How soon before a "Mad Max environment"?

How soon before a "Mad Max environment"?
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/goodbye-world-weve-passed-the-carbon-tipping-point-for-good

I just booted up my returned Laptop and discovered...

I just booted up my returned Laptop and discovered...
 ...Windows Vista! Not Win XP as expected. Of course this is almost as out of date. But it works fine. Will think about replacing it with Linux Mint or Lubuntu, but there's no rush yet. I mean mostly, this'll be used to take motion videos and stop motion shots, and or delayed photos in the Studio, and maybe to show presentations on elsewhere. I don't need anything too advanced for any of that.

Cross platform and also online vector drawing software.

Cross platform and also online vector drawing software.
https://vectr.com/

Free wood pack texture

http://3dericdesign.deviantart.com/art/Free-wood-pack-texture-193590616

This is a free e-book that I just finished writing about how to design paper models (card models).

This is a free e-book that I just finished writing about how to design paper models (card models). It is based mainly on the freely available open source program Blender 3D and an illustration program of your choice but it teaches a lot of the most important fundamentals of 3D paper model design that have the tendency to give a wee bit of trouble to new designers. It is 227 pages long and has hundreds of full color illustrations to help you understand the concepts of the e-book better.

Ooooh.
http://pixeloz.deviantart.com/art/Free-Paper-Model-Design-eBook1-158441085

Aussie-designed thrusters could power journey to Mars

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-29/australians-revolutionising-space-travel/7885998?section=science

I never got on LIVE JOURNAL until 2004 (and still am).

I never got on LIVE JOURNAL until 2004 (and still am). WinAmp, waiting (for XP to stop hiccuping) and burning CDs, YES!
http://au.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/12/things-you-were-doing-on-computer-in-2001

A year old story, though I think I read about this a few years before that.

A year old story, though I think I read about this a few years before that.
http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/theres-30-year-old-commodore-amiga-still-controlling-heat-ac-19-public-schools/

Went to my graduation. It was great. Photos next week.

A bvh animation editor for creating Second Life animations (Win only).

A bvh animation editor for creating Second Life animations (Win only). Last update listed as 2013-04-03 and still in beta?
https://sourceforge.net/projects/free-bvh-editor/

An open-source texture maker. I still haven't figured out how to make it work.

An open-source texture maker. I still haven't figured out how to make it work.
http://neotextureedit.sourceforge.net/

My immediate thought was Synthahol from Star Trek!

My immediate thought was Synthahol from Star Trek!
See http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Synthehol
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/new-hangoverfree-alcohol-could-replace-regular-booze-by-2050-a3352116.html

I sometimes wonder if , on the whoe, humans have a preference for over complexity.

I sometimes wonder if , on the whoe, humans have a preference for over complexity. If you look at the geocentricism side of this animation, it looks like a crazy ballet dance, a mad spirograph of the skies. How much mre simple and elegant the model to the left.

Originally shared by Colin Sullender

Heliocentrism vs Geocentrism

The geocentric model is an outdated description of the solar system where the Earth is at the center of all the celestial bodies. The stars were thought to be fixed points on a celestial sphere that rotated around the Earth once a day while the planets followed complex orbits. This concept served as the predominant cosmological system in many civilizations for centuries until being replaced by the heliocentric model in the late 16th century. In contrast to geocentrism, heliocentrism claimed the Earth and other planets rotated around the Sun.

While the heliocentric model was proposed as early as 300 BC, it was not until the 16th century when a geometric mathematical model presented by Nicolaus Copernicus ushered in the Copernican Revolution. Over the course of the next century, observations by Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei helped solidify the heliocentric model as scientific fact. Further observations revealed that the Sun, although the center of the Solar System, was not the center of the galaxy or the Universe.

Source: http://goo.gl/6yw5jO

#ScienceGIF #Science #GIF #Heliocentric #Geocentric #Solar #SolarSystem #Orbit #Earth #Planets #Centric #Galileo #Copernicus

It all started in the early 1970s, when the psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky conducted an influential...

It all started in the early 1970s, when the psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky conducted an influential series of experiments showing that all of us, even highly intelligent people, are prone to irrationality. Across a wide range of scenarios, the experiments revealed, people tend to make decisions based on intuition rather than reason.

