Entries from January 2007 ↓

Today I finally fixed my DJ headphones. The plug end had a bad connection. Having headphones give out, even if it is just one channel, is No Good when you are playing live. I thought I better fix it before KiwiBurn.

Anyhow, what follows is a brief description of how to do so.

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Today I finally fixed my DJ headphones. The plug end had a bad connection. Having headphones give out, even if it is just one channel, is No Good when you are playing live. I thought I better fix it before KiwiBurn. Anyhow, what follows is a brief description of how to do so. My headphones are Sony's MDR-Z700 DJ model. These are apparently exactly the same as the V700 in the States and elsewhere, except they are from the Asian market. I'm pretty sure there are no major differences. You will need: Solder iron Solder Pliers that can snip A craft knife A lighter A replacement jack plug (make sure it is stereo!) For me the break in the cable was just near the plug. Which I determined by moving the cable round while listening. Take the pliers and snip the old plug off. You should be able to see three wires inside the cable. A red (Right channel), white (Left channel), and black (Common/ground) one. Use the craft knife to remove the outer casing of the cable. I found there was a very rubbery outside one, that was thin and black. Then inside that was another black plastic one. Free the 3 small wires so that you have 1-2cm available. Now you can try and scrape the coloured covers off the small wires to expose the actual copper, OR you can do what I do, which is use a lighter to burn the plastic off (just beware that it catches alight and you have to blow it out!). I read the wire is coated in special plastic to stop breaks happening, but this makes it hard to solder. The lighter burns off this plastic seal (See more here). You then need to put the appropriate spring/screw cover for the replacement jack plug over the wire. So that once you solder the wires to the main jack plug, you can just slide the cover over and screw it in place. Mine also had a plastic sleeve for the inside that needs to go on the cable. Once you've slid those on, you have to solder the wires to the plug. Best to tin both the plug connections and wires first I think. Also read about soldering somewhere if you are unsure about it. The white (Left) cable goes to the central pin as the plug tip is for the left channel. The next section of the plug is the right channel and goes to the middle pin, and the large pin is the common/ground connection. I made a crappy diagram to show you where they are: Hopefully, if you now slide on the covers and plug it in, everything should work! Disclaimer: I cannot be responsible for any damage you cause. Whether it is due to you just breaking your headphones, voiding any warranty you have, or burning down your house. This is purely an account of my experience.

In case you all didn’t all ready know:

Supreme Commander is a new game coming out 23rd Feb and designed by the maker of Total Annihilation.

I hope it is just a fraction as good as TA, and then it’ll still be pretty awesome.

In case you all didn't all ready know: Supreme Commander is a new game coming out 23rd Feb and designed by the maker of Total Annihilation. I hope it is just a fraction as good as TA, and then it'll still be pretty awesome.

Only religion could come up with such screwed up behaviour:

2000 pigs as sacrifice to deity General Chao of Wudeh temple. Even if you’re not vegetarian, the sheer scale of waste is stupid, each marketable pig requires 280 kg of feed. That’s 560 tonnes of feed for a non-existent deity. Yay humans, masters of screwing the world.

The Hor-ror

Only religion could come up with such screwed up behaviour: 2000 pigs as sacrifice to deity General Chao of Wudeh temple. Even if you're not vegetarian, the sheer scale of waste is stupid, each marketable pig requires 280 kg of feed. That's 560 tonnes of feed for a non-existent deity. Yay humans, masters of screwing the world. The Hor-ror

This is mainly for Bob if he hasn’t already seen it, but others might enjoy it too.

Celestia – It is the most awesome planeterium software ever. Particularly because of the addons you can get.

This is mainly for Bob if he hasn't already seen it, but others might enjoy it too. Celestia - It is the most awesome planeterium software ever. Particularly because of the addons you can get.

I have a question which the internet/google didn’t immediately answer for me.

I have a really nice Microsoft (I know that sounds like an oxymoron) USB mouse, but unfortunately the USB cord has given up on it around the plug. My question is thus: Is there anyway of salvaging a mouse that is perfectly fine except for the cable? Is a USB cable able to be repaired at all? I bought a cheap and nasty replacement mouse. But it is cheap and nasty, and so tiny compared to the full bodiedness of the MS one I have. The only upside the the new mouse is that it has a higher sampling rate, which I don’t really care about because I’m more concerned with tendinitis.

