a day in the life

I’m not sure if anyone caught The Daily Show tonight on Comedy Central, but I noticed when it started and then again later on in the show that it’s being called A Daily Show. Is that because of the writer’s strike or what?

 

Well today’s the day.I’m up and running on my primary desktop with Windows XP SP3 RC. Haven’t noticed any speed increase, but time will tell. I’m Running SP3 v.3264.  Loading Vista SP1 RC also. It’s taking forever…

Well everyone, I’m going on VACATION to AMSTERDAM!! Be back on the 26th. Happy Turkey Day! 

So if you’re like me, you like to make legitimate backups of your software and original install discs. I always make an image of the disc using Disk Utility, included in OS X. Well, lets say you made a backup image of the new Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 disc and then accidentally destroy the disc, but you need to install the OS. Disk Utility to the rescue! As long as you have a spare external hard drive (I’m using a USB one in this case), you can extract the image to the HD and boot from it. Here’s how:

1. Start by creating the disc image of the installation media (this can be DMG, CDR, ISO or any of the disc image formats supported by Mac OS X).
2. Connect your external drive and launch Disk Utility.
3. Select the drive in Disk Utility and then select the Partition tab. Make sure that the drive is formatted using a GUID partition scheme (you may need to reformat your drive to get it in this form).  (NOTE: If you are going to use a PowerPC based Mac, ie G4 or G5, you need to select Apple Partition Map here. GUID is for Intel Macs ONLY) 
4. Once the drive is in the GUID partition scheme.
5. Select the Restore tab of Disc Utility and drag the Disk Image for the Installation Media onto the Source field.
6. Then drag the appropriate partition (in my case, the USB external drive) to the destination field.
7. Press restore.
8. Once the restore is complete, launch System Preferences and select Start up Disk. You should now see the external drive listed as a start up disk. Select it and press restart. You can now install as if you had inserted the DVD!

Additional notes:

• Plug the HD directly into the computer, not into a Fire wire or USB hub. The installer had trouble finding the internal HD when connected through a USB hub.
• This procedure should be the same for previous versions of OS X as well, except for PowerPC versions. PowerPC versions probably need to change the partition format of the drive to Apple Partition Map, but I’m not sure.

Video:Here is a demonstration of using an iPod as the external media. The procedure is the same for an external hard drive, just substitute the iPod partition for the partition on your external hard drive.  

Full Resolution Quicktime MOV Happy Installing Everyone! 

Hi everyone. Since there is so much feedback to this article, I’m going to have to close the comments. If you want to chat with me, use my GTalk Widget on the sidebar or send me a message on Twitter. Thanks.

Come on, oh my star is fading
I swerve out of control
If I’d, if I’d only waited
I’d not be stuck here in this hole.

Come here, oh my star is fading
and I swerve out of control
And I swear I waited and waited
I’ve got to get out of this hole.

But time is on your side, it’s on your side now
Not pushing you down and all around
It’s no cause for concern

Come on, oh my star is fading
And I see no chance of release
And I know I’m dead on the surface
But I’m screaming underneath

And time is on your side, it’s on your side now
Not pushing you down and all around
It’s no cause for concern

Stuck on the end of this ball and chain
And I’m on my way back down again
Stood on a bridge, tied to the noose
Sick to the stomach
You can say what you mean
but it won’t change a sin
I’m sick of the secrets
Stood on the edge
tied to the noose

You came along and you cut me loose

Well, not really. However, with the pending launch of a new version of Google Talk, it will be soon. Users of the new Google Talk client for Windows Now have the new and following features:

File Transfer With this top requested new feature, you can send unlimited files and folders to your friends through Google Talk. There is no restriction on the file type or size and the peer-to-peer transfer is fast and reliable. Learn more
A small percentage of users (such as those behind restrictive proxies) will not experience the highest level of file transfer speed possible.

Voice mail If a friend isn’t around to answer your call, now you can leave a voice mail. You can even leave voice mail messages for your friends who don’t use Google Talk–they’ll receive an email with the message attached as an audio file. Learn more

Music Status Listening to music while on Google Talk? Now you can let your friends see what you’re listening to by selecting “Show current music track” in your status menu. Your status message will change when your song does! Learn more

For those of you who don’t use Google Talk, I highly recommend it. While similar in functionality to all the other IM clients, Google Talk has some key features that make it stand out as the leader:

1. Direct Gmal Integration – you can use Google Talk right from the Gmail website. Check it out!
2. Chat Auto Archiving – because of the direct integration with Gmail, Google Talk can automatically save your chat histories in Gmal for you under the heading Chats. What makes this cool is that it doesn’t matter what computer/device you are accessing Google Talk from, it will get everything. For example, I connect to Google Talk from my desktop at work, home as well as from my Blackberry. The chats are archived from all the devices
3. No Ads! – That’s right, when you are using the Google Talk client on Windows, there are no Ads anywhere. Yay Google!
4. Voice Chat – Similar to Skype, Google Talk features an excellent VoIP solution (SIP) for great voice calls.
5. Easy To Use – With just the options you need, Google Talk is great for nearly all users

So yeah, DOWNLOAD THE NEW GOOGLE TALK!

Digg It!

After being asked nicely by my dentist for the last three cleanings, I agreed to allow her to extract my tiny baby tooth and make a bridge. This procedure involved first having the baby tooth extracted, next having my gum and jawbone surgically heightened and finally the bridge being placed. I got through the first and second steps without too much inconvenience or trouble, but today I had my temporary bridge placed.

I want to stop right here and say that my dentist never once made a big deal about any of these procedures being done. In fact, she told me it would make her happy to make the teeth look right. I felt very comfortable allowing her to complete the procedure.

Today I had my temporary bridge placed. I arrived at the dentist right on time and we got started right away. After being numbed up (which had become common practice since I had to be numbed up for the multiple appointments involved in parts 1 and 2 of this whole project), out came the drill. I laid back listening to my iPod as the dentist drilled away. At first, I thought she was just preparing the surfaces and making mounting points or something. After about 20 minutes, she was done drilling. I thought to myself, that was a long time, and as the thought passed through me, my tongue skimmed across the teeth. At first touch a shrill shock surged through my body. Where once I had perfect, while misplaced, teeth were rough gritty STUMPS! Trying not to freak out too much, as the doctor seemed like everything was going fine, I asked for a mirror to see what my teeth looked like. Horror shook my body when I saw what my perfect teeth had become. Ground up mounds that didn’t look like teeth at all, a very faint shade of yellow none-the-less.

I am still in shock for the realization that two of my perfectly good teeth are now stumps of nothing and can never be what they once were and had I know two of my teeth were going to be destroyed, I’m not sure I would have agreed. It almost feels like a part of me is missing now and I didn’t even know I was going to loose them. Another part of me thinks the dentist was unfair in not fully explaining what was at stake for this procedure.

While now, after doing a little research, I feel just a tad more comfortable it is still very weird. Take this as a warning. While a bridge may be necessary, if there are other options for your dental needs, take the time to consider them. I can never have my two teeth back and I don’t think anyone should feel the way I do about this.

More Information About Bridges

I have been using my computer with dual displays for quite a while now. And while there is no way I would go back to using just a single display, I’m starting to consider getting a third (and possibly fourth) display. I am having a hard time finding what I want though: dual-DVI output for both video cards. I looked at the NVidia Quadro 1440, however I’m getting confused by whether it is possible to use two cards because they bother operate on 16x PCI-e.
Anyway, this article talks about how adding a second display can increase your productivity by 30%. Good read.

from Digg.com via New York Times