But really it's both a fallacy and over-simplification that a "high intelligence" leads to a high rationality. There's reason to believe hat there may be several types of intelligence (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_multiple_intelligences) and being intelligent in one of these is no guarantee of being intelligent in another. Reason is a tool, and not the same as being rational. My mother, who has dementia is quite rational, but only within the parameters of her dementia. She will crate theories about her environment, based on her perceptions, but those perceptions are affected by her condition, and are not always reliable.

Also, I don't think that intuition is the opposite of rationality or reason. Reason relies on the pars of our brain that relate to language, but not everything we know or feel connects to that, and intuition, which comes from those bits, relates to us via an emotional chord. The trouble with rely on only on intuition is that it's easy to confuse one's hopes and fears (especially paranoia) with it. To use intuition properly, you have to be both open to your emotions, but at the same time not be totally driven by them.

Originally shared by Theodore A Hoppe

Good news!
"It is, of course, unrealistic to think that we will ever live in a world where everyone is completely rational. But by developing tests to identify the most rational among us, and by offering training programs to decrease irrationality in the rest of us, scientific researchers can nudge society in that direction."
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/opinion/sunday/the-difference-between-rationality-and-intelligence.html?_r=0

Round about 4:30, it looks like he almost goes into "warp drive".

Round about 4:30, it looks like he almost goes into "warp drive".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_2QptP0uB4&feature=share

In particular, the email I got yesterday was from Yahoo@communications.yahoo.com.

In particular, the email I got yesterday was from Yahoo@communications.yahoo.com. Seems this is NOT an official Yahoo address, not for the reasons shown in this, but because back at https://au.help.yahoo.com/kb/sln2070.html (whish IS an official help page) it notes that "Legitimate emails from Yahoo7 include a Yahoo7 icon next to the subject or sender in your Inbox."

Now I have seen that icon before, and it wasn't on the message yesterday, nor the one today. That address is going to be added to my "KILL ON SIGHT" filter!
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20160608015706AAYs25V

The start of a set of video tutorials for Substance Painter.

The start of a set of video tutorials for Substance Painter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d819Y_-mLKo&list=PLB0wXHrWAmCx994Cb7iRFSmupYHFw5DTx

I just had an email from Yahoo. The essential part said:

I just had an email from Yahoo. The essential part said:

A recent investigation by Yahoo has confirmed that a copy of certain user account information was stolen from our systems in late 2014 by what we believe is a state-sponsored actor.

A "state sponsored actor?!

I may have sorted my issues with Studio monitor.

I may have sorted my issues with Studio monitor. For some reason the brightness was set really high which meant the contrast was set high as well. But also, After reading the pdf manual that I found for it, I discovered that I can tilt the screen (or rather the stand it's on) back up to 20°! I did that and things were a bit clearer. Lastly, I went into an "advanced" display mode list and changed it from 30Mhz to 30Mhz.

Everything looks a lot less blurry now.

Here's a Pretty Legit Gibsonian Cyberdeck

http://gizmodo.com/heres-a-pretty-legit-gibsonian-cyberdeck-1787039243?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_facebook&utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

Generated latin verse?!!!!

Generated latin verse?!!!!

Originally shared by Maurici Carbo (nummolt apps)

The Strange Victorian Computer That Generated Latin Verse:
It may have influenced Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace.
by Amanda Kolson Hurley
(Atlas Obscura - sep 2016)
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-strange-victorian-computer-that-generated-latin-verse

The Flight Deck of Space Shuttle Endeavour

Originally shared by Corina Marinescu

The Flight Deck of Space Shuttle Endeavour
What would it be like to fly a space shuttle? Although the last of NASA's space shuttles has now been retired, it is still fun to contemplate sitting at the controls of one of the humanity's most sophisticated machines.

Pictured below is the flight deck of Space Shuttle Endeavour, the youngest shuttle and the second to last ever launched. The numerous panels and displays allowed the computer-controlled orbiter to enter the top of Earth's atmosphere at greater than the speed of sound and -- just thirty minutes later -- land on a runway like an airplane.

Image & info via APOD
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120418.html
Image Credit & Copyright: Ben Cooper (Launch Photography), Spaceflight Now

#space   #nasa   #spaceshuttle

The Chemistry of the Solar System

Originally shared by Corina Marinescu

The Chemistry of the Solar System
This chart shows a comparison of the atmospheric compositions and pressures of the planets in our Solar System.

Source & further reading:
http://www.compoundchem.com/2014/07/25/planetatmospheres/

#infographic  via Compound Interest.

