Schinckel.net

Here is a response to the article found at: http://www.mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/187/

As a refugee from BeOS, I’ve had first hand experience of the type of ’live searching’ that Spotlight promises to deliver. In fact, the key engineer from Spotlight wrote the Query system (and file-system, IIRC) for BeOS.

Since I manage to keep most stuff well organised, I really only used it with email. BeOS, like Tiger, keeps each email in a separate file. It is then possible to have queries acting as smart groups for email messages.

The point where it becomes truly useful is where files need to belong to multiple groups - no need to have links or aliases.

Still, at times it is best to have files stored within folders - particularly if you are coding - you might have several hundred files named ‘Makefile’ for instance.

BeOS used a system of File Attributes to store meta-data about files. It was possible only to search on these, not content.

Does anyone know if Spotlight will use meta-data, or will it be automatically generated? (A better solution, since then the programs don’t need to be made ‘Attribute Aware’ - the filesystem looks after it.)

I for one welcome our new Searching Overlords.

Well, I went down to Robe & saw the folks, and Baby Jack.

I kinda like the juxtaposition of these two photos together.

I’m still toying with the idea of writing a “What If?” novel about John Lennon, but I’m stuck for ideas about what would have changed. One idea is to write a “Butterfly Effect’’ story resulting in Chapman’s suicide, therefore Lennon’s survival.

I am wearing my Adelaide High School “Non Scholae Sed Vitae” lanyard, and a woman just wanted to know if she could buy one, as she is an Old Scholar.

John Lennon would have turned 64 Yesterday, (all my troubles…), if he hadn’t been gunned down in 1980 by Mark Chapman. An article linked to made a mention of Chapman attempting suicide at some stage - and it made me think about what might have changed in the world had this one man, who changed history, not had his chance? I was looking for a topic for my NaNoWriMo novel, perhaps this could be it…

This is going around, thought I’d stake my claims. Mine are in Bold. My comments are in Italics.

1. Bought everyone in the pub a drink
2. Swam with wild dolphins I’ve patted them from the boat, but we were right out to sea.
3. Climbed a mountain
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
8. Said “I love you” and meant it
9. Hugged a tree
10. Done a striptease
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long, and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Touched an iceberg
20. Slept under the stars
21. Changed a baby’s diaper
22. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
23. Watched a meteor shower
24. Gotten drunk on champagne
25. Given more than you can afford to charity
26. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
27. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
28. Had a food fight
29. Bet on a winning horse
30. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
31. Asked out a stranger
32. Had a snowball fight I’ve never even seen real snow!
33. Photocopied your bottom on the office photocopier
34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
35. Held a lamb Hey, I grew up on a sheep farm. I’ve held countless lambs. Jason, no Comments please!
36. Enacted a favorite fantasy
37. Taken a midnight skinny dip
38. Taken an ice cold bath
39. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
40. Seen a total eclipse
41. Ridden a roller coaster
42. Hit a home run
43. Fit three weeks miraculously into three days
44. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
45. Adopted an accent for an entire day
46. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
47. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
48. Had two hard drives for your computer
49. Visited all 50 states
50. Loved your job for all accounts
51. Taken care of someone who was shit-faced
52. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
53. Had amazing friends
54. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
55. Watched wild whales
56. Stolen a sign
57. Backpacked in Europe
58. Taken a road-trip
59. Rock climbing
60. Lied to foreign government’s official in that country to avoid notice
61. Midnight walk on the beach
62. Sky diving
63. Visited Ireland
64. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
65. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
66. Visited Japan
67. Benchpressed your own weight
68. Milked a cow
69. Alphabetized your records
70. Pretended to be a superhero
71. Sung karaoke
72. Lounged around in bed all day
73. Posed nude in front of strangers
74. Scuba diving
75. Got it on to “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye
76. Kissed in the rain
77. Played in the mud
78. Played in the rain
79. Gone to a drive-in theater
80. Done something you should regret, but don’t regret it
81. Visited the Great Wall of China
82. Discovered that someone who’s not supposed to have known about your blog has discovered your blog
83. Dropped Windows in favor of something better
84. Started a business
85. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
86. Toured ancient sites
87. Taken a martial arts class
88. Swordfought for the honor of a woman
89. Played D&D; for more than 6 hours straight
90. Gotten married
91. Been in a movie
92. Crashed a party
93. Loved someone you shouldn’t have
94. Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy
95. Gotten divorced
96. Had sex at the office
97. Gone without food for 5 days
98. Made cookies from scratch
99. Won first prize in a costume contest Although, if there ever was a contest, I’d win with my Monkey outfit!
100. Ridden a gondola in Venice
101. Gotten a tattoo
102. Found that the texture of some materials can turn you on
103. Rafted the Snake River
104. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
105. Got flowers for no reason Well, she thought there was a reason.
106. Masturbated in a public place
107. Got so drunk you don’t remember anything
108. Been addicted to some form of illegal drug
109. Performed on stage

