Niall's Journal

11:41am: Text analysis
I keep mentioning to people that the key to understanding a lot of things is text analysis. Govspeak, lawyerspeak, contracts, lease, tax forms*, anything you sign can have the big picture extracted through simple text analysis. Where's the main verb, main subject (which can be almost a sentence of its own, or group of clauses), object (idem), and so on. Complex sentences can be mapped and understood. Traps avoided. Scams recognised.

Also, it can help fix a problem without the other person knowing they gave you the key.

I did manage to get a digital-to-analog audio decoder box to plug my digital audio out from my TV into my analog Aux on my sound system. Alas! No sound! I knew something was properly connected when changing inputs (dvd to 360) or selecting TV speaker off to on to off gave a brief sound of static. Checking my TV's manual for the audio out, I noticed that it mentioned it could be used to send sound "through 5.1-channel speakers", so I emailed tech support at the decoder's company to ask if I should have gotten their Dolby-specific decoder.

The answer was very precise and technical, telling me that I was more than likely correct as the one I had could only decipher "LCPM" info. It had a whole paragraph of precise technical details, which most would view as "jargon gobbledygook" and dismiss. But checking out and compartimentalising the various text elements made me realise a key question was buried there, asking me what the output through the TV was, to an audio receiver or something else, and it made me think to check the output to the TV - and that I had not checked all the TV inputs for sound on the sound system, only the two connected by HDMI cables.

In went a PS2 game, which only gives out left/right analog sound. Lo and behold, music out through my sound system! Ah-hah! Checked my 360's settings, and it was (by default) outputting 5.1 sound, but had an option for Stereo - and lo, sound comes out! Checked my DVD, and it was outputting "raw" sound, which the manual told me was - you guessed it - Dolby 5.1! The other option was "PCM", and I grinned when I matched that with the above mention that my current decoder was for "LCPM" input. Changed that and voilà, sound!

So now everything works, through the magic of text analysis, without me knowing one iota of what the various jargon terms meant! Grammar IS power.



*in Canada, since we have a plain-language law for these; it reduces inscrutability to the level I talk about above. I had one look at a 1040 form for the US, and good gods on earth and below, someone should be shot for that monstrosity.

7:33pm: Those who saw me dancing at my party, cherish the memory. There's a possibility it was the last time.

I'll know more in three weeks.

If so... I had a good run (ahem), and it was a great way to end it.

2:28pm: My next party...
...will be much smaller. And less harrowing to prepare.

This one, however, rocked so hard. :)

Major thanks to those who could show up, and maybe I can make a smaller party for those who couldn't. I still have chocolates, rock band and music at my place...

(Plus Mill St. brewery bottles from my mother. Many did find out how much she doeth rocketh.)

Hmm, considering the theme of the party was The Answer, I should have requested The Riddle as music... :) :)

Next to learn: how to be a host and not ignore guests. Oops. Still, it seemed like everyone had some manner of a good time, so I must have done something right.

I did have at least 42 people show up, too! Some only for ten minutes, but I was still happy to see everyone!

If I'm still tired and my neck hurting two days after the party, that means it was a good party. :D I'm still smiling uncontrollably every time I think about it. A true memory to last a lifetime. I feel blessed and honoured to know so many cool people. (And so many more who couldn't come, at least a dozen!)

2:36pm: Futility:
Trying to temper chocolate (melt up to 55C, down to 28C and back up between 33 and 34C) during a small heat wave when even at night ambient temperature as measure by the thermometer used in the chocolate only goes down to 27C.

I hope I didn't waste nearly a kilo of chocolate pellets. (Even after being undisturbed for the night, it's still malleable instead of solid.)

I'd need someone with air conditioning, but I actually don't know anyone reasonably nearby who has A/C. (I'd need many hours to try this, anyway.)

At least I lucked out in finding a way to get that digital-to-analog audio converter box, hence returning one TV for the other... which ended up on surprise quick sale for $60, making its total with tax just shy of the base price of the one I was returning. Sweet.

11:47am: 5 Words
The little "5 words" meme applied to me by melskunk:

( Zines, Comics, Dancing, Bilingual, Chocolate )

11:01pm: Tech info
Anyone know much about HDMI cables? (I already know not to bother with Monster, who mainly merit their name for the prices they charge.) I remember hearing somewhere that any hdmi cable will do anywhere, no matter what it's branded for. Is this true?