#science   #universe   #chemistry   #space

well, now I have the Studio PC setup in the Studio again, I have the same problem with that I had before - it's...

well, now I have the Studio PC setup in the Studio again, I have the same problem with that I had before - it's extremely difficult to use it for internet stuff. Running applications like Photoshop, no problem, everything's very clear. Browse Facebook and some other sites and the highlighting seems back to front, and the text very unclear.

I have an AOC e2343F 23" and you either have to use the buttons on the base to change the settings (urg - very frustrating to use), or run something called i-Menu. Only the program version only allows you to change half the settings. Very odd. I had endless trouble with this when I was doing the Masters. I suppose I should think about swapping the monitors around, though this one has a larger resolution of 1920x1080.

What I use to listen to Net Radio (Win only). I just found out it got updated - in 2014!

What I use to listen to Net Radio (Win only). I just found out it got updated - in 2014!
http://www.radiosure.com/

I was surprised to see that this free utility for Windows actually works on Win7!

I was surprised to see that this free utility for Windows actually works on Win7! What it does is allow you to disable the caps lock, disable the insert key, and make changing to CAPS ONLY via pressing Shift+Caps at the same time.
http://www.brainsystems.com/capsunlock/

Very Cool.

Very Cool.

Originally shared by Richard Green

Knot mosaics

This picture by Samuel J. Lomonaco Jr and Louis H. Kauffman gives some examples of knot mosaics. A knot mosaic is the result of tiling a rectangular grid using the 11 types of symbols listed in the diagram, in such a way that (a) the connection points between adjacent tiles are compatible, and (b) there are no connection points on the outer boundary of the rectangle.

A natural combinatorial question is: how many ways are there to inscribe a knot mosaic in a rectangular grid of a given size? To make things slightly easier, we may assume that the grid is an n by n square, rather than an m by n rectangle. For a 1 by 1 grid, we have no choice other than to use the blank tile. For a 2 by 2 grid, we can either use four blank tiles, or we can arrange four tiles to draw a circle in the middle of the grid. For a 3 by 3 grid, there are a lot more possibilities: it turns out that there are 22 in all. As n increases, the number of knot mosaics grows very quickly. The first few values are 1, 2, 22, 2594, 4183954 and 101393411126.

To get an idea for how quickly this sequence might be growing, consider the much easier problem of filling a square grid with tiles that do not have to fit together compatibly at their edges. There are 11 types of tiles, and n^2 spaces in the grid, so the total number of ways to fill the grid is 11 to the power n^2. The great majority of these do not lead to knot mosaics, but the recent paper Quantum knot mosaics and the growth constant by Seungsang Oh (http://arxiv.org/abs/1609.00517) proves that there exists a constant δ, called the knot mosaic constant, with the property that the number of knot mosaics in an n by n grid, for large n, is approximately δ to the power n^2. Because there are 11 types of tiles, it follows immediately that δ must be less than 11. The paper gives a much better estimate, namely that δ lies between 4 and 4.303.

Although knot mosaics might seem like an isolated curiosity, they have applications to knot theory and quantum physics. If one imagines the left and middle knot mosaics in the diagram as physical loops made out of an elastic material, it is possible to see that it would be possible to deform one of these links into the other without breaking the material. Mathematically, there is an operation on knot mosaics that has the effect of interchanging these two knots. However, the third knot turns out not to be equivalent to the others, in a way that can be made mathematically precise.

In their 2008 paper Quantum Knots and Mosaics (https://arxiv.org/abs/0805.0339) Lomonaco and Kauffman use the knot mosaics as a basis for a Hilbert space called the quantum knot state space. The paper defines a group of symmetries generated by mosaic versions of the Reidemeister moves and mosaic versions of planar isotopies, and this group acts on the mosaics. The Hilbert space is meant to capture the quantum embodiment of a closed knotted physical piece of rope, and the group represents all the possible ways to move the rope around, without cutting it or letting it pass through itself. However, unlike classical knotted pieces of rope, quantum knots can model superpositions of several pieces of rope, as well as quantum entanglements.

Relevant links

The picture comes from the arXiv version of Lomonaco and Kauffman's paper.

The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences has a longer list of values for the numbers of n by n knot mosaics. This one goes up to 11: http://oeis.org/A261400

Here's another post by me with more details on the Reidemeister moves: https://plus.google.com/101584889282878921052/posts/4e4STv3FLa4

#mathematics #scienceeveryday

Play around with emotions to see what a facial expression will look like (uses FLASH).