I seem to be having lots of trouble with cables, even though I try and be careful with them!

(My expensive DJ headphones have a cable problem. I’ve bought a replacement plug and will try splicing the cable to it, but the headphone is by Sony and they use weird coating on the wires to supposedly stop them from breaking so easily).

I have a question which the internet/google didn't immediately answer for me. I have a really nice Microsoft (I know that sounds like an oxymoron) USB mouse, but unfortunately the USB cord has given up on it around the plug. My question is thus: Is there anyway of salvaging a mouse that is perfectly fine except for the cable? Is a USB cable able to be repaired at all? I bought a cheap and nasty replacement mouse. But it is cheap and nasty, and so tiny compared to the full bodiedness of the MS one I have. The only upside the the new mouse is that it has a higher sampling rate, which I don't really care about because I'm more concerned with tendinitis. I seem to be having lots of trouble with cables, even though I try and be careful with them! (My expensive DJ headphones have a cable problem. I've bought a replacement plug and will try splicing the cable to it, but the headphone is by Sony and they use weird coating on the wires to supposedly stop them from breaking so easily).

Obviously I overestimated how popular I’d be on the internets.

Still it’s good to have leeway, and I still have several more sites to host. Such as AmplifyMe and YourOI.com.

Also when my White Elephant radio show starts up in February, I’m going to record them and post them on my JetPilot site. I suspect they might downloaded a fair bit if I’m broadcasting their availability to most of Christchurch. Plus there is a steady increase in the number of visitors downloading my mixes. Yay!

Also my first live (in front of an audience that is, I’ve played live on radio) DJ gig is going to be at KiwiBurn. Rock!

Obviously I overestimated how popular I'd be on the internets. :P Disk Space: 627.00 MB of 100000.00 MB (0.63%) Bandwidth: 1314.00 MB of 1000000.00 MB (0.13%) Still it's good to have leeway, and I still have several more sites to host. Such as AmplifyMe and YourOI.com. Also when my White Elephant radio show starts up in February, I'm going to record them and post them on my JetPilot site. I suspect they might downloaded a fair bit if I'm broadcasting their availability to most of Christchurch. Plus there is a steady increase in the number of visitors downloading my mixes. Yay! Also my first live (in front of an audience that is, I've played live on radio) DJ gig is going to be at KiwiBurn. Rock!

I just finished watching the 5 hours mini-series entitled the Children of Dune. The only Dune book I read was the original, which I really enjoyed but haven’t gotten around to reading anymore – thus I have some background on Dune, but can’t compare how the series relates to the book.

It’s a good thing I had read Dune, otherwise I’d have been a bit lost. They really don’t explain much about what is going on and I didn’t quite understand exactly where everyone was, but I at least had the background story so could still enjoy it. The casting of characters in my opinion was excellent, particular Lady Jessica, Duncan Idaho, and Gurney Halleck – since they matched how I envisioned them while reading Dune.

The story itself seemed very rushed, and I felt I only got a small amount of the experience of actually reading the book.

Apparently the series won a visual effects award or something. While the scope and amount of effects needed to portray Arrakis, the worms, etc. properly is immense, the are not that great. Some of the scenes felt like they were created for an FMV adventure video game.

So I’d give it 6.5/10 tonnes of spice. It could have been MUCH worse, and I still enjoyed the overall experience.

I just finished watching the 5 hours mini-series entitled the Children of Dune. The only Dune book I read was the original, which I really enjoyed but haven't gotten around to reading anymore - thus I have some background on Dune, but can't compare how the series relates to the book. It's a good thing I had read Dune, otherwise I'd have been a bit lost. They really don't explain much about what is going on and I didn't quite understand exactly where everyone was, but I at least had the background story so could still enjoy it. The casting of characters in my opinion was excellent, particular Lady Jessica, Duncan Idaho, and Gurney Halleck - since they matched how I envisioned them while reading Dune. The story itself seemed very rushed, and I felt I only got a small amount of the experience of actually reading the book. Apparently the series won a visual effects award or something. While the scope and amount of effects needed to portray Arrakis, the worms, etc. properly is immense, the are not that great. Some of the scenes felt like they were created for an FMV adventure video game. So I'd give it 6.5/10 tonnes of spice. It could have been MUCH worse, and I still enjoyed the overall experience.

“For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can’t readily accept the God formula, the big answers don’t remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command or faith a dictum. I am my own God. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.”

