Rubenerd

What started as a post describing what a really ancient Compaq computer would look like spawned an entire investigation into an embarrassing aspect of my childhood, and even promoted WordPress to publish the drafts before they were finished!

That’s an old computer

I have no idea how I got there, but a few days ago I stumbled across the above so-called Ancient Compaq for sale. With a title like that, who could refuse a look?!

It turns out the machine was decidedly less ancient than what I was expecting, but it turns out I had a soft spot for the Compaq Preario towers from the 1990s. These later models were less interesting, but I remember as a kid desperately wanting one of the earlier models that looked looked like a little spaceship. I’d buy one of those and fit it with a modern board quicker than you could say NOSTALGIA, if I could remember the model number.

Tracking it down

At that stage, I was ready to post this silly entry and move on. But a part of me was interested in what model of Presario I wanted as a kid. A few minutes on Google Images turned up which series it was: the Presario 5510! Relesed in 1998, the entry level Presario 5510 had these impressive specs:

• 266MHz Celeron CPU
• 64MiB of RAM
• 4GB hard drive and a
• K56Flex fax modem

The 5030, 5110 and 5520 to 5560 models had higher specs, such as 8GB drives and 350MHz Pentium IIs.

Clearly my 12 year old self had an overly active imagination, looking at that picture now it’s embarrassing to think I once thought it looked like a spaceship. I suppose the curved lines resemble fins on a rocket… slightly. Maybe. Oh Ruben, you silly kid!

Still, it stuck with me in my head all this time, and now I must locate one and purchase it, if only to satify that little kid in me. If you couldn’t have stuff as a kid, you can get it when you’re older, right? And I could replace the internals with a modern board and use it as a file server. This is called justifying frivolousness.

As I’ve found with a lot of these kinds of searches, it was Japanese sites that had the most information. For detailed technical lists ranging from old computers to mountain bikes, nobody does it better than the Japanese. Their meticulous attention to detail impresses even my German genes.

I’ll be mirroring local copies of these PC Watch, InverseNet.co.jp, pc-kaitori.jp pages, just because.

I hate the term, but starting in 2013 I decided to be more proactive about the emails I receive. With regards to newsletters, unless it provides information not available elsewhere through RSS, Twitter or the like, I unsubscribe. Synergising my inbox paradigms.

Having clicked the unsubscribe link in a StackExchange email, I was presented with the above image, and a comment.

We couldn’t find the page you requested, but we did find this sign that might help.

While technically true, I doubt sicking a panda onto my inbox will rid me of your newsletters. That is, unless it somehow overcomes its bamboo addiction and begins ingesting them on my bearhalf.

Jokes aside, having unsubscribed to dozens of newsletters so far this year, errors like this are disturbingly common, regardless of the browser or platform I use. I suppose some sites figure if they make it non-trivial to unsubscrube, you’ll just stick with them.

After hearing about it on my beloved 5by5 Back to Work, I finally started using TextExpander. Today, I realised it can be used with my lifehacking language of choice.

Way of the future

TextExpander lets you assign blocks of text (or even images) to a shortcut you assign. For example, when I type ;nc it expands out to all my ncurses boilerplate. ;sig expands to my name, address, email, EARLs and phone numbers. You could leave it at that, and be crazy productive.

But you don’t have to stop there. If you create a new shortcut and choose choose “Context: Shell Script” from the top of the editing box, you can write shell scripts to process stuff. I ignored it initially, largely for the same reason I eschew (gesundheit) most Western fast food. I can eat it, but I prefer other things.

Earning some Siracusa cred

On a hunch this morning, I decided to test the limits of this “Context: Shell Script” box and enter some Perl (which of course I inserted with its own TextExpander shortcut!):

#!/usr/local/bin/perl […]
print("Hello, world");

When I typed my ;test shortcut, Hello, world was inserted in it’s place.

Oh. My. SCIENCE.

That’s right, TextExpander took the output from this Perl script, and used it in the substitution. Think of the possibilities. No, seriously, think of them.

I’ve used Perl scripts, a Dock shortcut and the Mac pasteboard to automate and send results to where I want since 2004. Now I’m going to go through them all and see how I can make TextExpander shortcuts for all of them.