Play around with emotions to see what a facial expression will look like (uses FLASH).
http://www.grimace-project.net/

Has a number of free tools for Adobe After Effects.

Has a number of free tools for Adobe After Effects.
http://rainboxprod.coop/en/tools/#ae

It's vaguely amusing.

It's vaguely amusing.
https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/3040076/7ceb88fae04e

Didn't get the results they wanted, so they changed the goal posts.

Didn't get the results they wanted, so they changed the goal posts.
https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/21/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-pace-trial/

OK, I was reading this article I just found linked to on G+ (see...

OK, I was reading this article I just found linked to on G+ (see http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/emdrive-news-rumors/) when I saw this link! "Related"? Is that some sort of sly comment about the Em Drive?

World's largest engine makes 109,000 horsepower - the Titanics were 'only' 15,000hp

http://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/01/08/45014/

Also, I heard back from the Uni IT.

Also, I heard back from the Uni IT. Seems I was supposed to return the laptop to IT after I finished the Masters so they would reset the passwords and "re-image" the hard drive. That's getting organised, and I await their phone call.

I use this text editor a LOT in Win7.

I use this text editor a LOT in Win7. Not exactly sure what the adventage is in having an x64 version, but I downloaded it just in case!

Originally shared by Notepad++

Notepad++ Release 7
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/news/notepad-7-released.html

Never heard of it before! They seem to have a free edition.

Never heard of it before! They seem to have a free edition.
https://www.hippani.com/?S=AnimatorFeatures&C=IB32

As per https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/21/chinas-tiangong-1-space-station-out-of-control-crash-to-earth

As per https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/21/chinas-tiangong-1-space-station-out-of-control-crash-to-earth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnXoBDvbqzo&feature=share

And while we're on a roll (I find heaps of stuff by serendipity) how about this, a free UV mapper for Windows?

And while we're on a roll (I find heaps of stuff by serendipity) how about this, a free UV mapper for Windows? Apart from this page, you can also download it from http://lancraft.blogspot.com/2008/09/download-lithunwrap-uv-mapping-tool.html.  It seems the fully grown up (and commercial) version of this is UltimateUnwrap3D at http://www.unwrap3d.com/u3d/index.aspx.
http://www.sharecg.com/v/5169/software-and-tools/LithUnwrap---Free-UV-Mapper-for-Windows

And what exactly is Misfit Model 3D, and why was I looking for it?

And what exactly is Misfit Model 3D, and why was I looking for it? Well, I found a mm3d-1_2_4-win32-installer.exe file in my downloads under Avatar Makers. I ran the install until it gave its name and then cancelled. But I couldn't remember anything about this, though I must have looked at it about two years ago (the date of the download).  

Reminds me of Anim8or and Art of Illusion. both of which have been around for yonks. Seems the most common use for it was to make Avatars with rigging.
http://www.misfitcode.com/misfitmodel3d/screenshots.html

A different sort of 3D printing.

A different sort of 3D printing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-kpy44tB4M&feature=share

You can get back to this easily if you need to.

You can get back to this easily if you need to. Turn off your modem, and don't use a smart phone. Overall I think this is a "First World Problem".

But it's also wrong. The Internet started not with TCP/IP in the 90s, but with the first telegraph. It just took time to get up to the level we see now.
http://qz.com/252456/what-it-feels-like-to-be-the-last-generation-to-remember-life-before-the-internet/

I'm surprised they aren't already!

I'm surprised they aren't already! I think the biggest issue will be liability for accidents between either two driverless cars, or a driverless car and a human driven one. They will happen.
http://phys.org/news/2016-09-self-driving-cars.html

Well, I installed MINT, but no boot menu and it boots to WIN 7!

Well, I installed MINT, but no boot menu and it boots to WIN 7! It's just gone 5pm and this is too late in the day to fiddle around with. I'll look at this tomorrow.

The reinstalls are going (mostly) smoothly.

The reinstalls are going (mostly) smoothly. Am installing Adobe Creative Suite 6 just now. That's the one with Premiere Pro, After Effects et al on it (I have a Student version). Good stuff, but until now I haven't had much use for it except Photoshop and illustrator. It might be time to attempt installing MINT 17 as a dual boot. I probably should have done that just after installing WIN 7 but, well you know, it's easy to get carried away in the process of putting stuff back on the PC.