Because I know it is for Component cables (or composite, for that matter). And here's where branding gets funny: Official Sony PS3 component cables go for $30 at FutureShop. A third-party version goes for a whopping $57. The same third-party's cable for PS2, which is exactly the same product but under a different product code sells for $20 - a third of the price. It's be laughable if it wasn't just so sad, thinking of the number of people duped.

I'm asking as I'm finally ready to buy my HDTV. It turns out what I needed was to wait until now to find a couple of 32" screens with S-IPS panels which are great for low lag, and also happen to be the same ones rated as 6ms response time. Most TVs now boats a "game mode" but not all work, as I tested in-store having brought my PS2 and trying out DDR right there... Amazing how a TV launched a month ago at $800 is now $600.

10:11am: Anyone going to any Ikea store soon?..
Edit: Yay, someone said yes. Thanks!

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Like, in the next three days?

I was hoping to stop by and take some very particular measurements, but I won't for a while yet (stupid foot) and it's getting needed for decision-making.

It's to know the inner drawer measurements of a chest of drawers; outer measurements don't determine capacity, as I've found a free 6-drawer chest with less useable space for clothes than my current 4-drawer one...

Comment, and I'll let you know details. Thanks.

1:02am: Routine change
Suddenly, the words "laundry" and "groceries" have become... a challenge. (Reason: 4 flights of stairs each way for the former, 3 for the latter.)

It's not the first time for me, and it's always a good reminder of what it is for the numerous people who have it far, far worse than I do, and permanently.

At least I'll strengthen upper body muscles a bit. They can use it...

11:49pm: Just to break with tradition (ahem)
My right big toe has fractures. Small surface ones, about five or so. Taped to my next toe as a splint, keep it elevated, and careful on it for a month.

The break (ahem) with tradition is that for once, it wasn't done while dancing. :)

Went orienteering this morning and was going down a slope on a path, and I was a touch too fast and a touch too tilted forward, out of balance. My right foot was coming down with some forward speed to hit a rock, but just before it, a packed-mud-hidden root (height invisible in the same coloration of the rest of the mud patch I was trying to avoid) stopped my foot's progression a little... abruptly.

I still have good reflexes though, as I bent my knee to lift my foot immediately and as I started pitching forward, I rolled to let my right shoulder and leg hit first to land on my back and stop immediately, and not roll on the surface rocks later down the slope.

EDIT: It took me an hour to hobble back to the start, and it happened to be by the rest of the controls I needed, so I punched them in... and ended up with a 4th place! (Of a dozen at least) I was really doing well before that, which is a shame.. but also encouraging, as it means I'm definitely improving.

I must remember, this time, to gnosh more than eat in the evenings, as taking on more weight from a sudden drop in energy expenditure would mean a ballooning waist.

Ah well, I guess I'll play a lot of PS2 and xbox games now...

12:05am: It's good to share one's problems :)
Well. I intended tonight to have three waves of friends passing by briefly to try my chocolates.

I ended up with 8 people (plus me) in my tiny living room as a bona-fide chocolate party.

And there's still plenty left... I really need to start giving out bigger portions.

But I think people had a good time. It was pleasant that some people hadn't seen each other in a while, and very few didn't know some of the others.

After most left, I had a two-handed game of Goa (while listening to streaming goa, of course). It wasn't to see if I lost, it was to see by how much I lost. I had a couple of good turns to start catching up, but too little too late. But it was fun too!

Hmm, must make more space and have parties again.

Thank you everyone who stopped by!

1:04am: My name is Niall, and I have a problem
I think I'm addicted to buying chocolate.

I went to Montreal today to scope out the six chocolatiers for making a guide for Worldcon in August. While walking around, I found two more, which blew most of the others out of the water.

( I... bought a bit much. )

I will need help getting "rid" of all this before it goes bad. (ahem)

11:14pm: Once more into the break
Yes, break. As in, I have a broken tooth, where my current dentist did a filling six years ago. He seemed surprised that there was no pain or soreness or tenderness at all; even the dental technician didn't want to poke around it much for fear of it popping out.

So I'm going in next week for my second ceramic tooth onlay. I had one done last year and it took the dentist office four tries over many months to convince the government insurance company to cover it. Nonetheless, I still have to pay upfront. Last December, it was $983. Good thing I have savings...

And this time I know that it it feels "off", that's because it is off; I can easily come back for a "filing down"; one of the technicians has specialization in exactly that. Lucky me!

Let's just say that my stepmother's ultra-thick taffy covered with chocolate from lazst Christmas is definitely off the "to be eaten" list. Good thing I did so parcimoniously. Good, but... clingy. Now I have to find local volunteers to eat it.

