Heart and Mind
The heart longs to move forward but does not understand.
The mind is all-knowing but does not think it can.
The mind is all-knowing but does not think it can.
509 unique view(s)
Blabberbox: | Random blog-like posts from pftq. |  |
Intel 320 80GB SSD vs Mushkin Chronos 120GB SSD
Just a bit background on why I bother - had a disappointing upgrade from the Samsung 64GB SSD that came with my Dell XPS M1330 to Intel's 320 80GB SSD. The Samsung drive was already several years old, so I thought it'd be worth upgrading to a modest SSD - Intel seemed safe. Turns out after running the drive for a while, I noticed programs tended to load rather slowly. I had installed my Samsung drive to another computer and decided to start up the same programs in parallel - the Samsung drive was up to a quarter faster at times. Definitely not very happy about that, considering it was several years older (did technology downgrade over the years???)
Anyways, for space reasons again, I went out to upgrade to another SSD. This time to the Mushkin Chronos which is rated generally among the same speeds as the top performing drives currently, though much less expensive. Fairly content with it so far. It is definitely faster than the Intel at...[More]
Anyways, for space reasons again, I went out to upgrade to another SSD. This time to the Mushkin Chronos which is rated generally among the same speeds as the top performing drives currently, though much less expensive. Fairly content with it so far. It is definitely faster than the Intel at...[More]
1296 unique view(s)
Messing with EQ and Mastering
Just spent all evening looking through EQ tutorials. Fun stuff. 
This one was most helpful imo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESVRCT28d5o
You really do need an analyzer to pick out the bad frequencies to cut. I wish I knew this stuff sooner - would save me a lot of headaches trying to make my stuff sound cleaner.
Current song in experimentation is "Nightfall." We'll see how clean I can make this next piece...
This one was most helpful imo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESVRCT28d5o
You really do need an analyzer to pick out the bad frequencies to cut. I wish I knew this stuff sooner - would save me a lot of headaches trying to make my stuff sound cleaner.
Current song in experimentation is "Nightfall." We'll see how clean I can make this next piece...
1158 unique view(s)
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.
476 unique view(s)
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]
883 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.
1914 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.
1364 unique view(s)
Who You Are on the Inside
Two friends (or siblings) 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]
930 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?
680 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]
1441 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:
...[More]
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
1189 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...[More]
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...[More]
1157 unique view(s)