All About Raising Tomatoes in Pots April 21, 2009
Posted by samwyse in Gardening.add a comment
Last year, I “enlarged” my herb garden to include a tomato plant in a pot. I learned a lot from the experience, most of it things not to do. Today, I was getting ready for the new growing season, and learned a bit more. (more…)
Growing up with DDT March 9, 2009
Posted by samwyse in Autobiographical.1 comment so far
My family moved around a lot while I was growing up. I was born in Mississippi and lived in Texas and Florida before I started kindergarten. It’s in kindergarten that you’re first expected to memorize your home address and phone number, and (for me at least) it’s the only address I still remember from my childhood. (more…)
A photo of Bill Blass December 26, 2008
Posted by samwyse in Uncategorized.add a comment
The NYT has an article on the discontinuation of the Bill Blass collection. I’m not all that interested in the world of high couture, but I was intrigued by the black-and-white photo of Mr Blass that accompanied the article. (more…)
Hearty stew recipe December 8, 2008
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This is a very approximate recipe, as I wasn’t the cook. We made it during while brewing beer a week ago. (more…)
Big Homebrewing Rig December 1, 2008
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A few years ago, my friends John and Dave decided they wanted to brew large batches of beer. So they built a really big rig. Every time they brew, they invite a few friends and neighbors to help out. I’ve been coming for a few years now. This time, John explained everything to Glenn, a first time visitor.
A few good beers December 1, 2008
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Every so often, I get invited to a friend’s house to brew some beer. Being a good guest, I try to bring an interesting gift. This time I procrastinated until late the night before, then ran to Friar Tuck, a local beverage store. Wandering the aisles, I finally found some Bourbon County Stout by Goose Island Beer Company. This is a seriously good beer, at a serious price. A four-pack was almost $20, but I have to say it’s worth every penny. The first sniff confirms what the label tells you, that this beer was aged in bourbon barrels. And it’s so thick and dark it makes a Guiness look like an ale. Buy one of these, you’ll not regret it.
Bluetooth problems October 28, 2008
Posted by samwyse in Hardware problems.add a comment
Two years ago or so, I bought a Kensington Bluetooth USB adaptor for my Dell laptop. I probably bought it from Best Buy, but geeks.com is the only place I can find it online these days. It was working a few weeks ago, but when I needed it today, I got this message:
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Bluetooth Setup Wizard
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Bluetooth device not found.
Please verify that your Bluetooth device is properly connected and turned on.
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OK
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I can see the LED blinking when I plug it in, and the device manager claims that the hardware is functioning correctly, but the software keeps thinking that nothing is plugged in. Since then, I’ve tracked down a more recent version of the drivers, but the only change is that I now get a blue screen of death (BSOD) a few minutes after booting that says that there’s a problem with btaudio.sys. Removing that file prevents the BSODs, but I still get the same message.
Italy August 17, 2008
Posted by samwyse in Autobiographical.add a comment
There’s a pizza place that I love in North County. I used to live near it, but once I moved to South County, it was a bit too far to drive to on a regular basis. Being an independent retailer, they buy generic to-go boxes from some supplier. The boxes bear a map of Italy (or “Historic Italia”), and I’ve often daydreamed about spending a year in Italy and visiting the 26 cities, islands and volcanoes that are listed.
(more…)
Audacity: Looping and Dictation Aids August 25, 2007
Posted by samwyse in Uncategorized.add a comment
One of the Audacity use cases lists functions that would be useful when transcribing recordings. I’ve investigated what is required to implement these features, and while it’s more complicated than I might have hoped, it doesn’t appear to be insurmountable. Looping play repeats the initially selected section until stopped; however the selected region can be changed without affecting the looping region. Similarly, it seems apparent that dynamic changes to the looping region should not change the current selection. Therefore, none of the current “change selection” code can be re-used. (more…)
