Teaser: Illuminated

Cool trailer/teaser

360 Panoramas: A While back...

A while ago, I shot some 360 panoramas, just for a fun experiment and to see what I could do with my 10.5mm Dx Nikkor lens. The lens is really amazing, obviously it's designed for the DX sensor, so won't work, or won't completely work with FX sensors, but anyway. The lens is REALLY sharp and makes images that are clean and easy to stitch using the panotools stitcher plugin for photoshop - once you get over the complexity of understanding the conversions - and of course, you have to compile yourself to overcome the 160° FOV limitation.

Whatever the case, check out the results.



http://cakeller98.site90.com/syntheticnature/panorama/

Intuit Still Bites! I found a workable but lame solution to my problem.

As stated in a previous post, I've been hobbled by intuit's inability to purge or export / import transactions. I can't remove a year of transactions because once I do, I can NEVER get them back. Or so I was led to believe.

It used to be, you could easily export a QIF file, and Import it back into the file, clean and simple. However, as of Quicken 2006, they removed the ability to import QIF files into Checking, Savings, or any other account type that you might want to - what??? that's right, any account you might want to download from a financial institution. Why? because intuit charges banks to allow customers to download OFX files into quicken. Unfortunately this precludes us lowly customers from being able to import exported transactions into any of these type of accounts, which means repair of our quicken file is nearly impossible.

Or so I thought.

They keep QIF arround for import of transactions into CASH accounts. Not sure what their logic is here, but it appears to me, as though the reason for this is exactly what I'm about to describe to you now.

If you want to import a set of transactions from one quicken file into another:

1) backup your files because if you mess this up (accidentally import into the wrong account or something)
2) export the transactions from your original file
3) open the other file.
4) create a dummy cash file called something like "IMPORT"
5) import the QIF, be sure to import to the IMPORT account.
6) select all the transactions in the IMPORT account and right-click CUT them.
7) switch to the account you want these transactions in, and paste.
8) ... oh that's it, we're done... check your ballances, maybe reconcile but that's it.

I think the whole reason for this hassle and headache is simply so that quicken can control WHO gets to download transactions into their software.

Seriously, if I can find an open source solution that does what I need it to, I'm switching. This BITES!

But as I mentioned before - at least now I can deal with my files in a reasonable way.

:) Cheers! (to all but the bone-heads at Intuit)

Quicken RANT!: Year End Copy, Wasn't Working...Intuit, You Suck! Now it is working... You Still Suck!

For the last 10 or so years, I've used Quicken... when Quicken Home and Business arrived I was thrilled to start using the new invoicing functions etc.

Unfortuneately I am a bit of a paranoid goob when it comes to personal information (why I would write this kind of post in my blog is kinda beyond me, but whatever)... So I password protected the file, which seems the prudent thing to do with financials. And heaven forbid I accidentally edit a transaction older than... 1, 2, ok 5 years, that seems like a good idea to password protect OLD transactions.

So every year, come tax time, I fruitlessly attempt to do what's called a "Year End Copy" of my quicken data file... I really want to purge out anything older than the tax year. But every year, without fail, I end up giving up on this, and going back to my latest backup and just slog through, cleaning up the categories, and making sure every invoice and every payment correlates, and reconciles.

So here's what would happen; When I'd try and do a year end copy, purging transactions older than xyz, quicken would "POOF" dissappear. Bleepity monkey bleeping bleep.

OK, so... I'd try doing other things like a File->File Operatiosn->Copy. I'd specify to keep only transactions between Jan 1st and Dec 31st...

Seemed to work, at first, but upon examination, certain accounts contained all old transactions?!?! When I manually started to delete transactions, it was asking for the password only in these accounts and only on REALLY old transactions. It was then I realized that it seems it is only these accounts that have at least one transaction that requires a password that have all the old transactions?!?!?!

Ok, fine! I removed the passwords (file and transaction-protection password) and tried a year end copy, which is what I REALLY wanted to do anyway... and wooooo hooooo!!!

After YEARS of struggling, searching for answers, that I never did find - not once did I find someone explain this - I think I finally have the answer:

In order to do a year end copy, or any automated function that may delete or alter an old transaction, you must ensure that the transaction password is blank!

hope this helped someone not bash their heads in with a box of old quicken CDs.

recap:

Quicken?
Year End Copy?
Do this:

First Step ->
Remove Transaction Password
File -> Passwords -> Transaction,
enter the current password, leave the new ones blank!)