So, I was one of the super lucky 250,000 users to have their Twitter account details leaked. While I did create my account in March 2007, my #875,971 account ID is still higher than 250,000. Maybe they only hacked earlier accounts that are still active?

UPDATE: The Guardian is saying the attack only affected Twitter accounts created in the first half of 2007. Mystery solved, if true.

Dear Twitter User:

As a precautionary security measure, we have reset your Twitter account password. Check your inbox for a separate email from Twitter with instructions on how to reset your password. If you don’t see an email, you can go to this page in our Help Center to request a password reset. More information is below.

We recently detected an attack on our systems in which the attackers may have had access to limited user information – specifically, your username, email address and an encrypted/salted version of your password (not the actual letters and numbers in your password). Further information about the attack can be found in this blog post.

Since your password has been reset, your old password will not work when you try to log into Twitter. We strongly encourage you to take this opportunity to select a strong password – at least 10 (but more is better) characters and a mixture of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols – that you are not using for any other accounts or sites. Using the same password for multiple online accounts significantly increases your odds of being compromised.

For more information about making your Twitter and other Internet accounts more secure, read our Help Center documentation or the FTC’s guide on passwords.

This attack was not the work of amateurs, and we do not believe it was an isolated incident. The attackers were extremely sophisticated, and we believe other companies and organizations have also been recently similarly attacked. For that reason we felt that it was important to reset your password and publicize this attack while we still gather information. We are also helping government and federal law enforcement in their effort to find and prosecute these attackers to make the Internet safer for all users.

Speaking of emails, I got this message from Amazon this morning. I’m emphatically pointing out that emphasis was added by me, for emphasis.

Dear Ruben Schade,

We thought you’d like to know that eligible songs from 2 CDs you have purchased from Amazon are being added to your Cloud Player library. [..] In addition, we’re excited to announce AutoRip. Now when you buy any CD with the AutoRip logo, the MP3 version of that album will instantly be delivered to your Amazon Cloud Player library for FREE.

AutoRip is available to U.S. customers only.

Amazon, can I have a quick word with you? You seem very nice. I like your site. As you’ve said here, you’ve posted me music to my address in Australia. You’ve billed my Australia debit card, and a Singapore card before that.

So why, my friend, are you telling me about a US-only service?

If you make a habit of deploying Ruby code (^_^), I’ve found the RVM to be the easiest way to install the specific versions of Ruby and rubygems you need.

A lot of this is technical, but also because of this after installing. It’s the little things.

Ruben Schade,

Thank you for using RVM!

I sincerely hope that RVM helps to make your life easier and more enjoyable!!!

~Wayne

Links I saved onto Instapaper this month:

• Microsoft’s aching Windows 8 hangover
  Infoworld

• The tip of the spear
  Los Angeles Magazine

• Oldest Swiss bank to close after guilty plea
  Deutsche Welle

• Fiscal cliff fatigue? You’re not alone
  The Guardian

• No, I Will Not Go To The Beach With You
  Thought Catalog

• Cameron ’entitled’ to use threat of veto to win back powers from Europe
  The Guardian

• Blaming Rape Victims in Cambodia
  Global Voices

• How a gift economy powers education in rural Nepal
  Shareable

• Developer divide: 19 generations of computer programmers
  Infoworld

• Confusing Value And Price, Choir Demands £3000 Per Download
  Techdirt

• Japan Airlines’ Jet Suffers Fire in Boston
  Wall Street Journal

• Alitalia investors consider possible sale: sources
  Reuters

• Republican staffer fired for copyright memo talks to Ars
  Ars Technica

• Oxfam’s new Africa campaign reveals a misguided messiah complex
  The Guardian

• Why Russia Won’t Play Ball on Iran
  The Diplomant

• John McAfee’s Last Stand
  Wired

• Schneier on Security: The Politics and Philosophy of National Security
  Bruce Schneier

• PSO wannabe linked to arms dealer
  The Age

• Herbalife: from high-energy clubs to dashed dreams
  Business on NBCNews.com

• Five federal policies on guns you never heard of
  Propublica

• H.265 Is Coming, And Bringing With It Truly High-Def Video That Won’t Kill The Network
  Techcrunch

