Yvette's Inner Geek Blog

If I’d been thinking in advance, I could have ordered these classy salt and pepper shakers in honor of the Chinese New Year. It’s hard to think of a better way to kick off the Year of the Rabbit than with these encouraging little porcelain bunnies! Available from Plasticland.

I just signed up as an affiliate with Plasticland, [edit: Whoops, I'm not activated yet, so these are just plain old links.] so if you follow the link and buy these love bunnies or something else equally kitschy and sweet, then I may receive a tiny kickback that will go toward domain hosting.

Alternately, if you would prefer to outright buy me these bunnies when they come back in stock, I hereby promise to use them to create an original storyline and post it here. With photos, of course. You know you want to.

Mrs. Claus finally convinced Santa to get me that smartphone, even though it was mid-January! Thanks, Mrs. C!

Yes, I am now the proud owner of a Droid X. After a little more in-person tactile research, I decided that the X’s larger screen was worth more to me than the slide-down physical keypad on the Droid 2 Global. And if/when I travel to Europe in the next couple years, I’ll just get a pre-paid phone while I’m there.

I did goof in getting a fancy new phone just a few days before leaving town for the Sundance Film Festival, though. I had grand visions of being able to blog from my new smartphone… which were soon thwarted by a somewhat poor experience with the WordPress app and the logistics of writing a blog entry on a small touchpad keyboard. THWARTED, I say! Also, I didn’t take my laptop because I didn’t know what sort of housing situation I would have, and didn’t want to risk losing my baby. The withdrawal was tough.

Top 4 things I missed while away from home for 13 days (in no particular order):

• My laptop
• My bed
• My husband
• My cats

Getting to know my Droid X before I left basically didn’t happen because of the (how am I still caught off-guard by this?) crazy busy couple days pre-travel. Some things were easy, but the interface introduced a lot of quirks that made me feel like an ID10T when it came to things like, you know, needing to dial a number. Durrrr. I was also overwhelmed by the number of apps available to download. I haven’t yet shelled out money for the birding app I want, but I did download a slew of essential free apps like these:

• Angry Birds
• The Weather Channel
• 3D Level
• Retro Camera
• IMDB

…and then I promptly lost all practical usage of my phone whenever Ben wanted to play Angry Birds. [Note: he is adamantly against getting a smartphone himself, but the fact that Angry Birds is not available for a PC is kind of crushing his soul.] He squished my high scores from the four levels I’d initially played and underwent his own withdrawal period when I left for the festival. Poor baby. He’s happy I’m home and that I haven’t yet broken or lost my Angry Birds console.

And the Sundance Film Festival? I have lots to say about it, so look forward to that (unless you have more exciting things going on in your life, which I really hope you do). I was able to use my Droid X as a camera and documented a crap-ton of moments for which I have anecdotes and probable lies to share. I uploaded a lot of those photos to facebook, and would have also to Twitter for my stalker-friends, but the default uploader application was being a bitch and so I gave up. Lame, I know. Hence the ID-10T Error title for today.

It’s a new year, and I will not be attempting to blog every day. Obviously. It’s already the 4th…. whoops, after midnight. It’s the 5th. Hrm.

I had one helluva semester at school this past fall and was sooooo happy when it finished. Though I have caught up on some sleep, the intensity level of constant deadlines hasn’t really stopped. My year-long senior project provided many happy fun hours of work over the holidays, as did a new freelance project that I’m very excited to be working on. It’s prevented me from having a lot of free time, which has prevented me from doing as much video game playing, reading, and needlework as I would have liked. Not to mention catching up on blogging, innergeek site updates, and another side project that I’m not ready to advertise yet. But I’ve finished with the crappy classes that were sucking all the joy from my life and am feeling renewed and challenged by my current endeavors.

And very much looking forward to volunteering at the Sundance Film Festival again this year!

Santa didn’t bring me the Droid smartphone I wanted (see crayon plea below; apparently Santa didn’t want to pay for the data plan), but there’s a chance that I may still get one before I leave for Park City on January 18. If that happens, I hope that mobile internet access will help me blog more. At the very least, it will allow me to interact with Twitter and Facebook rather than just blindly post from my Little Dumbphone That Could.