Second Step ->
proceed as normal
File -> File Operations -> Year End Copy

Third Step ->
If you're still paranoid, re-set up the password

Fourth Step ->
bookmark these instructions for next year!!


------------- UPDATE!!! FRACKITY FIG NEWTON ----------------

I spoke to soon.

Problem still exists... however, my best work-a-round, and at least I now don't have to enter the transaction password each time I delete a transaction...

File -> File Operations -> Copy

the select the dates you want.
You won't have cleared out ALL transactions, and I haven't figured out why yet... but at least now you can narrow it all down to a single year at a time.


WHAT REALLY sucks is, you can't ever merge these files back together.

oh well... I'm in search of an open source alternative. Of course, there'll be a learning curve. But at least if I have my quicken broken up into manageable single year chunks, I can import a year at a time, and get used to it. Maybe I never import the old crap, maybe I do... awe, WHUDEVER... did I mention, Intuit stink-y-stink.

Shazzle... I totally thought I had it beat, but once again, this year, like every other, I have hit a wall that doesn't want to be penetrated. At least I have found a way around the wall. And by this time next year, or sooner, I will be on a completely different path - I HOPE - using some open source solution!

-- did I mention, that once again... slogging through is all I can do? MUST FIND OPEN SOURCE SOLUTION (because MS Money, is WORSE!)

There's No Such Thing as All Natural...

If we, in any way, had anything to do with making it!

For example, unless you find some un-touched, virgin land with vegetation growing on it in some remote part of the world that is isolated so completely as to have never come in contact with pollutants, or pesticides, or anything we may have made, contributed to, or whatever... there's simply no such thing as "ALL NATURAL"...

Organic food could be considered synthetic from a certain point of view. We SYNTHESIZE it from the earth, the seeds, and the nutrient rich soil we plant the seeds in and the water we use to make it grow.

Which brings me to an interesting, albeit goofy point... all natural synthetic foods... I love it! mmm what a delicious concept.

Crazy Stormy: 60MPH winds and buckets of rain!

I've never seen rain and wind this hard and the voluminous. The closest I ever remember what the innagural day storm, some 12? years ago... in Washington. But the rain wasn't as hard. The other big difference... this one lasted for a minute.... skies got dark, little bit of rain and a little wind, then all at once the rain began, so hard it sounded like hail, with plumes of mist skating across the street. It was really awesome. And now, Sunshine... probably a Rainbow or 5. That was somethin' else.

A Perfect Way to Rebut ANY Opinion Based Argument...

From part of the - if you want to contribute - documentation of an open source project I recently perused:

"For the sake of code consistency, project coherency, and the long-term
evolution of BRL-CAD, there are guidelines for getting involved.
Contributors are strongly encouraged to follow these guidelines and to
likewise ensure that other contributors similarly follow the
guidelines. There are simply too many religious wars over what
usually come down to personal preferences and familiarity that are
distractions from making productive progress."

that last bit pretty much applies to ANYTHING. CAD systems, Operating systems, Oil-Paint vs Acrylic, Tastes Great / Less Filling... etc.

So, the next time some SCHMUCK tries to convince you that your way simple isn't as good as theirs, tell them to bite you, quote the end of the previous paragraph, and agree to dissagree!... of course, you should listen for a minute or two, for the sake of possible insight into something you may have missed, but then blow them off anyway ;) hah! (or don't... it's your choice)

Nuts about Subversion!

OK, I know... geekfest! whatever... it's just fun.

Subversion SVN (Version control software) is making my life so much easier.

I use multiple CAD systems (pro/ENGINEER Wildfire (2, 3, and 4 - pre-production, which is another story I'll tell you about later... dang PTC, THANKS-A-LOT GRRRR) anywyay... but I also use Maya for rendering, and organic modelling of things that are, more difficult to model efficiently in pro/E.

Never mind the fact that I have to manage documents, and images, and Illustrator files... etc.

When I worked as an Industrial Designer, in a corporate setting, the engineers and I used Intralink. GREAT for proe, not so great for anything else. While it's possible to manage other types of documents in Intralink, it's REALLY set up to manage versioned pro/E files.

so... back to my excitement... While Subversion SVN is not as dialed in to manage proe files as Intralink, and doesn't have ANY of the renaming capabilities of Intralink, it DOES give me a way to manage a large set of project files in a controlled way.

