January 31, 2006
· Filed under Uncategorized
I’m a big fan of the Art Nouveau movement – organic forms, writhing plants, all that sort of thing. The backlash by art against the industrial revolution and all that… Anyway, my background for my phone sort of reflects that.
It’s actually a piece of art produced by the good lads from Sigur Ros. Whilst not strictly Art Nouveau, it was a multi-media production (photos modified with Natural products), and has a feeling and emotion about it that I quite like and can identify with. Please see it below.
I’m actually really keen to get my powerbook acid etched with some sort of vine and leaves motif, but am a bit worried about getting it wrong. I really don’t want a horrible looking powerbook.
January 30, 2006
· Filed under movies
Just saw this movie, I’m really making an effort to power thru Jennas list. Going quite well so far I think.
Anyway, this movie had the 2nd most boring intro ever, the first being the 4mins+ of black screen that comes with 2001: A Space Odyssey. The movie itself was alright I guess, for 1963. The cinematography was OK, Peter Brook managed to portray the savagery of the boys quite well, especially in the nighttime scenes. The fast camera work, shots of fire sparks, all the noise and blurry shots added to the atmosphere.
One thing I loved was how english they were at the start of the movie. The language is what I find particularly interesting. It’s the same as the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis – all very old sounding. I grew up reading that sort of stuff, and I just like the idea of that sort of “proper” behaviour.
I haven’t actually read William Goldings book that the movie was based on, I somehow managed to skip that at school. Maybe that’ll have to be my February book
Only 53 movies left to see. I should be able to close out another three by this Saturday.
January 22, 2006
· Filed under music
I made it. It was fantastic. Saw lots of bands, got a little messed up, got home very late, got to sleep much later.
Pictures of this at http://flickr.com/photos/rickerbh/tags/bigdayout/
My favourite acts that I saw:
P-Money – amazing mixin’n’scratch’n. I didn’t even plan on going, Yanti convinced me.
Franz Ferdinand
*2 Many DJs
Fantastic day – thanks to Sarah, Steve, George, Johnny, and Yanti for joining me 
I had a blast.
January 17, 2006
· Filed under music
Got my ticket yesterday! It’s on here in Auckland on Friday. I’m quite excited. My picks:
- The White Stripes
- Franz Ferdinand
- Gerling
- Iggy and the Stooges (!)
- Fat Freddys Drop
- Magic Numbers (got their album “Magic Numbers” this week – outstanding!)
- Concord Dawn (sorry Mylo, but I’m a massive fan of Concord Dawn)
- Shapeshifter
- Sola Rosa
I don’t think I can fit it all in… There will be clashes. I’ve also got friends coming up from Wellington to go to it, and I haven’t even factored in what they want to see…
January 16, 2006
· Filed under Uncategorized
Shoe Science came thru. Even delivered early. I only went in yesterday morning, and the correct size arrived for me this morning. What service! Anyway, I just tried them out. The salesgirl in the store suggested I run about half of the usual distance I run for in them, as I need to get used to the different shoes. They certainly are more comfortable than my last “running” shoes, and my legs don’t hurt now either. Top. If you’re interested, they are the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 6. Blue and silver. Not that nasty yellow and silver.
January 15, 2006
· Filed under movies
I just watched this movie. Enjoyable. Again, I didn’t know what I was getting myself in for. I knew it was going to be black and white, but that’s about it. I found the first couple of scenes to be a bit odd. I quite liked the scene with Jack and Meg White and the Tesla Coil, but my favourite had to be RZA, GZA (of Wu Tang fame) and Bill Murray. I thought that was hilarious. I also quite enjoyed the tie ins from scenes to other scenes.
My favourite quotes – please forgive me if I don’t get them 100% – it is from memory:
- Why don’t you quit? I ain’t no f’n quitter.
- It’s like when you can’t afford something its really expensive, and when you can afford something it’s free.
- It’s a great place to visit, and an even nicer place to leave.
There were also some beautiful shots. I really enjoyed quite a few of the shots of the actors by themselves.
Jenna also added “4 Rooms” to the list.
10 down, 57 left.
January 14, 2006
· Filed under Uncategorized
Back from my shoe shopping excursion. My mate Kurt said I should go down to Shoe Science and get fitted for a pair of shoes. It’s quite interesting how they fit you. They have this camera and a DVD recorder, and a little running track. You run up and down the track 3 times, and they record your legs running. Then you watch the video, and check out the ankle movement. They then can choose a shoe that will correct your ankle roll. The theory is that the shoes you get from there will be biomechanically correct, and they will lower the chance of injury.
Anyway, I found some shoes that corrected my ankle roll, and they didn’t have the perfect size for me. They are ordering them in, so on Tuesday (or perhaps even Monday afternoon) I’ll have some new running shoes that no longer hurt me.
January 14, 2006
· Filed under business, ruby, software
Ah. The satisfying feeling of knowing you’ve created some elegant and functional code. That piece of functionality took a bit longer than I expected. Now to make it more robust. I’ve got a bit of error checking and feedback to insert, then we’re ready to roll.
January 13, 2006
· Filed under Uncategorized
This afternooon I didn’t have that much to do at work. I also received my ipod replacement battery kit today. I thought I’d replace the battery, and document how it went. As usual, pics available at flickr
In the kit I received a set of instructions, 2 nylon “screwdriver” tools, and a new 850mAh battery suitable for a 3G ipod.
With the tools you have to wedge them between the white and shiny metal casings, in the centre of one of the longer sides. This is more difficult than it sounds. It’s very important you use nylon tools, as metal tools will scratch and possibly dent your ipod. This took a couple of go’s, and I ruined one of the tools ends while I was at it. The kit suggested you resharpen the ends of the nylon if you did this. Luckily, I didn’t ruin the 2nd tool, and got the cover prised off.
Next step was to pull the hard drive out. The ipod hard drive is connected by a little socket connector mounted on a piece of copper. It just pulls straight off.
This is just a shot of the ipod open - hard drive not yet removed.
Hard drive removed - the black box is the old battery
To remove the battery, you just pull out the little connector. It comes off easily. The wire for my battery was pushed under the mainboard, so required a bit of movement to be removed. The battery then comes out.
To fit the new battery, it was quite important that I thought about the orientation. My new battery has longer and thicker wires than the original, so placement was important. I had to get the wires back under the mainboard, then fold the cable over so the connector could get back into the socket.
Hard drive goes back in - no dramas whatsoever. Well, getting the connector back on was a bit fiddly, but it only took about 15 seconds for me to sort it out.
It’s quite important how the cover goes back on as well. You have to be careful not to catch the new battery wires in the cover or you could break the wires.
Complete!
January 12, 2006
· Filed under Uncategorized
My 3rd Gen ipod is just over 2 years old now. I’ve abused the poor battery a lot, and now it has a life of about 1 hour. I went on http://www.trademe.co.nz and found a replacement battery kit for a 850mAh battery (apparently 30% more capacity than OEM battery). the kit comes with a battery, instructions, and 2 nylon tools for prying the thing open (so you don’t scratch the case). I’m going to replace the battery tonight I think – of course that depends if I go out for drinks after work. I’ll be documenting the replacement on my blog I think. I’ll keep you all posted.