"Murphy was an optimist!"
Goodbye Ultimate Boot CD August 8, 2015 10:14 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Software, TechnologyThroughout the years of helping people fix their computers, one of the handiest tools in my armory was the Ultimate Boot CD. Not this one, although I did use that version often, but this one. I had an huge number of other tools EBCD, hacker tools, some websites common Joe has no reason to know exist, knowledge and experience, and an impressive Internet searching ability (a little understanding of boolean logic goes a long way). Them: "I don’t know my administrative password." Me: "No problem." Well, perhaps a 30 second delay. Anyhow, I’ve decided to upgrade my last functioning Windows box (Windows 7) to Windows 10. See, all those Linux boxes, and Windows boxes (at one time I had 5 physical machines under my desk, several dual booted to different OSes, and virtual machines on the Linux box…I even had a laptop that I could boot to Windows 3.1, wait a min, I still have that.) have been scraped and sent to e-waste as my home has become a shrine to Steve Jobs as we became fully indoctrinated into the Cult of Mac. As the Windows 10 installer inspects my Windows 7 machine, it discovers UBDC4Win 3.60 and declares that it MUST be removed as incompatible for the installation to continue. With some sadness, not dissimilar to when your goldfish dies, I approved the uninstall. (I still have the iso of the last UBCD I built so I haven’t completely crippled myself.)
add a commentToday’s magic trick July 2, 2015 12:03 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Programming, Software, Technology, WordPressToday, I make Caldera Forms export to Excel.
add a commentDrug Store Magic – Chapter 1: (1) Wine to Water June 6, 2015 10:33 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Science, TechnologyFill a small pitcher full of water and dissolve a small amount of ferric ammonium sulfate in the water. Then make up a small amount of sodium salicylate solution. Get two wine glasses, and in the first wine glass do not put anything; in the second wine glass put a few drops of sodium salicylate solution. Then you pour some water from the pitcher into your first wine glass. It will remain clear, but when you pour from the pitcher into the second wine glass it will take on the color of wine.
Ingredients required:
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DARPA now has steerable smart bullets April 28, 2015 1:51 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : TechnologyFor people not paying attention, DARPA now has smart bullets.
Hollywood inspired: https://youtu.be/heMboVN12r0
http://factor-tech.com/vid/darpas-self-steering-bullet-hits-the-target-everytime/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaway_%281984_film%29
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=1037
add a commentMaking a website look good on all devices April 26, 2015 9:11 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : HTML, Programming, TechnologyN.b. Be sure to read this.
Responsive design is actually pretty straight forward. Use standard practices and don’t overcomplicate your html. But when we start to tweak something here or there, you quickly find yourself having to make sure that the code has adjustments for various devices. What does this mean to your programmer? Basically having to make changes to all of these:
/*********** Phones and handhelds ***********/
/*********** iPhones ***********/
/* ----------- iPhone 4 and 4S ----------- */
/* Portrait and Landscape */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 320px)
and (max-device-width: 480px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) {
}
/* Portrait */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 320px)
and (max-device-width: 480px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2)
and (orientation: portrait) {
}
/* Landscape */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 320px)
and (max-device-width: 480px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2)
and (orientation: landscape) {
}
/* ----------- iPhone 5 and 5S ----------- */
/* Portrait and Landscape */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 320px)
and (max-device-width: 568px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) {
}
/* Portrait */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 320px)
and (max-device-width: 568px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2)
and (orientation: portrait) {
}
/* Landscape */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 320px)
and (max-device-width: 568px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2)
and (orientation: landscape) {
}
/* ----------- iPhone 6 ----------- */
/* Portrait and Landscape */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 375px)
and (max-device-width: 667px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) {
}
/* Portrait */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 375px)
and (max-device-width: 667px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2)
and (orientation: portrait) {
}
/* Landscape */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 375px)
and (max-device-width: 667px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2)
and (orientation: landscape) {
}
/* ----------- iPhone 6+ ----------- */
/* Portrait and Landscape */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 414px)
and (max-device-width: 736px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3) {
}
/* Portrait */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 414px)