• Stem Cell Showdown: Celltex vs. the FDA
  Businessweek

• The Cold Hard Facts of Freezing to Death
  Outside Online

• Top tip if you’re going out in Beijing: don’t breathe
  The Guardian

• Let the facts speak for themselves in 2013
  Australian Broadcasting Corporation

• The Shady Inside Deals That Are Protecting Goldman Sachs at Your Expense
  Alternet

• Starbucks Vietnam Debut Challenged by Light Coffee Image
  Bloomberg

• India, China military officials hold Annual Defence Dialogue
  The Times of India

• On the uselessness of nuclear weapons
  The Curious Wavefunction, Scientific American Blog Network

• How to Fix India’s Male-Superiority Complex
  The Atlantic

• The saga of David Cameron’s Europe speech exposes his strategic failings
  The Guardian

• Notebook on Cities and Culture S3E4: Ashukurafuto with Brian Ashcraft
  Colin Marshall

• Positive Procrastination, Not an Oxymoron
  Undrip

• White paper chronicles rise of ramen worldwide
  The Japan Times Online

• Singapore watchdog calls for F&N auction
  FRANCE 24

• NASA Satellite Image Shows Beijing Drowning in a Lake of Smog
  The Atlantic Cities

• The problem with hybrids – it’s the tablet
  ZDNet

• How Australia’s post-massacre gun control has worked, and saved lives
  The Age

• Brooklyn’s Affordability Crisis Is No Accident
  The Atlantic Cities

• NATO Patriot missiles arrive in Turkey to counter Syria risks
  Reuters

• In Historic Inauguration Address, Obama Takes the Fight to the Right
  Alternet

• ‘Curious’ Cuban net cable has activated, researchers say
  BBC News

• The wrong goodbye of Barnes and Noble
  MobyLives

• This man helped save six children, is now getting harassed for it
  Salon.com

• Polls close in Israeli elections
  Australian Broadcasting Corporation

• David Cameron To Propose EU Referendum Tomorrow
  Zero Hedge

• China Unveils Ambitious Clean Energy Plan For 2013
  The 9 Billion

• Harry Reid Might Change the Rules of the Senate. Here’s What You Need to Know
  Mother Jones

• US Airways’ profit soars amid strong demand
  USA Today

• The Conventional Wisdom About Government Health Care Spending Is Wrong
  The Atlantic

• Is buying a home cheaper than renting?
  BRW

• How to uncover closed-door restaurants when travelling
  Lonely Planet

• 3 things I wish I knew when we got married
  Relevant Magazine

• Catalan parliament paves way for referendum on independence
  The Guardian

• Asia’s Other Island Spat…Between Japan and Russia
  The Diplomant

• China’s Water Pollution Crisis
  The Diplomat

• Singapore retailers splurging on renovation & re-branding
  Channel NewsAsia

• Republicans push to change electoral college in swing states
  Salon.com

• Are You Comfortable with 3-Year Prison Terms for Saggy Pants?
  The Atlantic

• Beijing watching Tokyo for moves to improve ties, Tang tells Yamaguchi
  The Japan Times

• Apple lists Quanta Computer in Fremont California as Final Assembler for Macs
  9to5Mac

• Election loss forces Singapore into a delicate balancing act
  Reuters

• Literary protest: Local hero
  The Economist

• It is now a crime to unlock your smartphone
  The Atlantic

• France suspends acne drug used as contraceptive
  Channel NewsAsia

• Complexity and Security
  Schneier on Security

• Game to destroy CCTV cameras: vandalism or valid protest?
  The Guardian

• Winners for Apps My State in Victoria Show the Limits of Application Contests
  Gartner Blogs

• App.net moves beyond its ad-free Twitter alternative, adding 10 GB of storage to share
  The Verge

• Join
  App.net

• Michael Dell Seeking Majority Control Of Dell Inc., Contributing As Much As $1 Billion Of His Own Personal Funds
  TechCrunch

• A call for civil discussion
  Skeptic Ink

• Abe First Leader Since Koizumi to See Support Rise After 1 Month
  Bloomberg

• Do We Really Want to Live Without the Post Office? - Esquire
  Esquire

Perhaps this was a result of watching it while I was half asleep, but the latest episode of Vividred Operation seemed even more absurd than the previous ones I’d seen. Plotholes so big you could fly an Alone through them. Still enjoyed it though, I think!

