memoirs of an omnivore: 2014

Saturday, November 01, 2014

Setting up the "office"

Got a room in my house freed up, Shuffling things around now to make sure all the space is conducive to creativity. The space is looking pretty good.

Also something unexpected, the Xbox music app has a feature I didn't even know about. Apparently you can play entire albums like other albums from artists you already have in your collection. Super useful feature. No ads, no shuffling.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

What are you up to this weekend?

Natto whole hell of a lot!

Well, not tons, but I am planning on whipping out another batch this weekend. So stinky. So good for you.

Monday, October 13, 2014

Tomatoes from the garden

I lucked out for lunch today! A big ole pile of tomatoes, picked me green and they finally ripened. Mmmmmmmm!

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Take me to pumpkin town

Oh, and they have a cannon to fend off pumpkin thieves.

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Getting a fair amount done

Without internet distractions, I have been able to accomplish what feels like a lot to me. I have been working diligently on my Nitto (it's almost done!!). I am pretty sure that I kept it pretty close to the right temperature the whole time, the cooler definitely smells like things fermenting, a smell similar to the sauerkraut. I guess we'll find out by tomorrow morning if the Nitto kinase was able to inoculate the rest of the beans. I can't imagine that it didn't they were for sure mostly slimy when I popped the plastic wrap on them.

Friday, September 26, 2014

Off the matrix

I disconnected myself from the Facebook again. It feels great to not have the urge to check it every 5 seconds. Deleted the app on my phone and on the computer. I am going to stick to blog posts, twitter and the new 'ello' , thought skeptics are saying that the site is just short term and it will be spun off as soon as there is enough users on it. I really hope that is not the case, but it is highly likely.

Tonight was productive with no social media. I was able to cook up a batch of soybeans which I am attempting to ferment into Natto , which is a Japnese dish which is said to not be for people outside of Japan. We'll see about that I guess. I am trying to maintain it at 100 degree for 24 hour. I have a bunch of socks filled with rice and beans I am using as the heat source, and I am insulating with about 4 towels inside of a cooler, and the cooler is suspending above a heater in my room. This could get crazy.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Daily salads

Salad is the most boring way to health.

I've been eating salad every day all week. I feel pretty awesome, but man is it boring to just sit there and chomp on a big pile of salad during lunch break. Boooooooooooooooooring.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Sunday boring sunday

Well, maybe it's not boring, just off to a slow start. Had a pretty good average breakfast, and now I am just messing around on the computer for a little while before I take a long walk (that's the plan anyway),

I don't know where exactly I will go, but I know that I need to stretch my legs. I am currently just waiting for the surface to recharge, then I am hitting the bricks.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

To the dump to the dump to the dump dump dump

Got rid of the broken exercise bike. We took a little trip to the south transfer station , which smelled fantastic!

I am working on typing with the screen keyboard . It's a little strange, there isn't much in the way of touch feedback. The little click sounds are important, since you can't really tell what exactly is going on.

I guess netter cool it on the blogging for today. I don't have much to say right now.

Another day of gardening!

We meandered into the work party a bit late. We got a late start and indulged in dome pancakes before making our way down to the garden. We've been working on re-mulching the trees that are in the strip between the street and the sidewalk. We put in a good hour each making sure it was done properly with cardboard underneath to suppress the weeds. Our plot is going like gangbusters , plenty of growth on all the plants. We harvested a little kale and some beet greens for lunch.

I am not so sure about the split keyboard typing on the surface pro 3. It is just a tad awkward.

Got a pro 3!!

By chance I just happened to get upgraded from a surface pro2 to a surface pro 3. The 2 had a small issue where the mouse pointer would disappear at random. The tech at the store could not figure out what the deal was, so they gave me a new one. The only bummer part is that there are several adobe apps which I will need to re-install. I don't know if I was really using them that much or at all, but they are nice to have if needed, ya know?

That protection plan has already paid for itself after only 3 months or so that I have had the surface. Anybody thinking about buying anything Microsoft , definitely get the protection plan and they will treat you like royalty there. I have to say, I was skeptical about Microsoft's products, but after a fair amount of use, I am starting to be a convert. Sure, they are a little more expensive than a lot of free-er offerings like Google, but if you actually do pay for what you are using, it's pretty top notch. I guess I should expect that? Every interaction I have had with MS's customer service has been a very positive experience. I'll stop with the praising now.