and (max-device-width: 736px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3)
and (orientation: portrait) {
}
/* Landscape */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 414px)
and (max-device-width: 736px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3)
and (orientation: landscape) {
}
/*********** Galaxy Phones ***********/
/* ----------- Galaxy S3 ----------- */
/* Portrait and Landscape */
@media screen
and (device-width: 320px)
and (device-height: 640px)
and (-webkit-device-pixel-ratio: 2) {
}
/* Portrait */
@media screen
and (device-width: 320px)
and (device-height: 640px)
and (-webkit-device-pixel-ratio: 2)
and (orientation: portrait) {
}
/* Landscape */
@media screen
and (device-width: 320px)
and (device-height: 640px)
and (-webkit-device-pixel-ratio: 2)
and (orientation: landscape) {
}
/* ----------- Galaxy S4 ----------- */
/* Portrait and Landscape */
@media screen
and (device-width: 320px)
and (device-height: 640px)
and (-webkit-device-pixel-ratio: 3) {
}
/* Portrait */
@media screen
and (device-width: 320px)
and (device-height: 640px)
and (-webkit-device-pixel-ratio: 3)
and (orientation: portrait) {
}
/* Landscape */
@media screen
and (device-width: 320px)
and (device-height: 640px)
and (-webkit-device-pixel-ratio: 3)
and (orientation: landscape) {
}
/* ----------- Galaxy S5 ----------- */
/* Portrait and Landscape */
@media screen
and (device-width: 360px)
and (device-height: 640px)
and (-webkit-device-pixel-ratio: 3) {
}
/* Portrait */
@media screen
and (device-width: 360px)
and (device-height: 640px)
and (-webkit-device-pixel-ratio: 3)
and (orientation: portrait) {
}
/* Landscape */
@media screen
and (device-width: 360px)
and (device-height: 640px)
and (-webkit-device-pixel-ratio: 3)
and (orientation: landscape) {
}
/*********** HTC Phones ***********/
/* ----------- HTC One ----------- */
/* Portrait and Landscape */
@media screen
and (device-width: 360px)
and (device-height: 640px)
and (-webkit-device-pixel-ratio: 3) {
}
/* Portrait */
@media screen
and (device-width: 360px)
and (device-height: 640px)
and (-webkit-device-pixel-ratio: 3)
and (orientation: portrait) {
}
/* Landscape */
@media screen
and (device-width: 360px)
and (device-height: 640px)
and (-webkit-device-pixel-ratio: 3)
and (orientation: landscape) {
}
/*********** Tablets ***********/
/*********** iPads ***********/
/* ----------- iPad mini ----------- */
/* Portrait and Landscape */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 768px)
and (max-device-width: 1024px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1) {
}
/* Portrait */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 768px)
and (max-device-width: 1024px)
and (orientation: portrait)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1) {
}
/* Landscape */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 768px)
and (max-device-width: 1024px)
and (orientation: landscape)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1) {
}
/* ----------- iPad 1 and 2 ----------- */
/* Portrait and Landscape */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 768px)
and (max-device-width: 1024px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1) {
}
/* Portrait */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 768px)
and (max-device-width: 1024px)
and (orientation: portrait)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1) {
}
/* Landscape */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 768px)
and (max-device-width: 1024px)
and (orientation: landscape)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1) {
}
/* ----------- iPad 3 and 4 ----------- */
/* Portrait and Landscape */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 768px)
and (max-device-width: 1024px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) {
}
/* Portrait */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 768px)
and (max-device-width: 1024px)
and (orientation: portrait)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) {
}
/* Landscape */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 768px)
and (max-device-width: 1024px)
and (orientation: landscape)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) {
}
/*********** Galaxy Tablets ***********/
/* ----------- Galaxy Tab 10.1 ----------- */
/* Portrait and Landscape */
@media
(min-device-width: 800px)
and (max-device-width: 1280px) {
}
/* Portrait */
@media
(max-device-width: 800px)
and (orientation: portrait) {
}
/* Landscape */
@media
(max-device-width: 1280px)
and (orientation: landscape) {
}
/*********** Nexus Tablets ***********/
/* ----------- Asus Nexus 7 ----------- */
/* Portrait and Landscape */
@media screen
and (device-width: 601px)
and (device-height: 906px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.331)
and (-webkit-max-device-pixel-ratio: 1.332) {
}
/* Portrait */
@media screen
and (device-width: 601px)
and (device-height: 906px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.331)
and (-webkit-max-device-pixel-ratio: 1.332)
and (orientation: portrait) {
}
/* Landscape */
@media screen
and (device-width: 601px)
and (device-height: 906px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.331)
and (-webkit-max-device-pixel-ratio: 1.332)
and (orientation: landscape) {
}
/*********** Kindle Fire ***********/
/* ----------- Kindle Fire HD 7" ----------- */
/* Portrait and Landscape */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 800px)
and (max-device-width: 1280px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.5) {
}
/* Portrait */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 800px)
and (max-device-width: 1280px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.5)