My LG EnV2 has been a trooper, it’s just… time, you know?

I can’t say any more. It’s giving me a vacant power-save mode LCD screen stare from my desk. The silvery paint is mostly chipped off the front and its corners are dented and scraped from multiple drops onto pavement. I love you, little phone with a QWERTY keyboard that made it possible for me to send a text message without wanting to kill myself. Shhhh. I’ll go plug you in now. Say good-night to the internet, now. Aw, what a good wittle phone!

Ben heard about this from our friend Tom. I would not be surprised if I get to play with one in person sometime in the near future, considering that the directions to build the self-proclaimed Most Useless Machine Ever are pretty straightforward. (Not that I, personally, have much experience with RC servos…)

I admit to being way more mesmerized than I should have been by this little box. Yet I have to dispute its claim as the most useless machine. Sure, it’s pretty useless. But what about the JooZoo Diamond-encrusted MP3 player for dogs? That definitely gives this little box a run for its useless money.

What would you nominate as the most useless machine ever?

Clever/nonsensical titles aside, I am very pleased to now be the owner of a Canon EOS Rebel T1i/500D digital SLR camera. That’s a mouthful. From here on out, I’m going to refer to it as my “camera.” Here’s the first decent shot of a Christmas light I think I’ve ever taken.

I’ve played a bit with my camera and love it so far—but there’s still lots to learn. And it scares me. I’m afraid I’m going to break something every time I touch it. So far I haven’t… but cross your fingers I don’t do something idiotic and/or non-reversible.

The manual that came with it is more confusing than helpful, so I decided to order a fancy guidebook called David Busch’s Guide to Digital SLR Photography that is specifically for my Canon model. One of the reviews said that it should have come standard with the camera, so I’m hoping it will be more understandable than the Canon manual. At the very least, it’s more likely that I’ll learn something from it than from the internet searches I’ve been doing, which invariably lead me to click on links that lead me away from actually learning anything. I don’t think I have ADD, but come on. It’s the internet.

I’ve uploaded some of my first photos to my Flickr account, and I’ll keep adding to that as I go along. I’m most excited about the macro capabilities. Even though I just have the kit lens for now (and the foreseeable future), it’s already reminding me of the great photos I used to take with my mom’s old 80s-era film SLR Canon (may it rest in peace, or rest in someone else’s good care, because it was stolen in 2003).

I still have my little point and shoot digital camera and intend to use it as I have been—it will stay in my purse or backpack and be on hand most of the time. But I am stoked about the photographic possibilities that lie ahead with my 15.1 megapixel camera! It also shoots HD video, has autofocus, a pop-up flash, and it even cuts julienne fries!

Thanks to my Mom and Ben, who turned my materialistic birthday/Christmas wish into a reality. I hope to create many non-material treasures with it in the future. Or, you know, a zillion more photos of my cats.

Ben has amassed a fair collection of model trains since he was a kid, and he’s been (finally) talking more seriously about building a layout for them. We have the space set aside in our house, so now it’s idea time.

We jointly decided this morning, accompanied by our good friend COFFEE, that one section of the layout should be zombie-fied. Little bloody/guts-showing miniature figures set up on one part of town where a derailed train has been burned (or is on fire) and a few non-zombie miniature figures huddled in small groups with cricket bats and beer. The zombies will be headed toward the part of town that remains (for the time) unscathed.

And in that unscathed part of town, there will (at the very least) be a MirthMobile parked outside Stan Mikita’s donut shop.

I would also like to see a secondary layout that reflects the late 1800s, with steam engines and top hats. And a TARDIS.

Gods bless Sundays with strong coffee and Doctor Who on DVD. So say we all.