For the pro/E files, what I do is, I'll be working along, saving etc. When I get to what I deem to be a checkpoint, I'll save, go into my current working directory and do a purge. This step clears me down to only tha latest version of the files I'm working on. However, since the checked out versions are older, some of them get purged from my working directory when I do this. So I just check in the few files that have changed, and then "update" my working directory. Now I've got a much more sparse view of the historical files, and much less data to backup when the project is done.

Another way I'm using Subversion SVN with pro/E is to create actual "tags" (which is, in software terms, like a version release, or even a minor or "dot" release) Since a tag is a "cheap" copy, or rather a link to the versioned file at a particular version, it doesn't take up a bunch of extra space but gives me a snapshot of the model at a moment in time. So I can check out, ONLY the files included in that snapshot.

How I create the snapshot:

Check out the working files, purge the directory (using pro/E's purge command from a cmd window, or DOS box) then the files remaning, as I mentioned before, are just the latest working files of the model I'm building. I'll select all these files, and branch/tag them as "version 1.0.1" or "as_sent_6-6-09" or some way that makes sense as a release schema. Then commit the workspace, and all the files I tagged are now considered part of that release, and I don't have to check out the entire trunk, or any extraneous files.

Using a release schema like this allows me to pull a model as it was at a particular date and time. If there's ever a question about a set of files that was sent somewhere on some date, I can pull THAT exact version, without having to save a zip or rar file with EVERYTHING each time I send a set. (imagine if you're changing a small part like a PCB and each time you send the assembly, you had to backup EVERYHING, including that 20 MB plastic shell that is final!... this way, it's the same file, and it's referenced instead of copied!) very clean, very nice!

anyway... digg diggin duggit!

I've also seen that people are using Subversion with Maya files, and I see no reason it couldn't be used with just about anything.

I must include a word of warning for those who have never used version control. Although version control is an amazing tool to keep organized, it's NOT without it's quirks, and it's POSSIBLE to corrupt your data. So Make backups, and read up on how to and NOT to use Subversion before you go cataloging all your projects into a repository. ;) Just make sure your butt is covered until you REALLY know what you're doing.

Good luck! cheers.

enjoy!

Programming: Subversion and Version Control...

I don't know why I get off on Version Control. Probably has something to do with me liking things in neat tidy order because I'm inherently disorganized! You know us creative types, messes are pretty. But hey, we still have to work, and it is SO much easier to work when things are easy to keep track of. That's not to say version control takes all the thought out of managing files etc, but... at least you don't have to constantly be contemplating if you saved a copy of a file on the desktop? or somewhere else or started a new branch and ooops, you started back working on the wrong one. Whatever the case... version control makes it nice and neat. There's one place to look, you can check files out, work on them and check them back in. In fact you can lock them too, so if you forgot that you checked out a file 3 months ago, then the client decided to put that on hold. Well you started some of the work... and now, you've got the file locked so you're reminded to go find your working folder. Of course, if you trashed the folder, you, as administrator, can always unlock the project again, but... anyway

Version control is great when you work on objects (images / cad models / etc) where there are a large number of complex changes that need to be kept track of.

Of course, you can also check out the latest version, delete the repository (that's where all the history is saved with your check in notes and etc) and then create a new repository.

Best of all, there are all kinds of REALLY great open source projects that do this.

I've been using TortoiseSVN for my front end. It's integrate with the windows shell, so it's just right there when you need it. And it's visually easy to understand.

Recently, I wanted to be able to access my projects from more than one computer (laptop / desktop) and decided to set up a server. EASY PEASY!!!

Collabnet has a single install package that just sets it all up and you're ready to go! Of course, you'll need to do a little more reading and research to set it up to use security, but it's all there!

In addition, Collabnet has a plugin for both eclipse, and Visual Studio to access the SVN Server (like TortoiseSVN, but right within the IDE)

Links open in new tab/window (depending on your settings)
TortoiseSVN shell integrated front end

Collabnet's Subversion Server

AnkhSVN Visual Studio and eclipse IDE integration

Music: Juana Molina

Been listening to Juana Molina for a while now, and her stuff is really interesting. You might call it a bit "off ballance" but brilliant.

If you like really "produced" sounding music, probalby won't like it, but for me, I like stuff that's a bit off-kilter. Music that's too clean will lull my brain into boredome. At the same time, if it's too OFF, it'll be distracting.

Two tracks of note, right now:

La Verdad, from the album Son
Isabel, from the album Tres Cosas

-- if you liked Bjork back in the day (or now) you're more likely to appreciate Juana Molina. Not to say they are, at all, the same, but... they're both just enough off the normal keel to make for great workin-to music.

Cheers!