and (orientation: portrait) {
}
/* Landscape */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 800px)
and (max-device-width: 1280px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.5)
and (orientation: landscape) {
}
/* ----------- Kindle Fire HD 8.9" ----------- */
/* Portrait and Landscape */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 1200px)
and (max-device-width: 1600px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.5) {
}
/* Portrait */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 1200px)
and (max-device-width: 1600px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.5)
and (orientation: portrait) {
}
/* Landscape */
@media only screen
and (min-device-width: 1200px)
and (max-device-width: 1600px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.5)
and (orientation: landscape) {
}
/*********** Laptops ***********/
/* ----------- Non-Retina Screens ----------- */
@media screen
and (min-device-width: 1200px)
and (max-device-width: 1600px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1) {
}
/* ----------- Retina Screens ----------- */
@media screen
and (min-device-width: 1200px)
and (max-device-width: 1600px)
and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2)
and (min-resolution: 192dpi) {
}
/*********** Wearables ***********/
/*********** Apple Watch ***********/
/* ----------- Apple Watch ----------- */
@media
(max-device-width: 42mm)
and (min-device-width: 38mm) {
}
/*********** Moto 360 Watch ***********/
/* ----------- Moto 360 Watch ----------- */
@media
(max-device-width: 218px)
and (max-device-height: 281px) {
}
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Autonomous cars are so close to reality April 2, 2015 9:03 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Robotics, Technology, Transportation, TravelWhen I declared automated cars to be on our roads within 5 years and highly adopted in 10 years with private transportation becoming obsolete in 15-20 years, my friends looked at me like I was nuts and an overoptimistic technologist.
Mark my words, a transportation revolution is happening and most people are completely unaware how fast it is coming.
Telsa has joined the ranks of autonomous vehicles: Tesla Testing Software For Autopilot Trips Between Seattle & San Francisco
Elon Musk’s promise to deliver a fully functional self-driving car within the near future appears to have some truth to it — it seems to have not been an exaggeration, in other words (despite his habit of overstating things). The company has reportedly begun testing software that will allow the Model S to “drive itself” all the way from San Francisco to Seattle.
I so welcome it. The ramifications of autonomous vehicles is huge! Think of the infrastructure changes alone:
- No more parking lots. (turn mall parking lots into actual parks)
- No more signage = prettier cities.
- No more painted roads.
- Narrower and fewer roads = less maintenance, less environmental impact.
- No more DUIs.
- No more road rage.
- No more divided highways (the cars negotiate the number of lanes each direction as demand dictates)
- No more stress of ownership (ie. no more insurance, unexpected repairs when payday is still weeks away, worry over other’s ruining your vehicle by running into you)
- No more accidents.
- The elderly can become mobile again.
- Special needs (mentally, disabled, blind, etc) people who previously could not drive will have refound freedom.
- Greater quality time on commutes. (Trips to work can be productive. You can sleep on the long commute to granny’s house. Practice guitar while passengering to that gig. Play cars with your child instead of demanding they play the alphabet game once more time.)
- Moving vans delivered to your door. (Want to move a bedroom suite from Cincinnati to Knoxville? Have Penske autodeliver a truck to the house in Knox then let the truck take you to Cincinnati, load, and the truck returns you or better yet just send the truck to Cincinnati and have locals load it.)
So many possibilities!
add a commentPower tools under used (mostly to look at pictures of cats) April 1, 2015 9:04 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, TechnologyQ: If someone from the 1950s suddenly appeared today, what would be the most difficult thing to explain to them about life today?
A: I possess a device, in my pocket, that is capable of accessing the entirety of information known to man.
I use it to look at pictures of cats and get in arguments with strangers. (by user nuseramed)
I purchased the Omnigroup tools to get my professional (and personal) life in order. I am now heavily using Omnifocus and loving it! One of my favorite features of Omnifocus is the location based reminders. I can set a reminder for the Office so that when I arrive at work, the reminder pops up on my phone (and in turn on my Pebble watch). Now wait, doesn’t the iPhone have this same functionality in its built-in Reminders app? Yes it does! But I’ve never used it. Omnifocus differs from Reminders in functionality. Apparently the iPhone Reminders app has a tighter radius on the location awareness. Back to function. Reminders is simply a reminders list. Omnifocus is adaptable to whichever productivity management style you have. It was written primarily with Getting Things Done in mind but will work well with Covey’s First Things First and many of the other productivity structures out there.
I find myself leaving my Narrative camera at the office frequently. Today I decided to setup a location aware reminder in the iPhone Reminders app to warn me when leaving the office with a daily reminder "Got Narrative?"