By now, we can see the formula that is going into the plot for each episode. At least until we run out of heroines, after facing a fierce foe that can’t be battled with the existing members, a new heroine is recruited, subjected to docking, transformed into a different coloured Tuvix, and With Their Powers Combined™ they save the day. So as long as they can keep recruiting members at this pace indefinitely, they’ll be able to save the Earth from increasingly sinister devices! Right?

In this episode, we meet kendo master Saegusa, who painfully reminded me that I always wanted to do kendo (and fencing…) but never made it past the second lesson. Family reasons, as usual! But I digress.

I have to admit, I was pleased to be wrong about the depth of the characters. At first Akane seemed to be your stereotypically friendly but slightly ditsy character that anime studios increasingly cast in lead roles, but her maturity and determination under pressure were able to shine through here. Given she’d never done kendo before, she was performing some pretty impressive acrobatics while fighting, ditto when she was being chased!

Basically, I approved of the fact that she didn’t need a stronger person to swoop in and “save” her in her civilian form, and that she was still determined even when not “equipped” with her grandfather’s transformitive tech. This series may be cliche in ways, but at least it doesn’t fall into the typical helpless-when-not-transformed mahou shoujo trope.

There were plotholes though. For starters, we were scared that Akane’s secret was discovered by a lone observer. Recruiting your only witness to join your side and keep her quiet was a masterstroke, but surely SOMEONE else from the gigantic school complex facing the ocean would have seen her too? Where did their grandfather come from in that final scene? Did the animators for the Alones take a break and just use Flash for this episode?

Untimely though, these didn’t bug me too much. I’d theorised the series was supposed to be a parody of mecha and mahou shoujo, but I’m lead to believe now that the writers just aren’t taking themselves quite as seriously and are having fun with the universe they’ve created, which I can appreciate. For all the tech, interesting new propulsion devices and energy sources, we have ridiculous uniforms and that one scenery view framed from an opportunistic angle that’s probably going to be a recurring gag.

So I’m unashamed, I’m enjoying this series. Perhaps not as much as I will Tamako Market though, which I should be able to watch with Clara now that she’s back from Hong Kong, boom! ^_^

(And just before I go, what’s the deal with this character? Lending power to the enemy? In the same class? Their enemy could be right under their almost-non-existent anime noses…)

Here’s an article from the Australian ABC. Tell me if you can spot the problem.

A fully-marked New South Wales police highway patrol car has been stolen. Police say highway patrol officers stopped a car on the M7 near the Richmond Road off-ramp in western Sydney at around midday. Officers say there was an altercation and the driver of the car struggled with police before breaking free and stealing their fully-marked highway patrol car. The driver, identified as Arthur Partsch, was last seen travelling north in the light blue Holden Commodore sedan. Officers have warned anyone who sees the car not to approach it, but to contact Triple-0.

Did you catch it?

We’re being warned to call the police if we see a patrol car. I wonder how many calls they must have got from people spotting all the hundreds of cars on active duty?

I avoid Australian terrestrial television like the plague, but fortunately I was tweeted that Channel 9 informed us of the licence plate of the specific patrol car in question. Georgina even went one step further and (shock!) told me what it was!

So a lesson for reporters appealing for information from the public: give us the specifics as well. I wouldn’t want to sick the SOS-Dan force on you.

It’s been a month since my Podcasts Ruben Listens to, December 2012 post, so here we are once again!

New discoveries, old friends

With Build and Analyze and Hypercitical ending their runs, I’ve filled their niche with Core Intuition, now my favourite tech show. I also found Systematic, after hearing Brett Terpstra on The Crossover. John Siracusa has also been making appearances on other 5by5 shows which has been fun.

I’ve also rediscovered the Gillmor Gang! I listened to them from their IT Conversations days, but they moved networks so much I lost track of them. I can’t even tell where their website is now, though at least their iTunes feed works.

Shows I try not to miss

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Shows I catch if I like the topics

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