Green contemplations for the day:

• Utah is a state so red that even the grass is too intimidated to grow its natural color.
• My drive to be environmentally conscious is strengthened every day that I see [dickheads in] gas-guzzling vehicles in the majority on Utah roadways.
• If it wouldn’t be such a waste of paper, I would propaganda our conservative neighborhood with helpful suggestions for how to be more environmentally friendly, i.e. STOP LETTING YOUR CHILD DRIVE HIS FOUL AND NOISY DIRTBIKE UP AND DOWN YOUR DRIVEWAY FOR HOURS ON END. He will grow up to think it’s okay to selfishly waste precious natural resources by revving his 4-wheeler up and down the street and on the hill not far away. Oh wait, you’ve already set that example for him…
• Ben and I are in the minority of residents in our town who participate in household recycling. We have to pay $5 a month for the honor. Other residents in our town do not seem to have a problem filling their garbage bins with cardboard boxes and plastic.
• Hoo boy, this is turning into a rant. All I’m saying is that Utah has a long way to go in many areas—politically speaking, and as a result, environmentally speaking.

This week, Ben did something radically eco-friendly (for Utah, anyway): he ordered us a Scotts 20-Inch Classic Push Reel Lawn Mower. It’s retro*, but engineered to be a lot lighter and easier to use than the pre-1970s Gold Standard of manicured lawns. It’s also 100% pollution-free and the only maintenance required is to sharpen the blades.

Our first mower, which is a hand-me-down gas mower from my dad, is clunky, hard to push, and a general pain in the ass. We’ve been talking about buying a new one for some time.

I’ve been following @LighterFootstep on Twitter, and they recently linked to a 2008 blog post on their site by Chris Baskind featuring three gas-free and earth friendly lawn mowers. We have a small-ish flat lawn that doesn’t need to be mowed very often in Utah’s dry climate, so the solutions they provided were all reasonable for our situation. Read more…

Given that this is typically the kind of email I receive,

HI I WANT TO BE THE GREAT GEEK OF WORLD ,WILL YOU HELP ME OUT ?

–
ASHISH KUMAR RANJAN
IT,NIT PATNA

I really appreciate the people who take the time to email me with praise, constructive criticism, their personal geek stories and geek test suggestions, and serious questions about a range of topics. I recently received an email with questions regarding the making of one’s own Christmas lights and don’t really know what resources to suggest. If there’s anyone out there who can help out Celia, please leave a comment. I’d appreciate it!

Yvette,

Your web site is delightful; a bright beacon of geeky goodwill.

I just spent way too much time cruising Craig’s List looking for a local electronics shop and/or resources.  What I found instead was some surprisingly mean-spirited bickering (reminiscent of some of the troglodyte emails you posted on your web site – your responses were hilarious, by the way).  I feel the need to embrace more of my inner geekiness through playing with LEDs (I’m not, however, ready to enlist in the Navy to study electronics, as suggested by several helpful individuals on Craig’s List).  I want to learn how to safely make my own christmas lights, basically.  Can you suggest any links or other resources?  I’ve got “Electronics for Dummies” but I’m not ready to build a robot, just make some cool bling for my living room.  I couldn’t find a links page on your web site (was I imagining that there used to be one a few months ago?)

Thank you for offering such playful, welcoming energy to the countless geeks out there who may not realize how desperately they need it (myself included)!

Celia

I consulted my husband on this matter while he was busy playing with wires and electricity and power tools upstairs. He said there’s a booklet series he’s seen at Radio Shack called “Electronics Handbook” that looked as though they were written on graph paper and featured small circuits that might be useful if you’re looking for timing circuits or driving LEDs. So that might be a place to start.

If you want to purchase LEDs in bulk, there are lots of websites out there like Mouser Electronics where you can find those. However, if you just want to create strands of LEDs like the ones that you can find at the store… it will be much cheaper and easier to purchase them at the store.

Hope that helps, and if any other readers have comments I hope you’ll post them here for Celia to see. Thanks!

I’m starting to feel more comfortable with my shiny new MacBook Pro, though there are still plenty of awkward moments as I transition my programs and data and occasionally realize that I have to adjust my rote expectations of how a computer works.

Here are some of the things that I’m noticing and find different/wonderful/frustrating, etc.