> I'm an ordinary man, Who desires nothing more Than just an ordinary chance, To live exactly as he likes, And do precisely what he wants...

110. Been to Las Vegas Gonna go, and get married by Elvis. True.
111. Recorded music
112. Eaten shark
113. Had a one-night stand
114. Gone to Thailand
115. Seen Siouxsie live
116. Bought a house
117. Been in a combat zone
118. Buried one/both of your parents
119. Shaved or waxed your pubic hair off
120. Been on a cruise ship
121. Spoken more than one language fluently
122. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
123. Bounced a check
124. Performed in Rocky Horror
125. Read - and understood - your credit report
126. Raised children
127. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
128. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
129. Created and named your own constellation of stars
130. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
131. Found out something significant that your ancestors did Designed the first portable “Iron Lung”, amongst other things.
132. Called or written your Congress person
133. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
134. ?more than once? - More than thrice?
135. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
136. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
137. Had an abortion or your female partner did
138. Had plastic surgery
139. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
140. Wrote articles for a large publication
141. Lost over 100 pounds
142. Held someone while they were having a flashback
143. Piloted an airplane
144. Petted a stingray
145. Broken someone’s heart
146. Helped an animal give birth
147. Been fired or laid off from a job
148. Won money on a T.V. game show Wayne won a Car!
149. Broken a bone Ribs are bones!
150. Killed a human being
151. Gone on an African photo safari
152. Ridden a motorcycle
153. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
154. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
155. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
156. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
157. Ridden a horse
158. Had major surgery Jaq has!
159. Had sex on a moving train
160. Had a snake as a pet
161. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
162. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
163. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
164. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
165. Visited all 7 continents
166. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
167. Eaten kangaroo meat
168. Fallen in love at an ancient Mayan burial ground
169. Been a sperm or egg donor
170. Eaten sushi
171. Had your picture in the newspaper On the front page!
172. Had 2 (or more) healthy romantic relationships for over a year in your lifetime
173. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
174. Gotten someone fired for their actions
175. Gone back to school
176. Parasailed
177. Changed your name
178. Petted a cockroach
179. Eaten fried green tomatoes
180. Read The Iliad
181. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read Pick any one of: Heller, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Hawkins.
182. Dined in a restaurant and stolen silverware, plates, cups because your apartment needed them Stolen glasses from a pub for said reason.
183. ?and gotten 86’ed from the restaurant because you did it so many times, they figured out it was you
184. Taught yourself an art from scratch
185. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
186. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
187. Skipped all your school reunions
188. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
189. Been elected to public office
190. Written your own computer language
191. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
192. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
193. Built your own PC from parts
194. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
195. Had a booth at a street fair
196. Dyed your hair
197. Been a DJ
198. Found out someone was going to dump you via LiveJournal
199. Written your own role playing game
200. Been arrested Been cautioned, and had my Mother visited by the local police (I was underage, see #024, and living away from home).