Why did I choose Reminders over Omnifocus? Simply because when I look at my list of daily todos, I do not want it cluttered with a recurring reminder to do simple things. However, I want that daily reminder to do simple things and this is a fantastic use of Reminders. I will be using this heavily now. I will use the location aware contexts of Omnifocus for important reminders that do not regularly recur such as "Drop child’s lunch check off at the elementary school" which would pop up as I drove by the school on the way to work.
We have these amazing tools for enhancing our lives but rarely exploit a fraction of their full potential. I bet your DSLR has a manual’s worth of menus and settings you’ve never even thought to explore. When I speak of smart homes, automation, and a technological society, these simple tools like the iPhone’s Reminders program are much of what I am referring to.
add a commentConfessions of a programmer March 19, 2015 11:46 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Confessions of a programmer, Daily Life, Philosophy, Programming, TechnologyMy job does not pay me enough to afford the quantity of alcohol required to do my job. #coap
add a commentTake my money now! December 11, 2014 6:29 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Of Interest, TechnologyDear Santa, I want this:
See more here.
add a commentRIP Nabaztag aka Karotz November 10, 2014 7:46 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Gadgets, TechnologyNO! One of my favorite Internet devices, and one of the first Internet of Things, and MY personal (technically my daughter Sarah’s) first Internet appliance, the Nabaztag later renamed Karotz, is dead.
Karotz was the predecessor to Jibo, Philips Hue lighting, and the Amazon Echo doing such feats as reading text messages aloud to you, reading RSS feeds, indicating the weather through color changing LEDs, allowing your connected friends to interact with you by manipulating your rabbit via sounds, spinning ears, spoken words, and flashing lights.
Thank you Philip, the Blue Sloth, for introducing me to the Nabaztag, and for the fun interactions we had from house to house. Two strangers in real life, friends in a virtual world, who met through blogging, and sent spontaneous spoken messages to each other through an electronic rabbit. That connection was severed when support ended for Nabaztag v1. Our digital world has an innate ability to conquer physical, emotional, political, religious, socioeconomic, and other divides. This rabbit did just that.
"Originally launched on the market in 2005 under the name of Nabaztag, Karotz has been a pioneer in the field of connected and communicating devices.
The very active community around this rabbit has widely contributed to make it so popular.Today, nearly 10 years after its first appearance, Karotz is facing a very strong technological competition: the connected devices are now 4G, mobile and evolutionary. Karotz and its users have not only helped establish connected devices; they have paved the way. New products make a stronger match to market needs, marking the end of Karotz’s great story.
To keep on offering you innovative and endearing companions, Aldebaran is refocusing on our core business: humanoid robots.
Therefore Karotz’s servers and customer service will be stopped on February 18th, 2015.
Bruno Maisonnier,
Aldebaran CEO"
http://karotz.com/
- Philip’s latest works can be found at The Griffin Series.
- Buy the Philips Hue lighting system at Amazon
.
Why did I buy a Macbook Pro? November 9, 2014 10:34 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Hardware, TechnologyI bought a Macbook Pro because in the time it took my Windows laptop to install 3 updates and reboot I used the Macbook Pro to install a security certificate, troubleshoot a malfunctioning website, create a test database and remove that test database, and a bit more. Is the PC laptop old? In all fairness, it is 4 years old so it is at the end of its life. None-the-less, this Macbook Pro kicks butt!
add a commentMissed moments November 4, 2014 7:25 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Family, Of Being Dad, Software, TechnologyChildren grow too fast. And we have too much to do in too little time. I see things on the Internet and I am deeply moved. Often, I am moved to sadness. For instance, this video (h/t Victor Agreda Jr) is a fantastic means to explain an open API to someone. As I watch it, I feel a giddiness over the explanation and the hopes of using it to explain APIs to my children, and I feel a heaviness in my chest, for I have never played War, or many card games, with my children.
add a commentNASA was not responsible for the Antares rocket explosion October 28, 2014 9:45 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : TechnologyFor everyone about to declare that NASA needs to hand space launches over to private industry like Space X because of the Antares rocket explosion, please make yourself aware that the Antares rocket was built by a private corporation and the launch was staffed by that same private corporation.
“NASA didn’t build it, or launch it. The entire thing was handled by the commercial company Orbital Sciences Corporation.”
https://www.orbital.com/
See also: http://www.nasa.gov/mission…/…/structure/launch/orbital.html
and
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
Reflector vs AirServer vs ?? October 26, 2014 10:17 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Software, TechnologySo 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?
add a commentMy foray into the Cult of Jobs October 26, 2014 10:11 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Hardware, Software, TechnologyWhen 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.
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