1:46pm: Odds and Plans
So yeah. Hadn't done Orienteering in a decade; last time was in the woods of Gatineau Park right by where I grew up - and I got lost. Major ego hit (in the mob sense) there.

Did much better this time, but still took about 20+ minutes searching for a control visible right from the path and about 15m off it. My map-reading fu was weak, not seeing a dotted blue line and mistaking the stream I had just crossed for the second, thicker continuous blue line about 100m later. Nothing like not being able to interpret contour lines to see I was in the right area. When in doubt, go back to the path and get your bearings; I didn't. (I did do just that on a later control and corrected an error and found the control on the second try, so I can learn.) Worse, is that I sprinted right past the control after the second stream anyway, not thinking it was that close to it. Must learn to count paces next.

I was rather out of breath for 15 minutes after sprinting to finish in 74 minutes for an Intermediate 3.7km course. My father, for comparison, took 15 more minutes to do a challenging 1.7km course - but he's over 75 years of age. And he's still going at it. When he was my age, he'd have done this in 45 minutes. My goal is to get either 1st place or do an Intermediate twice under an hour before going to Advanced Short, which uses a lot more of compass bearings and terrain-reading. I do have an incentive to go fast: I rent a car for a few hours only and can't go over the time limit...

Also, do a lot more stretches before doing this again. My legs hurt for a while. Thank goodness for gentle massages and scalding baths.

___________________________


In other news, I'm still trying to finish cleaning up my place after two months. I haven't felt like doing much for the past month... and it's not because of any distractions, either, because I still had plenty of time in between them. Playing games should be a reward for work well done, not something done instead.

So as others have done, I'll post my list here to motivate myself whenever I check LJ (since I usually go to my LJ first).

( Lots o' List )

...yeeeeaaaah, I have a lot to do still. I want to finish this by the end of June.

4:21pm: Running in the woods
As part of my objective of getting back in some of the past level of fitness I had, I have decided to rejoin the Ottawa Orienteering Club. I did a lot of it in my teens with my father. He's unable to run anymore, so I figure I should keep the family torch running, as it were. Some of the big names from my childhood are still active; they're in their 70s and still doing advanced courses. I have a lot of work to do to catch up on their level of fitness.

It's really fun exercice using your brains as well as your legs, getting good morning air. It used to be all through summer, but now it's only in spring and fall with a few weekday evenings in summer. I guess there's just not enough people to support it through the warm months. I remember having over 150 people at local meets in the 70s and early 80s...

It'll be somewhat expensive since meets are often in out-of-the-way parks like Gatineau Parks, but that's why I took a membership with Vrtucar, which is still much less expensive than renting a car outright.

1:11am: I'm Live...
...Xbox Live that is. Took the plunge after buying rock band 2. They have Still Alive and Skullcrusher Mountain downloadable! Hee!

You can add me as NiallSpots if you want.

1:28pm: Chocolate party was good, but much more crowded than expected, and I didn’t have enough of many chocolates. Learn for next time. I never did make it to the dance either. I was about ten steps away from it then had an opportunity to help friends by giving massages. Okay, not entirely a bad trade-off. (Despite the rain.) :)

Driving to and from Toronto in two days was more taxing than I thought; I had to sleep at rest stops on the way back to not fall asleep and crash. Worth the extra day’s rental fee for bringing the car in late.

I’ve had a busier social calendar since the con, too, which is very nice; new things to juggle my time with. Flex my puny time-management skills! But it’s been incentive to clean up my place more.

Since I had an eager volunteer, I picked up Rock Band 2 a little earlier than anticipated, but now there’s space for it. I give said volunteer a healthy respect, as she can drum on Hard and a little on Expert, while I am on Medium and a few easy Hard songs. Of course, now I can practice. :)

Still more decluttering of paperwork to do, but I’m nearing the halfway mark. Also, re-learning atrophied computer skills; I used to know by heart how to make Win 3.11 and DOS 6 recognise a sound card and cd-rom drive. (I tried DosBox for old games, and it doesn’t work.)

10:46am: Ad Astra
I'm getting to itch to go. Last-minute. I can get a single room government rate for Saturday night easily enough. I can make more chocolates tonight and grab two more chocolatiers' and leave very early Saturday, renting a car.

melskunk, are you going? Or if I hold a chocolate party (the absence of which would be missed by many, I'm sure), would you stop by in the evening without a need for a membership?

EDIT: I'm going! Go go Federal Government ID! Barely $20 more for a hotel room, and MAJOR savings to rent a car; a little more for the car itself, but LDW goes from $25/day to $5/day, and NO deductible... even if I total the car. Woohoo!

