My Bathroom No Longer Smells of 1970

Gravity not only inspired a new light, but an entire bathroom refresh.
Updates include:
o Ceramic tile floor
o Centering the plumbing with the light (Why was this not done by the original builder??)
o Kohler pedestal sink
o Delta faucet
o Niagara "flapperless" toilet (One of the few non-special order toilets that support a 10" rough-in)
o Updated brushed nickel hardware
o Benjamin Moore Spanish Red paint (expen$ive!!)

All work was completed in four days by a trusted contractor, Geteng Liu. Up next? Kitchen, carpets or the other bathroom.

Butler Config File for Improved OS X Shortcut Keys

A bit late, but as a follow up to this post, my "butler" config file can be grabbed here. With this config, I can:
o Use my "windows/*nix" shortcut keys for firefox such as "cntr t" and "cntrl r" (new tab/reload)
o Use "cntrl c/v/z/y/x/a" for copy/paste/undo/redo/cut/select all
o Retain a "break" in terminal for "cntrl c"
o Use "shift cntrl c/v" in terminal for copy/paste (ala gnome-terminal)

Thinking about this from a different mindset, the following might work out well for me and require less remaps:
o Swap the cntrl/cmd key
o Use the butler to remap "cmd" to "cntrl" for a few specific items such as sending a "break" in a terminal

iTerm != iCrash?

When I first got my mac, I tried to use iTerm for my terminal needs since it supported desirable features such as:
* Copy on Select
* Middle click paste
* Configurable copy characters
* Tabs
* etc

Whenever I copy/pasted a large buffer, the bloody program would crash. So far, after 1/2 day of usage, the thing has stayed stable. While "gterm" on a mac works, the X11/OS X integration does lack a bit. iTerm might be a keeper!

Update 2/28/2006: iTerm did crash on me the other day. But I guess 1/month is acceptable.

Commending the Boise State University Broncos Football Team for Winning....

Are you shitting me? Our elected officials actually vote on crap like this?

Vote description: Commending the Boise State University Broncos Football Team for Winning the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and Completing An Undefeated Season.

At least dems and repubs could agree on one thing:
Result: Passed, 415-0, with 2 voting Present and 18 not voting.

PC Hoops in the hunt

Every 3-4 years, Providence is able to pull together a good basketball team. This could be the year...

Gravity 1 -- Vanity 1

Three+ months later, gravity is now my bitch:



Updates include:
* $25 mirror from target
* $50 light from home depot

TOSLINK Optical Mini Adaptor + DVD Upconversion + MacBook

I recently went all 1080p and realized how inadequate my 6-year old DVD player was. I could pay money to fix this problem with an upconverting DVD player or commit to one side of the bluray/hd dvd mess, but I decided to cheap out. My MacBook does a great job of rendering DVD's and even output optical audio for Dolby Digital goodness. With "Front Row", the setup is actually pretty slick. Unfortunately, the mac uses a "mini" optical output.

The good news--I own two of these from previous optical cable purchases. I had always wondered what device used them.

The bad news--I have not quite learned the "put your toys aways when done playing" life lesson. One two separate occasions, I have stepped on the cable and snapped both adapters. Bummer!

A trip to Fry's and Radio Shack (yes, I felt very dirty after that trip) revealed no one was going to have my desired adapters. I would have even settled for a new cable that included the adapter, but even the new cables lacked the adapter. Thankfully, after a quick amazon search, I have found my adaptor and ordered four more. This should last me for a month or so....

If you have ever sought these out unsuccessfully, read the amazon comments for a good laugh. For example, "You can't find this anywhere else, I'm serious. Bestbuy and Radioshack dont have them. This took me a while to figure out."

PS: If you are in the market for an optical cable, go with "GE". Not only do they include an adapter which you can step on, but they are reasonably priced unlike Monster Crap Cable. A cable should not cost $10/foot!