Saturday, May 31, 2008

tweet.pl and stweet.pl

Although not my creations really, these two scripts using Net::Twitter are immensely useful for my Twitter account.

tweet.pl

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use warnings;
use utf8;
use Net::Twitter;


scalar @ARGV >= 2 || die "Usage: $0 username:password message\n";
my ($username, $password) = split(/:/, shift @ARGV);

my $twit = Net::Twitter->new(username => $username, password => $password);
my $result = $twit->update(shift @ARGV);

This one reads from stdin:

stweet.pl

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use warnings;
use utf8;
use Net::Twitter;


scalar @ARGV >= 2 || die "Usage: $0 username password\n";
my ($username, $password) = @ARGV;

my $status = '';
($status .= $_ ) while(<STDIN>);
chomp($status);

my $twit = Net::Twitter->new(username => $username, password => $password);
my $result = $twit->update($status);

Friday, May 30, 2008

恋道 - aiko

I'm not sure why, but 恋道 (こいみち, koi michi, "Love Road") sounds a whole lot like some of those oldies songs I've listened to in the past. I like that fact a lot.

また1から始めましょう 少しあなたとはぎこちない間柄
逢えなかった月日こそが 二人を試した大切なものだったのかも

ああ‥離れて ああ‥離れて 心細い
余裕がないそんな日もあるけれど

※ニ人には言葉もある 声も写真も文字も
遠距離を埋める様に
呼吸で聞かせて愛の程
電気消して話そう※

出逢った頃は挨拶が出来ただけで幸せだった間柄
あなたが抱きしめてくれた時
これは夢だと思う程 嬉しかった

ああ‥愛して ああ‥愛して 言い出せない
根拠のない不安が育ってく

上手く伝えられない 胸の素直に背き
満月は欠けてゆく
次はちゃんと好きって言おう
繰り返す恋道

ああ‥離れて ああ‥離れて 心細いんだってば
余裕がないそんな日もあるけれど

(※くり返し)

Everything Back to Normal

All of the issues from last weekend have been resolved...as of last weekend. I've still been out of it, so this post is late:

  • Paladin: With the PSU replaced, it runs just fine with the 8800 GS, albeit more loudly than before. I finally got around to setting up the 32-bit chroot for compiling libraries needed for 32-bit programs in x86 mode.
  • Blueflash: I can't even remember if I mentioned this, but a world upgrade on Blueflash brought in OpenRC. This caused the init system to fail spectacularly, to the point where I had to start all services manually with an Awk script, and have the system shut down without stopping them. I did ask for help at the Gentoo forums, but ended up just reinstalling the entire system. Thankfully, I keep /home mounted in a separate partition and managed to save nearly all of my settings. The install took 3 days to compile everything, and fixed an issue where my system HW clock woludn't get set on shutdown: it was a kernel config change. Now, it's as though nothing has changed, except everything's up-to-date.

It's good to have things back to normal.

Friday, May 23, 2008

eVGA GeForce 8800 GS Kills Paladin

My father gave me a GeForce 8800 GS video card today. I was overjoyed, since that meant that both of my primary desktops gets a discrete card. Unfortunately, things didn't work out so well.

First off, I put the card into Superflex, the primary desktop with an Athlon X2, and found out the card prevents it from POSTing. After discussing it with my father, I decided to put the 8600 back into the machine. Fortunately, it went back to the way it was before.

Paladin, the secondary desktop with a Phenom X4, wasn't so lucky. At first, I put the 8600 from Superflex in there, and it worked just fine without a hiccup. After I put the 8600 back into Superflex, I put the 8800 GS in there. It booted okay, and got to loading the kernel and starting init. However, when it came to udev's probing devices, the machine powered off, leaving the power light on. Even after taking the card out and switching it back to integrated (GeForce 6150) graphics, it still does the same, leaving me without Paladin.

I'm not sure what to do about this, but I suspect the power supply. Until I go out and buy one, there's nothing I can do.

Monday, May 19, 2008

スタート・ライン - 平原綾香

I purchased two CDs this past weekend, and found that I really like スタート・ライン ("Start Line"), a very peaceful and orchestral piece:

花のやさしさも 海の果てない深さも
僕は知ってる ただ、他の誰よりも
愛されることを知らないだけ

ビルの隙間から見えた大きな太陽は
涙でにじんだ僕を透かして
悲しみを空へ帰した

走り続けたい どんなに傷ついても
いつか僕は新しい スタート・ラインに立つ
走り続けたい どんなことがあっても
神さまがくれた スタート・ラインだから

電線にからまった雲がちぎれてゆく
なぜ あの時、強く抱き締めて
微笑んであげられなかった?

もしも許されるのなら 失ったあの日に戻って
後悔が残したこの両手で もうひとりにはさせない

※守り続けたい 愛がここにある
いつか僕は新しい スタート・ラインに立つ
走り続けたい どんなことがあっても
神様がくれた スタート・ラインだから※

(※くり返し)

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Marriage Proposal on CT (2005)

Well, this is unique. I've heard about the man who asked to marry another on Metro, but apparently Community Transit did something similar in 2005. Of course, Metro made it into the newspaper whereas nobody noticed CT, aside from those at the Lynnwood Transit Center.