3:17am: Best Found art
Also best editing job of.. it'll be tough to beat:

ThruYou: Kutiman mixes YouTube.

Someone scoured through a bunch of YouTube clips of people playing, singing, demonstrating instruments, and remixed and edited them into coherent songs, ranging from modern funk to trance to middle-eastern fusion, with some rap. And it all matches. Even visually, it makes for interesting watching, to see all that went in...

And you get to hear great singing. The woman in Wait For Me... wow.

About 40 minutes watching total. Mesmerizing.

7:31pm: When you have the tools...
...you still need the talent to make them work. Sorry, Zedmore.

Still. I have a modicum of talent, considering the reactions to my last batch. So I decided to get a slightly better tools.



The bottom bag is Sao Thomé 70% pellets.

Great Montreal company, excellent service, lots of variety.

This should last me a while.

12:47pm: Rare meme from me
100 things to do... ( Well, not necessarily  )

2:59pm: Merry!
Whatever it is you believe in, or don't believe in, may it be merrily! :)

I finished my chocolates, finally. Tempering milk chocolate for covering is an arduous process... much simpler in dark. I made different ganaches: thick caramel, blueberry kinda-caramel (the sugar solidified in a clump, but the rest was thick enough to use as filling), mead caramel, and a plain ganache (no sugar) with Redbreast irish whiskey added at the end. Mmmmm.

All of these need more experimentation to find better dosages, but the trying is fun. As is said, you get to eat your mistakes and not mind. :)

Also passing around to others a gift from deep into the uncanny valley: Cute British Animals Singing.

Off to family gatherings for four days... only a phone modem, so no capacity to check anything.

10:49pm: My gifts
I started late and can't find much, plus I never know what to give even with lists from some family members.

So I decided that hey, handmade stuff is always good for gifts.



...at least I'm trying. The tempering curve is merciless; go back up too much and you have to restart from scratch, and add another half-hour. It's my fourth try. Grrrr. I better get it right, I don't have more of that particular type of chips...

The caramel ganache however came out.. mmmmm.. very well. (Caramelise sugar, boil cream and butter; add flavouring to cream as you like. Add cream to caramel slowly, stirring very well and quickly; then pour over chocolate chips and mix well.)

Next, I'll try to make a more flowy ganache, with mead...

EDIT: holy crap. the caramel ganache is exceedingly thick and lethal...

6:56pm: This lifts the bleahs and distracts me from my numbed gums (everything went well there at least): Two cats 'talking' in purrmrows and being all cute and cuddly. Then someone made a funny dubbed "translation". This link has both in one. The dub is remarkable for its audio and synch qualities, as well as just being funny.

2:48am: lol...fen?
Took this pic at the one day anime mini-con 3 weeks ago. I supplied all the DDR and Guitar Hero. I was popular. :) I decided to try my hand at captioning this photo... I don't have any font with Outline in Photoshop, though.



( Gotta dance 'em all! )

Doing the same setup again this weekend for the longer anime con. And probably for the new anime con in February. And now I heard there's a one day mini-thing organised by local anthro fans at Carleton in late January, and they want a video room. Everyone likes my DDR pads. :)

EDIT: Put the images on another server since my ISP's seems to be blocked as spam purveyor for some people.

3:48pm: So long, Emru
I have just learned that last night, Emru Townsend passed away from complications of leukemia.

I knew Emru somewhat; I had been a loyal reader of his fps magazine on animation since the very early days of the print version - I believe since the 1994 Ottawa International Animation Festival. I saw him at Montreal SF cons as well, and sometimes just on the street. He was always in a good mood, friendly, passionate, erudite, knowledgeable, and loved to pass his knowledge and energy around.

He will be greatly, sorely missed. The world is a little less, now.

He had finally found a compatible bone marrow donor, but whether it was too little too late, or something else we'll never know, the transfusion was a success but remission never happened, and barely a few weeks after the latest OAIF, he passed away surrounded by family.

I wish I could have helped, but I can't even give blood, much less plasma or bone marrow (they have the same health check backgrounds) because I have to technically answer yes on a few questions, and I think because of my regular steroid injections.

But if you can, please consider joining the Bone Marrow Registry. It's as safe as donating blood, and it can help a lot of people. This is particularly important for anyone with non-European ancestors in their genealogy, even a grandparent.

There is to be no joy for me for the rest of the day. I will toast him tonight, and watch animation in his honour. Something different; he always liked something different.