Syn Fin dot Net

I just can’t leave it alone…

Synfinatic — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:28:09 +0000

For some reason, probably due to a sever mental defect, I actually enjoy writing C code. Yes, there are plenty of other languages which have plenty of aspects which are better then C, but I just don’t find any of them as satisfying to actually write code in. Ruby comes the closest, but as languages go, it’s still a little wet behind the ears while C is mature. What does that mean? I’ve been working on tcpreplay again- even after I claimed I was putting it away for the foreseeable future.
Lately, most of my work has been on improving tcpbridge, which frankly hasn’t been getting much love over the past few releases. Most notably, it’s the only tool in the Tcpreplay suite which doesn’t work under Windows, so I’ve been working to resolve this.

This has led to the gnashing of teeth.

I’ve never liked Windows, and frankly, my most recent experience of “out of memory” errors has only further proven to me that Windows sucks. Right now, I do all my Windows development in a virtual machine (VM) under Parallels. It’s slow, but up until now, I can say it worked. For some reason, now Windows XP is constantly popping up errors saying I’m out of memory- this is with 1GB of RAM and 750MB page file and only running a single Cygwin terminal that is compiling code. Yes, that’s right, I’ve got 1.75GB of memory and it’s not even enough to run ‘make’. Honestly, it’s almost enough for me to wipe out my Windows disk image and reclaim the 5-6GB of disk space on my laptop.

Anyways, this isn’t meant to be a rant, so I’ll just stop there.

End result is doing Windows development is frankly a lot more painful then it should be and it really puts a damper on the enjoyment potential I was talking about earlier. I’m going to need to come up with a workaround before I give up and go back to working on something else.

Free your mind

Synfinatic — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:12:18 +0000

So I’ve just got into this whole mind-mapping thing. Mind maps are basically a way to organize thoughts and take notes in a graphical form, where you break things up into simple and short comments and link them together in a graph. The same hierarchy can of course be represented in the same way using nested bullet points, but the visual representation of the mind map really is more intuitive and makes your thoughts much easier to digest mentally.
So far I’ve used mind maps for brainstorming ideas and taking notes during meetings. In both cases I found a mind map superior to other methods I’ve tried.

Anyways, I’ve tried a number of mind-mapping tools and ended up deciding on FreeMind which is free and cross-platform since it’s written in Java. It’s easy to use and has enough features that I see no reason to spend as much as $250 on some of the commercial tools, although I’m sure they’re great too. I think the big take-away is to pick a tool and give it a try to see if using mind-maps is for you… If you’re like me, I’m sure you won’t go back to traditional note taking!

House for Sale!

Synfinatic — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:10:05 +0000

Well after weeks of hard work and scheduling contractors, our townhome in San Jose is finally on the market! I’m really happy with how the new paint, flooring, fixtures and many other small changes really transformed the place. It really helps flush out the remodeled kitchen and master bath.

Anyways, we have an open house today (11/16) from 1-4pm. Feel free to take a look at the online tour and swing by to take a closer look!

08-09 Sharks Schedule (or converting .csv to .ics)

Synfinatic — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:07:16 +0000

Every year I end up manually inputting the entire San Jose Sharks schedule into iCal because the Sharks organization doesn’t provide an industry standard .ics file (instead they support Microsoft Outlook). This year, I finally decided to figure out how to convert the .csv file to .ics.

Anyways, long story short, if you’re looking for a schedule of the San Jose Sharks in .ics format you can download it here.

But here’s how you can convert any Outlook compatible .csv calendar export into .ics:

Download/export the .csv
Login to Google Calendar
Create a new Google Calendar under Settings->Calendars (I called it “San Jose Sharks”)
In the left side tool bar, under “Other Calendars” choose Add->Import Calendar
Choose the .csv file and the new “San Jose Sharks” calendar
Go back to Settings->Calendars and click the Export My Calendars link
After downloading, extract the .zip file
Find the .ics file corresponding to your new “San Jose Sharks” calendar.
Import it into your calendaring app of choice (Apple iCal, Mozilla Sunbird, PHP iCalendar, etc)

Boxee: What AppleTV should of been

Synfinatic — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:46:13 +0000

So I just got an Apple TV. Honestly, even after paying 30% less for a refurb and getting free shipping, I’m not that impressed. For $300 I’d expect a device to support more file formats and the tight link to iTunes to a single iTunes database is annoying in a multi-computer household like ours.

That’s where Boxee comes in. Boxee adds support for a lot more content available for free on the internet like Hulu, but many more media formats (like avi and DVD ISO’s for example) then what iTunes/AppleTV support naively.

Boxee also has an excellent user interface which is both very powerful and easy to use. Also, Boxee was *very* easy to install on my AppleTV using ATV USB Creator.

So if you’re looking for a way to get your media content to your TV or add support for internet streaming like Hulu, Last.fm and Youtube, then I highly recommend the AppleTV + Boxee solution.

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Synfinatic — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:21:25 +0000

Finally! San Francisco 49ers fire Mike Nolan!

As a life-long 49er fan, all I can say is, it’s about damn time.

Either way you’re breaking the law

Synfinatic — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 03:34:26 +0000

The comic xkcd makes the point that when you “buy” DRM’d software, music or movies that you’re really at the mercy of the company who controls the DRM and they can effectively revoke your access for any reason just as Walmart threatened to do recently. Of course, once the company locks you out of the content you paid for you either have to pay for it again or break the law by bypassing the DRM. Hence, you’re probably better off pirating the software, music or movie in the first place- if you’re going to break the law there really isn’t any point paying for it in the first place since laws like the DMCA don’t care if you paid for it or not.

Linky #2

Synfinatic — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 22:59:20 +0000

I’ve been sitting on these interesting articles and I figured I’d share:

Warren Buffet explains in the New York Times why now it is the time to buy stock in US companies.

Lawrence Lessig, a professor of law at Stanford Law School, and co-founder of Creative Commons writes in the Wall Street Journal, In Defence of Piracy.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports on the NSA Spying on Americans again, but this time it’s our service men & women calling home to their families and organizations like Doctors without Borders.

Update: Stephen Colbert has this to say on the subject:

A scathing article on the “security theater” going on in American airports and how it does nothing but stop the “stupid terrorists”.

And how the TSA’s no-fly-list is preventing US Air Marshals from protecting commercial flights in the US.

Respected investigative reporter Seymour M. Hersh reports on the Bush administrations’ subversion of the law to attack Iran.

And finally, on a happier note, I give you South Park’s Imagination Land.

Maybe McCain wont vote for bad bills next time

Synfinatic — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:31:26 +0000

I found this really amusing. McCain’s campaign wrote a letter to YouTube requesting that they give special preference to political videos when receiving DMCA takedown notices. Basically some people are claiming the McCain campaign is violating their copyright by including music, video, etc in their YouTube videos and are demanding the videos be removed.

The amusing part of this is of course is that McCain was one of the senators which voted for the DMCA bill which so heavily tilted the balance of power to the owners of copyright and against fair use. Google, the owners of YouTube responded that they’re just following the law and are actually the victim because of people abusing the DMCA to get content removed even in cases like McCain’s where no violation has occurred.

Unfortunately, I doubt this will cause McCain to see the light and restore the balance of power, but at least I can enjoy the irony.

Server move completed

Synfinatic — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:19:04 +0000

Just a quick FYI, the server has moved to it’s new home. DNS is still propagating, but should complete in the next few hours… Anyways a big thanks to Martony, Gabe and Jason who helped out.