This is the end of a three day weekend. I took Friday, my birthday off, to try to have a reflective day, a day of reconciliation, to recenter myself. Essentially, I wanted to sit on a mountaintop and think. I also wanted to use the day to close out some projects (mostly home projects including major cleaning and decluttering). Instead, I slept in, ate lunch (which was great), and shopped. Saturday was giving our old futon back to World Futon so they could refurbish it and pass it onto a needy family or sell it for profit; regardless, it did not end up in a landfill. Then I went to the Apple store in search of a miniTOSlink to TOSlink cable
Author: Doug McCaughan
Father of 5.
Juggler.
Ticked off at blogger.com.
Reflector vs AirServer vs ??
So many different ways to share screens on the Mac. I was using Reflector on my PC. Now I need something for the Macbook. I like Reflector because I can record demos of my iPhone apps. Apparently you can do the same with AirServer but I would need QuickTime Pro (which I probably need anyway). I also think that Yosemite has similar functionality built-in. What do you use to share an iPhone or iPad to your laptop screen?
My foray into the Cult of Jobs
When I moved daughter to New York City for college, a client needed something and I had not brought my wife’s netbook with us. At the time, I still worked on a desktop. I walked into Staples, and they had a 17″ full-sized keyboard with number pad Windows HP laptop on sale for $450. It was an i5 processor (maybe i7) with 4 gb of ram that I later updated to 8gb. Had HDMI out and so more ports than I ever used. It was a remarkable laptop. Over time, it slowed. It became problematic. A 5 minute task could turn into 30 minutes or an hour after troubleshooting. I’d get to bill my clients 5 minutes while losing an hour of my life. Eventually I opened it and replaced the CPU fan which was filled with animal dander and dust. The machine ran a little better but not enough. The time had come for a new machine. Laptops in the personal world probably have a 5 year livespan. In the business world, 2-3 years is typical.
I purchase a 15″ Macbook Pro Retina with 16gb ram and a 500gb ssd hard drive. My only regret may be that I did not shell out the extra money for a terabyte hard drive. This machine is remarkable. None-the-less, issues arise. Like when I attempted my first Garage Band project:
Could not find layout General Audio 10
A quick Google search found the solution. Simply look under the Garage Band menu, select "Restore Sound Library" then "Update Sound Library" and about 15gb laters, you’ll be functioning.
New week…new attitude
My spirits have risen! I don’t know what has gotten into me but it is good and I like it!
Sunday evening
We’ve reached the part of the weekend when I get to ponder all the things I failed to accomplish. There is just enough time to do a strong push to finish perhaps one more thing. My momentum is good but I am becoming weary. Ah, to have a three day weekend! That would be a dream.
But let’s be more positive. What was accomplished? The painting of the loft bed for Evan is complete. The headlight on the van is repaired. Games were played with the children. Quality time spent with family. I juggled at a variety show, had a blast, was hit on by an incredibly bright and beautiful woman, and met some really cool people. Relaxation occurred. I had brunch with a couple of old friends to celebrate one of their birthdays. All-in-all it was a great weekend!
I’ll see your free two years and raise you a degree
Haslam now has Tennessee paying for the first two years at any community college. Sounds great right? Well Germany just raised the bar!
All German universities are now free to Americans and all other international students. The last German state to charge tuition at its universities struck down the fees this week.
[Source, CBD Moneywatch, Where to get a free college degree]
Best of all, my son already has his passport!
Jim Jefferies – Gun Control
Reconsidering
Have you ever jumped out of an airplane?
Without a parachute.
Only to think.
"Maybe I should do this tomorrow."
What generation are you?
Traditionalist, born between 1925 and 1945
Baby-boomer, born between 1946 and 1964
Generation X, born between 1965 and 1981
Millennial, born between 1982 and 2000
And anyone boom after 2000 is living without a label.
Ok, I concede. Post 2000s generation is a generation with a label in flux. Their labels are Generation Z, iGeneration, iGen, and post-millennials. As for the years, there is no agreement on the exact dates of the generation with some sources starting it from the mid or late 1990s (note the overlap with Millennials) or from the mid 2000s (leaving the beginning 2000s unlabeled..poor lost generation). (Src)
What advice do you have for a new Macbook Pro owner?
Let’s say I went Full Jobs and dove head first into the Cult of Mac. As a programmer who develops web applications and wants to develop iOS and Android apps as well as play with many of the interesting APIs out in the wild, what you be your advice for programs to install, tweaks to apply, and other hacks that should be done to said hypothetical Macbook Pro?
Bad Parenting
“I don’t think there’ll be a ‘Taken 3.’ She can’t get taken again,” Neeson told the folks at 98fm. “That’s just bad parenting.”
[Source, NextMovie,Liam Neeson On ‘Taken 3:’ ‘Just Bad Parenting’]
Now, from The Verge:
Hump Day
My inner middle schooler likes the middle of the week. This time of year, the walk to my son’s bus stop is dark. Jupiter shines in the sky but clouds obscure other heavenly bodies. The muscadine grapes have ripened to perfection. I accidentally knock one to ground. Pity. The weather is beautiful yet a storm threatens. The distance rumble of clouds and chaos are apparent only to me for the storm that threatens is in my head. I fend it off by building a high pressure system of calm and positive thinking. The storm, a low pressure system, moves further into the distance; at bay, yet ever present, waiting for other systems to build. And Jupiter shines in the calm skies.
Typical Monday
- Philips HUE lights fade on at 5:30 am.
- I curse the day
- Turn off Philips HUE lighting and reset light alarm for 5:55 am.
- 5:55am curse the day
- Let the dog(s) out
- Wake the kids
- Feed the cats
- Feed the kids
- Tell the kids, "Dad is going to get dressed" which they know means "Dad is going to sleep another 20 minutes."
- Wake up and curse the day
- Take one child to the bus stop
- Return home and make sure the other child goes to the bus stop
- Curse the day
- Drive to work
- Pass the elementary school and bemoan it’s transition from academic institution to penitentiary due to 9/11 fears (have commentary with self about the terrorists winning)
- Turn on NPR to hear more commentary about humans hating humans
- Drive to Starbucks and observe the escalation of the parking lot wars between Starbucks and Shell and let commentary run in head about how a cooperative approach could net them both more business but instead they are hurting each other because humans
- Curse myself for buying breakfast instead of making an economical breakfast at home and not bringing my lunch
- Drive toward work and mentally berate self
- Get to work exhausted and ponder why Monday’s suck
From the mouths of jobs
Evan, bemoaning tomorrow being a school day.
Dad: "I’ll switch with you. You go to work for me and I’ll go to school for you."
Evan: "Ok. I’ll go and ask them to fire me. Then I’ll get a fun job like Chuck E Cheese or Sonic!"
Have you ever felt despair?
So I’m feeling a little down. Well, a lot down. Something uplifting for me is reading. So, I’m reading the Dresden Files. Jim Butcher’s first book in the series is Storm Front
Have you ever felt despair? Absolute hopelessness? Have you ever stood in the darkness and known, deep in your heart, in your spirit, that it was never, ever going to get better?…
[Source, Storm Front (Dresden Files)
