September 5, 2006

           Was it a good day? I’ll decide afterward. A number of things became annoyances that should be careful if they want to get anywhere. Both Fred and I are the type to drop troublemakers just as fast as the trouble they cause. I’ll focus on the neutral things. That Russian guy was in and told me about a flash unit he’s got for his camera. I rarely take pictures in the dark, but he says this unit is remote. You set it up and it flashes automatically when it detects your camera flash as operated. I recall hearing of this and maybe now I’ll actually see it.

           [Author's note 2022: these are calendar entries that may not make sense in their entirety. That is, unrelated topics next to each other. Also recall that I did not really get to know JZ's family, I was still the outsider for years, often seeing them only at Xmas. This meant it took longer than usual for them to figure out I wasn't a con artist. At the same time, I found their suspicions unfounded and unfriendly. I would have just shrugged it off, but now I know better.]

           Next, I was over to Anna’s to reset the network. Strange, it seems to reset itself and activates the on-board video card, which has been disabled for the LAN adapter. I don’t have an answer but I showed her how to reset the thing. The conversation turned to Barry University. She is referring to a Masters Degree in Information Systems. The University offers a graduate degree and is apparently quite open about foreign qualifications. The program requires two personal references. Well, at least I got that part of it down pat.
           I had to use the car today. The rain is bad, let me explain. It rains a lot in Florida but they are downpours. What this place can’t deal with is steady rain. Alas, that is what has been happening since Ernesto. Buckets of cats and dogs. I got a few mile bike ride after sunrise. Thereafter, some of the roadways had water a foot deep, no exaggeration. The plywood is the result of a local law that forbids price-gouging. It is, of course, a stupid law to have in a capitalist system. Who was it that said if you tinker with the law of supply and demand, pretty soon the invisible hand is nowhere to be seen.

           I was over to ChipTech for supplies at 9:00 AM and placed a semi-permanent ad in the Sun-Times for my services. Then Northern Telecom called, they finally are ready to go with the JC Toys lineup. I talked with their tech, Justin, and he says the procedure is simple, I go to the site and provide them with eyes and ears while this connection takes place. That is something I could excel in, and the pay is excellent. Especially while I’m in school, type of thing.
           Which reminds me of the other Justin, our friend with the web pages. Fred [finally] reports having the same difficulties as I have with him. He won’t commit to anything but wants you to work in a partnership situation. Well, that’s the biggest thing, there are other difficulties. However, he will not discuss rates of pay or projected time spans which, when it boils down, is the only thing we would need him for. If we are going to take 100% of the risk of losing money on the first few jobs because we don’t know that end of it, then we hardly need him. He also likes to talk in circles but we don’t wanna play. Am I making myself perfectly clear? Good.
           Joe, JZ’s brother, called me in the evening. The guy’s got brass, that is for sure. As predicted, he came along after his dad bought a computer and came up with a so-called better deal. A laptop. These are a poor learning experience, since two people can’t sit in front of them, but Joe plainly has never taught anyone this subject. He had the nerve to insinuate that since he gave his dad a computer (something he had 40 years to do) I should give a refund. Maybe ask Fred for this month’s rent back as well, Joe? This guy is a doctor.
           Plugging around I did find a piece of software that records webcam directly to a disk. Plus, it is free. There are models out there that will capture stills or stream video on the Internet. I wanted one that records directly to a hard drive. I’ve got it hooked up and running now, finding out how long I can record with ten megabytes. The quality sucks, and I’ve slowed it down to five frames a second. The upside is that the resulting file is perfectly watchable, it is in color and is clear enough to identify anybody from the same distance as looking at them. It does cause the hard drive to flicker constantly, but hard drives we’ve got aplenty. Sadly, the application called PCCAM, has no instructions.

           A strange piece of code, it measures the file in seconds and frames instead of bytes. Two new things for today besides that. One is I bought some of that slime super duty tire sealant only to find out I can’t use it, since it is for tubeless tires only. Second, I just got distracted and totally forgot whatever the other item was. So tough. The camera is still chugging along after 3,400 seconds and 27,000 frames. That makes it 56 minutes. If this works, it won’t be long before I figure out how to get it to burn to CD. In the end, I decided it was not worth it. Here's one frame of me waiting for the rain to let up.

           It keeps reporting “dropped” frames. What does that mean? I didn’t even know they were dating. Do they bounce when they hit the floor? Does the camera draw power from the PC when in this mode? Can I get this to black and white? Anyway, the fact that it is still going means I will get at least 81 hours on a CD and 587 hours on a DVD. That is over 24 days for DVD. Now it makes sense that a hard drive with 160GB has a capacity measured in months. I certainly have enough spare cameras kicking around here.
           Ah, I just remembered what else was new. This complete liner thing that fits over your old bathtub. If you examine the picture, you can see the cutout that reveals the old tile wall and pale yellow chipped enamel of the old tub. This acrylic plastic completely fits over all popular models of bathtub and the panels cover the enclosure. I didn’t check the price but it seems like a workable system Nobody is mentioning the fact that the plumbing may have to be re-routed, but hey, this is a step towards getting an overlay for your entire house. With the building codes in Florida, you can’t beat that.
           Last, I’ve been reading Elizabeth, the 1828 book. For anyone who thinks our sex laws are based on good solid historical principles, maybe you should read this work. Remember, this book was published in the height of the Victorian era, so if there was anything hinting at the untoward, it would have been banned. Phedora is the wife and the daughter is Elizabeth. The first chapter discusses finding a husband for Elizabeth. Phedora is 30 years old. You do the math.