TIme to get some gardening done on this sunny Saturday.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

the pro 3?????

So, looks like MS just dropped the bomb with the surface pro 3. Seems like the 2 just came out!! No fair!

Monday, April 21, 2014

Still hanging in there!

So, a little update on the surface pro 2.

It is still running like a champ. I am a little worried about the $119 or whatever keyboard cover. Some people I know have reported that theirs have fallen apart. I don't type on the thing all that much, so I think it's mostly the hinge I should try to conserve.

I know the smart cover on my ipad wore out after about 2 years, so I have some time.

In other news, I've been doing a bunch of random home improvement projects like installing shelves, coat racks, and hanging pictures and whatnot. Now I just need to figure out how to clear the land behind my house and put in some privacy shrubs.

Monday, April 07, 2014

I am the omni user once again!

Well,... sort of .

I can at least run Linux within windows, which is really good enough for what I want to do. I don't think I will ever be in the space where I was running Linux within windows within OSX. That tunneling was pretty epic.

I sold the old MacBook officially, which was really hard to do, even though I can really only commit to one computer at a time, that one was really great. The new rig is of course faster and more compact and works well with adult business stuff, but the back was just a beautiful machine. Le sigh.

Saturday, April 05, 2014

Hot damn - dorking around proper

So, I was able to play around a little bit and get virtual machines running on the surface pro. I am using virtual box, which I have never used before. It's a little laggy when compared to parallels, but it's also free, so , that's a thing.

I installed a gnome version of Ubuntu and some other Linux that has a really small install, but it's a little too small, it doesn't really do much at all. I always want to make sure that I at least have access to Linux / UNIX so that I can keep sharp on my terminal commands. I don't know why that is such a thing for me, but it totally is. I like interacting directly with my machine, cut out the visual layers.

Friday, April 04, 2014

OMFG

So, I am pretty set on this little surface, it is coming in extremely handy. I am addicted to writing with the stylus.

I got an awesome program yesterday, FL Studio "groove" , which is a very high-powered rhythm / keyboard, song composition tool, it was only $4.99 , I am still pinching myself about the price. They really made that program well. They could have easily charged $20 for it, but maybe they are trying to reach an untapped market of I dunno maybe teenagers that want to start writing electronic music.

I got it simply as a toy, I played around last night for a couple hours, it has already paid itself off in my eyes.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Breakfast at the admiral bird

Enjoying a nice coffee shop chill out / dork around on computers session with my lady at the admiral bird, which is a new coffee shop at the admiral junction.

I am going to try to take a pic and stick it in this blog post with the device I am writing with. Future tech moment. Behold?

BAM!

I don't know why I am so blown away by that? Also cool, I can totally look like I am studiously working away on my computer, but secretly be filming people.

Anyway this coffee shop is pretty nice, a very comfortable space.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Getting there!

So, I am getting more and more accustomed to the new rig. The only thing that I am disappointed in is this things ability to edit video. I guess that is not exactly what I purchased it for, but it would be nice if I. could at least do a little minor editing.

I am getting a handle on the multitasking thing, which I have to admit is pretty cool. There is a really nasty error that prevents the Netflix app from working, but luckily the desktop version still works in a browser.

In other news I sold an old car I was not really using, and perhaps a guitar. If I also manage to sell my old MacBook pro for a decent amount, my balance sheet will be on its way to recovery.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Expaning my powers - like magic!

I just picked up a 64gb micro SD card, I can't believe how much storage is on such a tiny little thing, simply mind blowing. There is 4 times as much storage on this than there is on my iPhone.

I plan on using the card as a transfer device to move the last of the files off my MacBook (R.I.P.)

So, total storage on my device is upwards of 300GB, which should hold me for a while. Now to just sell the MacBook, which is a feat all in itself.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Day 3 - still more files. Gar.

I don't know how my digital life go so big. I have so many GB of files to transfer sooooo many. The trouble is that there is no real good way to transfer files from a mac to a windows PC. I am finding that a lot of the files I cannot open. I am sure this is just because I don't have whatever modern program is required.

I am still thinking I made the right decision. I scaled down my collection by one device (once I sell the MacBook), the surface is much quicker than the MBP, though the user-friendliness leaves a little to be desired. Luckily I normally have the patience to figure my computing problems out so that I can get the computer doing exactly what I want. More computing adventures tomorrow.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Day 2 - going great

So, day 2 has been pretty cool. I had a meeting and took some hand written notes on the surface. It was great to be able to scribble away without wasting paper as is usually the case during meetings.