Community Transit

It looks like Community Transit has new buses running, the 28100 series. These are the first new local buses since 1999. As far as I can tell, they're of the New Flyer D40LFR type, and feature amber signs in lieu of the green that is common to the local fleet. They may even have air conditioning, as the one I saw had a large grille instead of a window at the back. Something really strange was that the numbering on the back is vertical, not horizontal like the rest.

I wanted to take a photo, but by the time I got my cell phone out, it was already pulling away. Hopefully I'll get a chance to ride one of these sometime soon.


It's hard to say, but it may have to do with these:

Sunday, May 11, 2008

学校 - aiko

Today, I just received aiko's newest album, 秘密. I've been listening to it for a while, and the song called 学校 (がっこう, gakkou, "School") really caught my attention, mainly due to the jazzy feel with horn accompaniment.

朝9時 雲が前へ進む あたしも家を出る
朝10時 トンネル抜けたら雲が太陽に変わってた

心も体も消えてしまう時はボロボロになっていたい
そうやって生きて想いたいの

※今日はちゃんと学校に行って 靴箱まで走るんだ
友達の事 これからの事 大好きなあなたの事
考える時間はそんなに無いから※

強めに縛った靴紐解いて 魔法を掛けてみる
久しぶり 両手で抱えたカバン 底にある傷の跡

「自転車を貸して」教室飛び込んであなたに言ったの
言葉は心を動かした

腐りかけそうになってしまう程 本当はただ好きなんだ
赤白青紫黄緑 声を枯らし灼けた頬
忘れない あなたが輝いてるから

少し遅れてしまったけど 少し日射しが強くなった
少しだけあたしも晴れた気がした
生まれて初めて こんなに逢いたい

(※くり返し)

Friday, May 9, 2008

iPod Video Back/粉雪は忘れ薬 - 中島みゆき

My iPod Video is back, and I've already put RockBox and my songs back on it. Unfortunately, I've lost a few scripts I'll have to rewrite, but it likely won't be too much of a pain. If I recall, I've already put some of them up here. The new default RockBox theme is pretty nice, but it needs some work before I can use it without being a bit annoyed. I'll likely fix it tonight.

I've noticed that I haven't posted much lately, and this is mainly because it's the week of midterms and because of the rut my life is in right now. Here's a song (粉雪は忘れ薬: こなゆきはわすれぐるし, konayuki wa wasuregusuri, "Powdered Snow is Forgetting Medicine") that I've been listening to a lot on my 4G iPod while the Video's been out of service:

忘れなけりゃならないことを
忘れながら人は生きるよ
無理して笑っても 無理してふざけても
意地悪な風 意地悪な雨
忘れさせて優しい日々を
忘れさせて楽しい人を
足音? 車の停まる音?
間違えながら待ってしまうから
粉雪は忘れ薬
すべての悲しみ消してくれるよ
粉雪は忘れ薬
すべての心の上に積もるよ

遠い町を訪ねてみても
1人きりで暮らしてみても
忘れるための無理は どこかに隙がある
よみがえる風 よみがえる雨
忘れさせて 古い約束
忘れさせて 古い口癖
覚えておこうとしないのに
何かのはずみ 思い出して泣ける
粉雪は忘れ薬
すべての心の上に積もるよ
粉雪は忘れ薬
些細なことほど効き目が悪い

粉雪は忘れ薬
寂しい心の上に積もるよ
粉雪は忘れ薬
すべての心の上に積もるよ
粉雪は忘れ薬
すべての心の上に積もるよ
すべての心の上に積もるよ

Monday, May 5, 2008

iPod 4G Lives Again!

As it turns out, the old RockBox on my iPod 4G was dead, but with some work I was able to install the newest one, get rid of the iPodLinux bootloader (which couldn't find RockBox except via the old method which doesn't work anymore), and install a new RockBox loader. It's more convenient this way, anyway. What's more, I'm glad to have my old iPod up and running, without any loss of data.

Now time to wait for the repairs on my new one.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Indeed it is Down

Well, it looks like the Video is actually down. I accidentally went through the online service procedure, and I'll have to do it via mail rather than the nearby Apple Store. At least I know my 4G is still operating just fine.

iPod Video Down

Well, it looks like my iPod Video is dead. It died in even less time than my old 4G iPod did, and the 4G was a refurbished model. Unfortunately, I'll have to send it in and will have to recreate all of the Perl scripts and playlists on it, other than the scripts posted here. I was thinking about backing it up yesterday too, but never got around to it. Oh, the irony. What's really strange is that my 4G iPod did the same thing (very often) before I installed RockBox on it, and the Video does it even with RockBox.

It wouldn't be so bad if my 4G iPod weren't full (it still runs, I know that), and if my iPod Touch would stop corrupting files on transfer (and weren't so small). Hopefully I'll get a replacement soon, if I can't figure out how to awaken it from its death.

Maybe that's Apple's business model: sell things that break often and regularly and make up for it with decent technical support and warranties.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Nph2

Earlier today, I managed to come across one of the games I wrote quite a while back. Although the versions 0.4.1 and prior aren't very usable, the latest one I found was actually quite a bit of fun: nph2-0.2.1.tar.bz2

It requires NCurses and a G++ to run, but not much else. I need to do some work to make it a bit more fun, but it's usable at the moment.