Rage Against The Mac

I’ve updated my Flickr Bookmarklets that I originally introduced in January ‘06. They’ve now got their own page, and I’ll make changes and updates there.

New Hampshire seems to be the land of the personalized license plate. They’re fairly inexpensive ($30/year over the normal registration cost), so you see them nearly everywhere. The other night I saw a SINNER being chased by a SINGER and a DANCER. And on the way to work today I saw LSNCPL8. SCRAT and MATER seem so tame, by comparision…

I’m loving iSquint for converting videos to formats that are QuickTime and/or iPod friendly, but was frustrated with the inability to open videos with it from the Finder (right-click, “Open With”). A little hacking of the Info.plist and a rebuild of LaunchServices and I’m in business.

First, make a backup of iSquint.app/Contents/Info.plist and then open the original with either Property List Editor or your favorite editor (TextMate, in my case). Now, modify the CFBundleTypeExtensions array (reference) so that it has the video extensions you wish to handle. Looking at VLC, I came up with the following (for the entire CFBundleTypeExtensions key):

    <key>CFBundleDocumentTypes</key>
    <array>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>3gp</string>
                <string>avi</string>
                <string>mov</string>
                <string>mp4</string>
                <string>mpeg</string>
                <string>mpg</string>
                <string>wmv</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>DocumentType</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Editor</string>
        </dict>
    </array>

I’m not sure how long it would take for this to appear in the Finder normally, but I had to rebuild the LaunchServices database anyway. Once that was done, I was in business!

Out with the old, and in with the new. Except that the old wasn’t that old, and one of the new isn’t that new.

Goodbye Sputnik, Hello Scrat

On Friday, I traded in my ‘05 MCS (Sputnik) and brought home an ‘06 MCS (Scrat). I’d been toying with the idea of upgrading as I neared the end of the maintenance period and saw the end of the factory warranty looming in another six months (and about three years before paying off the car). I’d also had enough little problems with Sputnik that I thought I’d try my luck with a new car. Due to a snafu with the DMV, the new car’s not getting driven (much), but I should have that sorted out tomorrow. Initial impressions are fantastic, of course; it’s starting to limber up and I can’t wait ‘til the break-in’s done. There’s not yet a single rattle and I’m hoping it’ll stay that way for a little while.

Yet another Jeep

I picked up a used 1999 Jeep Cherokee last month.

Mater’s got about 143,000 miles on him and will need a little love to get back into tip-top shape, but I’m enjoying having something to wrench on. The body’s in good shape, the engine’s strong, and the four-wheel-drive system works, and those were my primary criteria. It’s a luxury to have a 2nd vehicle, but I really enjoy having something that I won’t freak out about if the dogs get a foot print on the seat or if it picks up (another) scratch. Mater is the sixth Jeep I’ve driven regularly (the first four were my dad’s), and it feels kind of like coming back home. If nothing else, I’m familiar with all the work that’ll have to be done on this one!

I also started putting together a set of pages to keep track of what I’m going with my small fleet of dino juice guzzler.

Three weeks in New Hampshire and two MINI events under my belt. Yeah, I think this is gonna work out ok.

Today MINI of Peabody hosted their 2nd annual “Get Into It” driving event. It was a sort of customer appreciation event for them, but, as seems to be the norm around here, MINI, Mini, and general auto enthusiasts came out of the woodwork. The main draw was an autocross run by the Boston BMWCCA chapter. This was only my 3rd autocross, but I think it was the most fun. Although it was done entirely in 1st gear, it still felt fast and wasn’t so technical that it wasn’t fun. Not that it was easy, mind you: there were plenty of abused cones, and at least one car that tried to go through the finish gate sideways….

I had a blast and got to hang out with Dave, Josh, Sam, Sheena, Brent, Jason, and, of course, Jezzebel. I think my best time was down around 22.1 or 22.0 seconds, but I couldn’t seem to break 22.220 after lunch. I even got to be a passenger in my own car when Sheena took the wheel for a few. I’m not sure if I should be happy or humbled that she turned her fastest time in my car.

More photos in this set on Flickr

Also, the thread on MINI2, and Sheena’s pics.

... “as a Christian Web Developer, I must say [bla bla bla, nothing related to religion at all].”

What, pray tell, is a “Christian Web Developer”?

Do you cry out “Jesus saves!” before saving your code?

“Praise the Lord” with every semicolon?

“Amen!” when compiling might be apt, however…

Zach suggests every variable begins with “WWJD_”.

More on these later…

These guys are starting to piss me off.

Both Web and IMAP services are failing to authenticate. Grrrr.

Or $3.059/gallon. A full tank of MINI go juice. Thank God I can afford it; I’m sure there are a ton of people who are putting less food on the table just so they can go to work.

Oh, and this is the “sale price” that the Marathon gas station does on Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Something like 1, 2 and 3¢ off per gallon on Wednesdays and premium for the same prices as mid-grade on Sunday and Monday.

Tonight’s storm left behind some beautiful clouds.