– Charles Bukowski

"For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can't readily accept the God formula, the big answers don't remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command or faith a dictum. I am my own God. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us." -- Charles Bukowski

Back in September 2006 I posted a survey to the SL4 mailing list hoping to determine the demographics of the list, since a few people were wondering just who was reading, and who was interested in the Singularity.

Sl4 is a mailing list for high technology ideas. SL stands for Shock Level, which categorises technology based on the amount of “future shock” it generates in individuals. Shock Level 4 essential represents the Singularity (Jupiter Brains, Powers, complete mental revision, ultraintelligence, posthumanity, Alpha-Point computing, Apotheosis, the total evaporation of “life as we know it.”).

So, months later (the next year even since it’s 2007 now) I finally got around to compiling the responses and have put together some graphs and observations.

SL4 Demographics Survey Results

Back in September 2006 I posted a survey to the SL4 mailing list hoping to determine the demographics of the list, since a few people were wondering just who was reading, and who was interested in the Singularity. Sl4 is a mailing list for high technology ideas. SL stands for Shock Level, which categorises technology based on the amount of "future shock" it generates in individuals. Shock Level 4 essential represents the Singularity (Jupiter Brains, Powers, complete mental revision, ultraintelligence, posthumanity, Alpha-Point computing, Apotheosis, the total evaporation of "life as we know it."). So, months later (the next year even since it's 2007 now) I finally got around to compiling the responses and have put together some graphs and observations. SL4 Demographics Survey Results

The post is a list of singularity-related material, even if it is quite tenuously connected.

Some of these contributions were made along with comments by PJ Manney after some discussion on AGIRI‘s singularity mailing list.

Songs

DJ Quicksilver – “Planet Love” (trance tune with an invitation to all of humanity to voyage to planet love – the introdus perhaps?).
David Bowie – “Saviour Machine” (a machine built to solve everyone’s problems gets bored)
Paul Kantner/Jefferson Airplane – “Crowns of Creation”
Yes – “Machine Messiah”
Papa Roach – “Singular Indestructible Droid”
U2 – “Original of the Species” (okay, I know it’s supposed to be about The Edge’s daughter or something, but YOU tell me what it’s about…)
David Bowie – “Ashes to Ashes”
Marilyn Manson – “Posthuman”
Bunnyhug – “Posthuman Man”
Vesania – “Path II – the Posthuman Kind” (Polish death metal…!)
Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber – “More Than Posthuman – Rise of the Mojosexual Cotillion” (winner of the best H+ album title)

Albums
Cyanotic – the album Transhuman

Music groups
Posthuman
Flaming Lips
Thomas Dolby
Our Lady Peace
Cursor Miner
Hawkwind

TV Shows

Look around you (season 2) – Computers – Bournemouth the super computer is placed in a iron cage and has to escape. It tries several tricks to get the presenters to let it out – and eventually replaces itself with a paper mache version and escapes through undescribed means to have a holiday in Bournemouth.

More to come as a come across them.

The post is a list of singularity-related material, even if it is quite tenuously connected. Some of these contributions were made along with comments by PJ Manney after some discussion on AGIRI's singularity mailing list. Songs DJ Quicksilver - "Planet Love" (trance tune with an invitation to all of humanity to voyage to planet love - the introdus perhaps?). David Bowie - "Saviour Machine" (a machine built to solve everyone's problems gets bored) Paul Kantner/Jefferson Airplane - "Crowns of Creation" Yes - "Machine Messiah" Papa Roach - "Singular Indestructible Droid" U2 - "Original of the Species" (okay, I know it's supposed to be about The Edge's daughter or something, but YOU tell me what it's about...) David Bowie - "Ashes to Ashes" Marilyn Manson - "Posthuman" Bunnyhug - "Posthuman Man" Vesania - "Path II - the Posthuman Kind" (Polish death metal...!) Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber - "More Than Posthuman - Rise of the Mojosexual Cotillion" (winner of the best H+ album title) Albums Cyanotic - the album Transhuman Music groups Posthuman Flaming Lips Thomas Dolby Our Lady Peace Cursor Miner Hawkwind TV Shows Look around you (season 2) - Computers - Bournemouth the super computer is placed in a iron cage and has to escape. It tries several tricks to get the presenters to let it out - and eventually replaces itself with a paper mache version and escapes through undescribed means to have a holiday in Bournemouth. More to come as a come across them.