A Weekend Project

This weekend, I finished the bulk of the work of a long-standing project I had been pondering. I had all sorts of data lying around on my desktop machine that I didn’t want to lose. Photos, videos, school assignments, and the like. I wanted to be able to back up multiple machines and be able to synchronize my documents, especially while I was using my laptop. Knowing what I wanted to do, and being the IT control freak I am, I chose to build out a home storage appliance. I thought I would share my build process.

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It’s a Small World After All…

I spend a lot of time talking about technology on this blog, specifically the computerized variety. One of my other favorite interests is Disney. The parks, the man, the magic. While checking out the Disney Parks Blog and their year-in-review posts, I found this amazing video about a day in the life of the Magic Kingdom, as if recreating the day in miniature…

Looking closely, you can see that the people in the video are not repeated or cloned… These were actual photos taken in time-lapse using a technique and lens called tilt-shift photography to create the effect of seeing the landscape as a miniature.

There are a couple of other videos like this on the same site, one detailing a visit to Epcot and one featuring one of the Disney Cruise Line ships.

Check Out My High Score…

It’s been a while since the event, but I thought I would recommend an event for anyone who enjoys pop culture, classical music, or video games.  Video Games Live came to Columbus back in April.  While I won’t go into a lot of detail about the structure of the show, I will say it was a blast.

For a soundtrack fan like myself, the concert had a great blend of music from the old classics like medleys of the music from the Mario and Zelda series to contemporary classics such as Halo and World of Warcraft.

This show was a bit unique, for me.  First of all, the amazing pianist Martin Leung performed live at the show.  Using the 3-story pipe organ in Mershon Auditorium, he played a suite of music from Castlevania.  For some recorded bits before he began touring with VGL, check out what is available on Google Video.  Notice that he is playing blindfolded to start with.

I would like to go back to the show.  It’s nearest touring to my area is in Fort Wayne in February.

Of course, this isn’t the only concert of its kind.  Other video game concerts have run the world over, but VGL is the biggest domestic concert series.  One of it’s brethren is Distant Worlds: Final Fantasy. While VGL spends time in all sorts of genres of music and games, Distant Worlds is focused specifically on the Final Fantasy series of games. The next concert is in Stockholm Sweden in December.  In the US, the show is coming to Chicago in March.

Both concerts really appeal to me, and I would love to go to both.  We’ll see.  I would need to take a half a day off of work, at least, to get to VGL in Ft. Wayne.  It is on a Friday night, while Distant Worlds is on a Saturday.

What is your favorite soundtrack?  Video game?  Movie?  Would anyone else reading this consider attending a VGL concert?

Starting Another New Job

Well, the absence from this blog has not been without good cause. For the last few months at MCPR, we saw quite a bit interesting happenings, resulting in our being locked out. While this is normally a bad thing, it has been of great benefit to me.

After the closing of MCPR, a group of us entered negotiations with MT Business Technologies, a company whose services are in great demand in the area. After a few short days, we have come to an amicable opportunity. As of today, I have begun working at the company. While I can’t give a lot of detail, for confidentiality reasons, I will say that I am starting by helping the Sales Support staff with their workload, learning to write specifications, scope of work, and other related documents, in MT’s preferred fashion.

I hope to expand into new territories and help the company become even more profitable than it already has become, and I look forward to many years of opportunity to exercise my current and growing skillset.

Starting a Podcast/Netcast

I have been wanting to start a podcast for a very long time, inspired by what Leo Laporte does with TWiT and with what my parents did educating people. So, I spent some time thinking about a focus for the show and decided to start a podcast for people who are wishing to learn more about Linux. The Linux Enthusiasts’ Podcast recorded its first rehearsal podcast today (yes, on April Fool’s Day) to get a feel for the amount of material to need to fill 30-60 minutes.

For the most part, I would like to spend the time answering anyone’s Linux questions. But I thought I would include some weekly news, and I want to include two applications per week, one graphical and one text-based.

To get help with any conundrums, email len@nosbig.net. I want to hear from people before and during the podcast. I will probably post the rehearsal after I edit it down a little. There were a few spots where my ADD got the best of me and I repeated myself or I had to pause a moment to collect my thoughts. I thought I had prepared sufficiently for this episode, but clearly not.