You want a 3D model of Supercar or Mike Mercury? You got it!

You want a 3D model of Supercar or Mike Mercury? You got it!
http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/~bat/GA/supercar-3d.html

Worth a read if you intend on using some free turbosquid models.

Worth a read if you intend on using some free turbosquid models.
http://blog.turbosquid.com/royalty-free-license/

This is one technique that helped me get through my Masters.

This is one technique that helped me get through my Masters. It's also a good idea when teaching someone something new to them. Look at the task, and start cutting into bite-sized chunks!
http://lifehacker.com/break-big-tasks-into-smaller-pieces-to-avoid-distractio-1498674433

I found these while looking for Rat Fink!!!!

I found these while looking for Rat Fink!!!!
http://www.carbodydesign.com/download/3d-models/

Finally, got the ethernet port drivers installed. Here come the Windows Updates!

Am back onto restoring the Studio PC.

Am back onto restoring the Studio PC. I'm burning a DVD with the motherboard drivers on it. I discovered that as is, it can't even read the USB ports! (D'OH!)

"People are increasingly using their smartphones for everything.

"People are increasingly using their smartphones for everything.

They do it mostly through apps, and in particular social and messaging apps, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Twitter.

The competition to become such an app is intense. Competitive advantage for platforms relies on being able to keep your users within an app. The more your users are within your app, the more you know about them, the more that information can then be used to sell advertising, the higher your revenues."

I think this might be true to a certain degree, but I think it over estimates the use of smart phones. I don't use my smartphone for everything. In fact I mostly use it for phoning people and keeping track of the time. But then, I might be that exception to the rule here. See I prefer ways of TURNING STUFF OFF, which I see is difficult with regular use of apps on smartphones. For me they're difficult to read and error prone in use. I prefer desktops, and mostly the ones I have at home.

So, I think the assumption that everyone uses smartphones, and uses them  the same way, is very short sighted. Trouble is, opinions like mine probably won't be seen, because it's not sent by an app.
http://www.cjr.org/analysis/facebook_and_media.php

An Easter Egg for Android users.

An Easter Egg for Android users.
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/138312-how-to-access-android-n-nougat-easter-egg

Finally, Windows is actually installing!!!

Well, after all that, I decided to do a clean reinstall of Win7.

Well, after all that, I decided to do a clean reinstall of Win7. I have all the disks, and in many ways it would be easier set things up than to constantly fiddle with fixes. All the importing data is on other drives in separate partitions, so the worst that can happen is that I end up using only Linux on this PC. I have two other PCs that are dual boot Win7/Mint, so I can still carry on.

Gah, hopefully I won't be doing this again in a hurry.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/lowres.cartoonstock.com/computers-pc-install-installation-software-windows-amcn29_low.jpg

Well, after using the Supergrub2 live disk I successfully manually booted - via chain loading to (hd2,msdos2) - to...

Well, after using the Supergrub2 live disk I successfully manually booted  - via chain loading to (hd2,msdos2) - to Win7. But Mind seems to have disappeared now! Fun and games.

Looks like I might need to reinstall WIN7 on the Studio PC.

Looks like I might need to reinstall WIN7 on the Studio PC. Retrieving any info that might be lost if I do that, first.

"The Tree and Fire Systems are part of the Intel Smoke Framework, a multi-threaded game engine.

"The Tree and Fire Systems are part of the Intel Smoke Framework, a multi-threaded game engine. Procedurally generated trees and procedurally generated fire were inspired by the need to generate a virtual burning forest."

At last someone addressed that need!
https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/procedural-trees-and-procedural-fire-in-a-virtual-world/

Not sure exactly what this is, but it seems to make 3D human models wearing latex outfits! ;-)

Not sure exactly what this is, but it seems to make 3D human models wearing latex outfits! ;-)
http://www.manuelbastioni.com/manuellab.php

This guy knows his stuff.

This guy knows his stuff.
https://what-if.xkcd.com/58/

I willing to bet that this is greeted with skepticism and doubt.

I willing to bet that this is greeted with skepticism and doubt.

Originally shared by Danie van der Merwe

Microsoft is now the top organisation with the most open source contributors on Github

What a difference 15 years makes. Back in 2001, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was busy branding Linux "a cancer" during the height of the software giant's domination of desktop computing. Fast forward to 2016 and you'll find Microsoft confessing its love for everything open source and Linux. It's a stunning turnaround that's now backed up by Microsoft's serious attention to the open source world. Microsoft is now the top organization with the most open source contributors on Github (see http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/15/12926288/microsoft-really-does-love-linux). It beats Facebook, Docker, Google, Apache, and many other competitors.