• I miss the standard PC laptop touch-click… I can press down anywhere on this new trackpad, which is nice, but it’s a little more resistant than I’d like. Maybe it will loosen up a little with time?
• The keyboard feels wonderful. The only thing I don’t like about it so far is that the space bar seems really loud, especially in comparison to the rest of the keys.
• I miss some of the keys that come on a standard PC keyboard, such as having both Backspace and Delete. The Mac has a Delete button that functions in the backspace manner… though Stephanie left a comment with the helpful info that if you press fn+delete on a Mac, it will delete the letters in front of the cursor. Hooray! It will take some time before it becomes an automatic keystroke for me, though.
• The muscle memory that I developed for PC shortcuts to copy, paste, undo, etc., is very strong. Though the letters are (mostly) the same for the shortcuts, I find it awkward to use the Mac’s “command” key instead of Ctrl. Ctrl is always the bottom left key on a PC keyboard and is in the perfect position for my pinky finger. The two command keys are located on either side of the space bar… maybe in time it will feel right to use my right thumb. But it’s really awkward right now. (Using the left thumb is out. It goes against my personal standard of ergonomics.)
• Still figuring out when to use the Command key, Option key, and Control key with each hotkey I’m used to or new to. In my WordPress window where I’m composing this entry, I press ctrl+i for italics. But in OpenOffice, I need to press command+i.
• I don’t like that special characters, as seen on the incredibly awesome reference Blambot chart of International Characters, seem require a lot more conscious effort to create with hotkeys. On my PC, I just hold down the alt key and type the corresponding 4-digit number. I have a crapload of them memorized. Comparatively, the combinations required on a Mac are akin to the British monetary system before decimalization. Again, with time, I’m sure that I’ll memorize the hotkeys I use most.
• I visited a long web page and was bemoaning the lack of Page Up and Page Down buttons on my keyboard here. Then I remembered that I can use a 2-fingered swipe on my trackpad to scroll quickly. That works much smoother than paging up or down ever did!
• I’m adjusting to the way that files are downloaded and installed. It’s pretty streamlined so far, but there’s still a small learning curve to that streamlined method.
• The internet is moving at lightning speed—wirelessly.
• I’m mad at every little spot of fingerprint grease that sticks to the keys or pretty glossy screen.
• I’ve been using a keyboard with a number pad on the right. I use it a lot, so unless I want to get one of those USB number pad attachments, it looks like I’ll just have to get used to the standard numbers.
• The battery life on this thing is stupendous. There’s a little indicaor at the top that estimates the amount of time I have left… on a full charge it’s well over 4 hours. The old Dell laptop I have requires A/C power if I intend to use it for more than a half hour.
• I miss my fonts. Sure, I only used a tiny percentage of what I’d collected over the years, but all those Windows .ttf files are dead to me now. I had a few .otf files that made the transition, but not many. I’m sure I’ll build up my collection again over time.
• OS X Graphics. YUM.

Have you made a PC to Mac transition lately? What have been your biggest headaches?

Experienced Mac users: When you’re forced to use Windows, what is your biggest headache?

My late birthday present and early Christmas present arrived a day early today! It was supposed to arrive tomorrow, and I almost didn’t get it today because I wasn’t home when UPS attempted delivery. Shortly after I returned home, though, I received a personal phone call from my UPS driver. (We’re on a first name basis because, well, I generally hate shopping in-person. It was a little weird to get a personal phone call, but whatever.) He suggested that I go to the local UPS store at 5:30, his scheduled stop, and sign for it there–which is exactly what happened.

Ben and I got home about the same time and celebrated together. I affixed a permasmile on my face and he celebrated by taking photos, laughing at my excitement, and making tacos while I oooohed and aaaaaahed and started to set things up. I somehow managed to tear myself away long enough to eat dinner. 

And now, after all the updates have been installed and the battery is fully charged, I’m still setting things up and getting used to the new OS. Some things are beautiful and wonderful, but some things are still very awkward. (I already miss the Delete button that erases letters in front of the cursor–didn’t realize how much I toggle between the PC’s Backspace and Delete.)

I’m connected to our home server, so I have delightfully convenient access to all of our MP3s and photos and other shared files on our database. I’m going to take my time transferring files from my PC so that they’re in a more streamlined organization here on my MacBook.

My MacBook. Hee hee!

Of course I still had to do the crude partial desaturation of that photo with Photoshop on my PC… the teensy bit I’ve played with iPhoto made it crystal clear that I need/want Photoshop or at least GIMP.