorded notes in digital form (like digital sheet music).
Needless to say, I didn't really take much away from those classes, but this has bothered me a lot. I wasn't sure if it was just my own misunderstanding of the MIDI issue, but some quick googling brought up similar confusion. This topic, for example, from Gearslutz.com hits the nail on the head: Realistic Midi?
Glad to know it isn't just me wondering what people are talking about when they refer to MIDI as sounding like anything at all. Of course there is definitely the aspect of vibrato etc not being recorded but that's where the editing comes in depending on your software. For now, I guess I'll blame Microsoft for making such a cheesy default soundbank for MIDI in the first place.
1027 unique view(s)
Imperfect Genesis
In the beginning, the world was but a blank canvas, a fresh landscape for gods to shape as they saw fit. After they added life and other final touches to their work, they decided to strip themselves of their power, join their creation as mortals, so that their emotions and imperfections do not allow them to destroy what they so cherished, perhaps as they once did in another time. What they did not realize, however, was that the capacity for their destructive nature came not from their omnipotence but from their ability to reason. Thus even without their power, the destruction they feared for their creation came to be nonetheless, only this time they would not remember it.
237 unique view(s)
Wanting Everything
You may feel like you want nothing from the world... but then you realize what you actually want is just unattainable.
281 unique view(s)
Growing Up
Sometimes you wish you didn't have to grow up. But you do want to grow up. You just don't want to become a different person.
256 unique view(s)