Recent moves include the open sourcing of PowerShell, Visual Studio Code, and Microsoft Edge's JavaScript engine. Microsoft also partnered with Canonical to bring Ubuntu to Windows 10, and acquired Xamarin to aid mobile app development. Microsoft even open sourced Xamarin's SDKs and developer tools, and brought SQL Server to Linux.

Yes many in the open source community have never forgotten what happened 15 years ago, and even more recently in the last few years.... but contributing code to Github is more than many companies or governments do, although they may be big users of open source software. Actions are certainly starting to speak on Microsoft's behalf. Personally I'd be a lot happier though if they meaningfully supported compliance ODF formats as well. I have some reservations still about proprietary formats stuck in a cloud.

See http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/15/12926288/microsoft-really-does-love-linux
http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/15/12926288/microsoft-really-does-love-linux

This is rather odd.

This is rather odd. I seldom use torrents, though I had to when I downloaded Commodore OS a few years back (see http://osarchive.sda1.eu/commodore-os). The issue seems to be that a genuine torrent got taken down by mistake by an automated system. This is reminiscent of when Warner Bros took down their own site:  http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37275603.

But is there any come back to incorrect take-downs? Can you sue the company responsible for "loss of earnings"?
https://torrentfreak.com/paramount-wipes-infringing-ubuntu-torrent-google-160909/

Honestly, they really did a job on that laptop.

Honestly, they really did a job on that laptop. It has a security password so that I can't change the BIOS, which I need to do, in order to boot from the ROM or USB. So it looks like I need to phone the university IT again. That will be fun (NOT).

Something for another day. Tomorrow I'm getting medicine for Theo, and maybe seeing a film. Maybe.

The trip to the computer shop was fruitless.

The trip to the computer shop was fruitless. Memory would cost over $100, an SSD replacement for the hard drive the same, and labor would be about $100. For $300 I could do something better.

So, I think I'll sic GPARTED on the 150 Gb disk and install Linux on the laptop instead. I only want to do certain things with it, like stop motion and time lapse videos, and a few other things, so Linux should be OK.

I checked a number of connections, plugged in the power cable and pressed the front power key on the Studio PC - and...

I checked a number of connections, plugged in the power cable and pressed the front power key on the Studio PC - and the fan started working!!!! That means the power supply is working at least. On to the next steps.

Today I think I need to double check that I can't get the Studio PC to boot somehow.

Today I think I need to double check that I can't get the Studio PC to boot somehow. It may be something like a loose connection between the power supply and the motherboard that's killing the power. But if it's not, I need to to take the PC into the shop to be fixed. Dreading that, but not having a working Studio PC is holding up other stuff I was wanting to do, like learn Blender, Substance Painter, and Anime Studio.

Of course the dying hard drive hasn't come back from recovery yet either. I'm in no rush on that, partly because most of the the contents will be going on the RecRoom PC anyway. Has not been a good time for my hardware lately. Lots of things dying this year, but it might also be that I ignored these issues on the Studio PC while I was working on the Masters, because the deadline on that was more important. A bit like driving a car for years and not doing any maintenance on it. Been down that path as well - not fun.

Can't say I'm a big fan of VIM, but nice to see it's still being developed.

Can't say I'm a big fan of VIM, but nice to see it's still being developed.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/vim-update-classic-unix-linux-editor-gets-first-update-in-years/

An example of a Wikiand page.

An example of a Wikiand page.
http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Rail_profile

Never heard of this before.

Never heard of this before. Describes itself as " Wikipedia Modernized: The world's leading Wikipedia reader ". Wikipedia dolled up with a bright hat, perhaps?
http://www.wikiwand.com/

If it's all the same, I think I'll take the shuttle instead.

If it's all the same, I think I'll take the shuttle instead.
http://www.inquisitr.com/2975388/star-trek-tranporter-technology-breakthrough/

Mozilla Firefox might be a good browser in general, but their support documents have always sucked.

Mozilla Firefox might be a good browser in general, but their support documents have always sucked. They seem written by people  who already know how to do things and how stuff is supposed to work, but forget that people reading it probably don't.