I am getting a handle on the interface and multi-tasking is getting a lot easier. For instance I am able to jot down this blog post while doing many other things.

I think I am going to push this purchase up to 4 stars.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Building up my power

So, thanks to my selective memory when it comes to free software that is useable. (not cutting edge, but useable), I remember that my good friends at boing boing made me a happy mutant by giving me links to adobe's website where they kind of warn against just downloading and installing the software with the given code because "it won't work on a modern OS", I have found this however to be not so true. I mean there are probably a few things that I won't be able to do, like edit HD video in première, but I can probably definitely make YouTube worthy things at least. Oh, and Photoshop, I have to have Photoshop. Hey at least this keeps me from being a pirate.

It's not stealing at all if they are giving it , right?

So far so good

I've been doing pretty well on the surface all day. Switching computers, let alone operating systems, is so jarring. I am just trying to be as thorough as I can about the transition. It's weird how many nooks and crannies you hide your data in on your computer, and how much weird random shit is saved for apparently no reason at all.

I am still liking the device, and I think it will be a suitable replacement for the MacBook, which I am hoping I can still sell for a fair amount.

The test tonight will be to see how well I can shoot some video of band practice.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Day 1- Complete

Made it through the first day back in the windows world without too much fuss. I didn't have anything too irritating happen except that the surface lacks an "insert" key, which is required in Lotus Notes to mark an email as 'read' , that kind of frustrating to actually have to open an email or right click it and select to mark it as read. I guess it sounds kind of pathetic that the insert key is the only thing I can think of to complain about thus far.

Tomorrow I will probably go the entire day on the new computer. Wish me luck!

First day

So, with some experimenting and tinkering I am getting everything ready to roll with the surface as my main rig. Luckily the Apple version of the mini display port to VGA also works with the surface as well as the Apple keyboard and my Logitech mouse. So, the struggle of getting used to a new keyboard is not going to be necessary. I do dig the type cover though, it's nice if not just a little loud.

I think it will be a while before I get my hands on a dock which will allow me to pump dual screens out of the surface, I think I can wait for it. Using it as a little laptop situation hasn't been that bad actually.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

One thing fixed for sure

Bypassed MS's piece of absolute shit "X Box Music" app, wtf is that thing? Most un-intuitive music listening app, absolute garbage. It's not that iTunes is much better, but it is at least useable.

I think I have transferred most of my most critical files to the little guy, and I should be able to crank away on it at work tomorrow. The only thing I am really worried about from the get-go is not having more than 1 USB port. I don't know if my apple keyboard will work with this thing, I am hoping it does, otherwise I may have to pick up a different keyboard for work purposes, I cannot do my job without a 10 key, a sad fact of life.

Trials and tribulations part 1

Ok, so I am totally digging the touch screen for the most part. I keep forgetting that the surface also has a mouse pointer. I am in the middle of transferring over a lot of data right now, it is going very very slow. I couldn't even get my Mac to see the surface, which is strange, the Mac usually sees everything going on that involves our network.

So, downsides thus far:
-Internet explorer hangs often for no apparent reason.
-Unable to share .pano files or put them on a viewer online, as the guy in the MS store said I could.
-Mousepad feels "cheap" compared to MBP.
-I have no idea how to use most of the stuff, must re-learn.

Got a new toy / serious thing

So, I took the plunge and picked up a Microsoft surface. It's pretty neat, definitely powerful. I am still trying to get used the keyboard, it seems to type pretty well, I am adapting to it faster than expected. The soft keyboard is ... bull shit, I can't deal with that. I don't currently have a wireless mouse, so that might be a little bit of an issue.

I thought they said that once you go Mac, you never go back. (unless of course you get a way better computer in a smaller package with a bunch of bonus stuff for a reasonable price. )

The special Ladyfriend and I are going to take the surface into a park nearby and do some panoramic shots, which are super cool!

The only thing really holding me back from totally replacing my mac with this thing I think is its ability to record audio, with a quad core processor and twice as much ram, it shouldn't be a problem. Also, if I am going to be switching computers every 5 years to stay current, I need to amok sure that I am keeping a fair amount of stuff on the cloud or on an external hard drive.

OK, more on this experience later. It's about time for some computer changes, I was starting to get bored.