Last Updated: 31/07/2019.

Well, a strange thing just started happening - when I start the Terminal (OS X), my ~/.profile is no longer executed. I guess there’s something wrong! I can still just do a source .profile and it runs okay, so there’s no problem there. It is being executed for other users, so it must be an issue with me somewhere! Edit Aha! A quick Google turns up the fact that ~/.profile is not executed if ~/.bash_profile is present. I suspect that the PalmOS development tools installer must have created this file - there was nothing new (for me) in it, so a quick rm ~/.bash_profile fixed my problem.

I guess I forgot to blog about my new nephew, since it all happened so fast. My sister was due to give birth at the end of August. It happened instead at the start of July. Jack Hamilton Lewis was born (8 weeks early) on July 3rd, 2004. He was a little under 5lbs. My brother in law (who is significantly larger than anyone in my family) suggested there wasn’t enough room inside for him anymore. So, he was a bit early, lungs not quite ready yet, and was flown to Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne. Where he stayed for a couple of weeks, before returning to Warrnambool, and then Hamilton. No-one was expecting him to be ready to go home until about his original due date, but he’s home now, and doing well. Jaq & I (yes, it seems he was named after her!) raced over to Melbourne to see them, and he looks just like Dad!

It’s ironic, how disorganised I am, because I love to organise things.

For instance, I have had a ball importing all of my CDs (okay, not all of them, yet) into iTunes, then finding all of the cover art (or eventually, scanning it so it was of a suitable quality), and making sure all of the tags were good.

Then re-importing them as AAC files because they are smaller (and better quality) than MP3.

Then getting all of the cases out for the fourth time to change the year of most songs, especially if they came from a compilation CD.

Then I discovered iPhoto, and have since been importing all of my digital images into that, and organising them. Eventually, I’ll scan all of my old photos, and add them in.

And check all of the dates (luckily, most of my photos are APS/Advantix, so they have a date associated with them!).

Even more recently (let’s be honest, importing the digital photos didn’t take that long. The scanning of the old photos will) I discovered Books, an OSX program that acts as a repository for storing info about your paper library.

And I have a fairly large library. I built a custom bookshelf in my study (two walls worth) and have filled it up. The great feature about Books, other than it is free is that it can do an on-line search for books according to the ISBN of the book. Even better, it can handle barcode inputs, not that I have a barcode scanner.

But it’s fun typing in the number, and letting Amazon.com give me the data.

What’s really fun is seeing how many of my old books (most of my library comes from 2nd hand stores, and I don’t ever throw out or sell a book. I don’t even like to lend them out) are in the Amazon database.

My earliest successes so far include some vintage Frank Herbert (e.g., The Santaroga Barrier, April 1971, ISBN 0-450-00823-1).

The funniest thing I have found is a book without an ISBN: Hulme, H.R., (1969) Nuclear Fusion, Wykeham Publications, London. Not sure if it pre-dates ISBNs, or this publisher just didn’t get one for this series (The Wykeham Science Series: For schools and universities).

Well, back to entering ISBNs.

Well, my four week stint of wearing a pedometer is over. I must say, I really enjoyed it, and it shows me I am not only quite active during the week, but pretty damn inactive over the weekends - unless I have Touch on. And even then, coaching means I walk a hell of a lot less than playing. But I guess I don’t really need a pedometer to tell me that! My highest step count was 20,022 steps: this was on a Thursday (when I play Touch) - I ran out of money and bus ticket, and had to walk home! My lowest step count was 1,415 steps - the Sunday after a 21st. You figure out why. My average over the whole month was 11,709 steps per day - more than the target of 10,000. My weekday average was 13,662; on the weekends (including public holidays) I averaged 7500. Over the whole time period, I did about 328,000 steps: the equivalent of walking to Kingston, S.E. Shame I didn’t make it to Robe. Click on the image above to see a breakdown of my daily step counts.