I've been using a system whereby I have a networked profile for Firefox, in order to keep everything synced between PCs. I did that because I used to use XSynch (an add-on) but that had a habit of wiping out bookmarks on occasion! The trouble with the networked profile is that I can only use it from one PC at a time. Granted, there's only me here, but sometimes you need a browser running on a PC you're trying to fix, in addition to another one you're already running.

So I thought "maybe I'll try Firefox Sync instead". I created an account yesterday from the media PC, and created a new profile on the RecRoom PC to test it with. I logged in under the new profile and followed the instructions and the Firefoxes were supposedly thereafter synced. Only, no change, no sign of anything happening. I looked up the help documentation and nowhere is there a description or an image of what syncing should look like! 😠

So bugger it back to the networked profile. That at least works.

After this morning's stretches I decided to see what timer apps I could find for my Y5, that were free but without a...

After this morning's stretches I decided to see what timer apps I could find for my Y5, that were free but without a wave of adverts either, and would be good for the exercises. I settled on two (and liked a third

The first was egg timer by Tim Hutt (see main link). Dead simple. You have a bunch of presets. Press one of them and it starts a time, with big buttons to stop or reset. What makes it good is that every one of the presets can be changed to whatever you want (in seconds, minutes, hours or days). 

The second was Multi Timer "Kitty" by Christian Kaiser (see https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chk.kitty&hl=en) which seems the opposite of the first. It's a kitchen timer and you can set up any number of timers with titles and cute icons  You can re-use and edit old timers. You can also have a "pre-alarm alarm" which sounds a certain time before the alarm goes off, and you can have the phone talk to you about what's happening!   It's described as a "Kitchen Timer" and I can just imagine a whole bunch of timers, each for a different task, and which can can have running concurrently with other timers. Of course that's a lot of overkill for simple exercises, but might come in handy for other stuff.

The third was the Tea Time - Kitchen Timer by Andreas Miklautsch. (see https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andreasmiklautsch.teatime&hl=en) designed for making real tea (not tea bags)!! Looks sort of interesting.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=hutt.tim.eggtimer&hl=en

Might explain why I can remember scenes from some TV shows years after only seeing them once, and forget that I...

Might explain why I can remember scenes from some TV shows years after only seeing them once, and forget that I haven't brought the shopping trolley in from outside (which happened on Monday).
http://neurosciencenews.com/lasting-memory-method-4982/

Ah, now THIS is more like it!

Ah, now THIS is more like it!
http://www.weirdconverter.com/

I came across a link to this just now, and thought it might be a handy scale for figuring out ice berg sizes by...

I came across a link to this just now, and thought it might be a handy scale for figuring out ice berg sizes by using Olympic swimming pools or some such. But no, it allows you to compare two figures based on height and sex. There's also another page that allows you to compare up to six figures (people, not a price). But, WHY?
http://www.mrinitialman.com/OddsEnds/Sizes/sizes.html

Well, the usual shit's hit the fan with the STUDIO PC.

Well, the usual shit's hit the fan with the STUDIO PC.

I successfully installed the latest version of Linux Mint on it, after changing partitions and moving files about. Most of the data was on the new 3TB drive, and with the rearrangement the 1 TB drive had Win7 (now with more space) and Linux on it. A third .5 TB drive was set aside for OpenSim and 3D stuff, which meant that the 4th drive (.75 TB) was now empty, because everything on it had been moved elsewhere.

Bare in mind that I was able to boot to Win and the old Mint install before the new install, and because the 4th drive had nothing on it it was ignored by both Win and Linux. I had a minor issue with the Mint install in that GRUB bombed when I booted, but that could be fixed, as I'd done in the past, using Super Grub 2.

So, I powered everything down and removed the power plug. Then I found the spare drive and removed that from the PC. Then I carefully removed the RAM and unplugged the data and power cables to the hard drives and cdrom because they were very tangled. I placed the remaining drives in  brackets so that they were spaced away from each other to avoid extra heat, and then re-plugged everything in.

Wouldn't boot.

There'd be a single beep, and nothing. If I put the Super Grub 2 CD in the rom it would spin around for a bit, and the blue light indicating hard drive activity with briefly come on. I could hear the fan going but no picture, no matter what I did.  Arghu, frustration! I googled solutions relevant to the motherboard (an ASUS AB5XM-A) and it suggested that I power off, safely remove all the ram and the connections to everything else, then power on and listen for error beeps. Only now it there were no beeps and no fan, so I'm guessing I just blew the power supply (or maybe more charitably it was faulty anyway and finally died).

Argh, this is just so annoying. Either way it's now past my technical skills and I'm probably going to have to take it into the shop to be repaired (do doubt with a brand new power supply installed). The Studio PC's been a bit of a jinxed computer ever since it was put together (originally by Kevin). It's on its 2nd box and motherboard, and hard drives kept dying in it!  Dare I take it into the shop that I got the RecRoom PC fixed a while ago? Whoever did that left the 2nd cdrom unplugged (DUH).

Time to put it aside until I figure it out.

Am using this to create a bootable USB stick with a Mint Installation on it.

Am using this to create a bootable USB stick with a Mint Installation on it. There were issues with the CD I created, so this should work just as well. Seems to work for quite a number of Linux distros.
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/

Ultimately, if we do live in something like an `ancestor simulation`, it might not matter for us individually.

Ultimately, if we do live in something like an `ancestor simulation`, it might not matter for us individually. But, it might make a big difference if we were part of an "arts project", or a big `cgi creation` for a film! 😉
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160901-we-might-live-in-a-computer-program-but-it-may-not-matter

Old News - society is always doomed.

Old News - society is always doomed. Though also see http://www.space.com/25160-nasa-statement-civilization-collapse-study.html, which was released just after this story broke (back in 2014).
http://www.livescience.com/44171-society-civilization-collapse-study.html?_ga=1.65837547.437343038.1473127680

"It's bluer in colour up there than other parts of the planet, and there are a lot of storms," Scott Bolton, from...

"It's bluer in colour up there than other parts of the planet, and there are a lot of storms," Scott Bolton, from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, said.

Originally shared by Laura Ess
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-03/jupiter-%27hardly-recognisable%27-in-juno%27s-flyby-photos/7811398?section=science

The other (more or less) stable open-source cross platform video editor.

The other (more or less) stable open-source cross platform video editor.
https://shotcut.org/

I found this an odd list of stuff, part practical (e.g.

I found this an odd list of stuff, part practical (e.g. Firefox instead of Explorer) and part wishful thinking (Tinkercad instead of 123D Design?). A good number seem web based, so they're not particular to Linux at all.
http://www.zdnet.com/pictures/linux-survival-guide-these-21-applications-let-you-move-easily-between-linux-and-windows/

Found a much better reference for Linux folders.

Found a much better reference for Linux folders.
http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/09/linux-file-system-structure/?utm_source=tuicool

Also some nice wallpapers here.

Also some nice wallpapers here.
https://wall.alphacoders.com/by_sub_category.php?id=198790&name=Spirited+Away+Wallpapers&page=1

Lots more on the site.

Lots more on the site.
http://studioghiblimovies.com/wallpaper-wednesday01-studio-ghibli-wallpaper/

Uh, I shan't be holding my breath on this.

Uh, I shan't be holding my breath on this.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/05/03/dead-could-be-brought-back-to-life-in-groundbreaking-project/

I've been thinking of changing the functions of my two non-Media PCs.

I've been thinking of changing the functions of my two non-Media PCs. Under the new arrangement, most drawing and design (and games that need a dedicated graphics card) will be done on the RecRoom PC. Video and animation will be done on the Studio PC. So the "Studio" now becomes the video Studio I guess. It makes sense, as there's more room in the Studio than the RecRoom.

This will affect how I'm going to divide up that new drive in the Studio PC.

Damn this looks good.

Damn this looks good. They even have SVG import/export now, so you can use Inkscape/Illustrator with it (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McxDOpVOCD0). But the golden rule for this, and Power Director is - WAIT FOR THE SALES!
http://lesterbanks.com/2016/08/timeline-moho-12-effects-animators-dream/?utm_content=39596995&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

By Max Tegmark and student collaborator.

By Max Tegmark and student collaborator.
http://arxiv.org/abs/1608.08225

Another in a series of posts on the reconstruction of the ancient henge site Avebury; Blender is used to create...

Originally shared by Aaron Griffiths

Another in a series of posts on the reconstruction of the ancient henge site Avebury; Blender is used to create terrain surrounds to immerse the sim and the visitor in a greater landscape. https://fxualeducation.wordpress.com/2016/09/01/virtual-avebury02/
https://fxualeducation.wordpress.com/2016/09/01/virtual-avebury02/