AlexH

Sony TVs run Linux

admin — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:01:00 +0000

Someone posted this link on the VanLUG mailing list. Very interesting!

The following products incorporate software covered by the terms of the GNU General Public License and/or GNU Lesser General Public License, as specified in the software listing below.

Sourdough is frothy!

admin — Fri, 16 May 2008 04:20:27 +0000

I wish I could take a picture but I can’t figure how to make Tracy’s stupid camera focus. I changed my strategy with the sourdough to feed it every twelve hours, and keep it in the closet where our hot water tank is. Much better! Today after work I came home to a bubbly, frothy, sour batter. I scooped out 1 cup to save in the fridge for pizza shells. For the feed on Friday night I’m going to save some for pancakes on Saturday morning. After that, I hope the starter will be proofed enough that it can live in the fridge and fed weekly.

Anyone want some starter? I’ve have more than enough now!

Square Foot Garden 2008 is underway

admin — Wed, 14 May 2008 02:44:16 +0000

My apologies to anyone who subscribes to my blog for gardening related posts, I’ve been neglecting this blog, and the garden. But here’s a note on my progress so far this year.

After my shopping spree at Seedy Saturday Vancouver, it took me a while, but I got my horseradish and Jerusalem artichokes potted up. They are living in containers on the patio. I’ve left a Brussels sprout plant from last year, and it is going to seed already. I doubt that I’ll plant the seeds, but it’s fun to watch.

The Square Foot Garden in Tracy’s parents’ backyard has been cleaned up, but it needs a refresher of compost. I cleaned out the compost bin already, but it needs some more. I’ve got a bucket of coffee grounds from my office that is going to go into the compost, but it won’t be enough, so I’ll probably have to buy some.

So far, I have planted onion and leek starts, and moved the parsley that survived the winter into their new squares. Some seeds have gone in as well: spinach, peas, chard, and carrots. They’ve sprouted and are doing fine. My only problem is that I lost my notepaper that I wrote down where I planted things. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to let things grow enough to know what is a weed.

This weekend I’ll be buying some seedlings, and putting the rest of the seeds in.

Making sourdough

admin — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:44:12 +0000

My mom brought me back a sourdough starter kit from her trip to Alaska. I finally got around to starting it on Sunday. It was a dry mix so all I needed to do was mix it with some flour and water, and let it sit. I’ve been researching how it’s done, and it seems like most people are starting from scratch, with a multi-day process of feeding. Some people recommended finding locally grown organic grapes to jumpstart the local yeasts. I’m happy with a ready mix for now.

It’s been brewing in a plastic container for the past couple of days, and I’ve stirred it a couple of times, and fed it once already. Hooch has formed on top, although it hasn’t been as bubbly as I expected. It’s now in the fridge. I’m going to make a loaf in the breadmaker tomorrow, since I’m working from home. I hope it turns out ok!

I have a feeling I’m going to be sending containers of starter home with anyone who comes to visit us.

Garden update

admin — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:53:59 +0000

It’s been a busy time here as Tracy has gone back to work 2.25 days a week, but I have managed to do some gardening in my spare time.

I cleaned up my existing 3 squares in the garden and direct seeded a few cold weather crops like spinach, peas, and chard. I also moved some parsley plants around and was happy to see that they survived the move. I’ve also transplanted some store bought leeks and onion seedlings… the cashier at Gardenworks smelled them before putting them in the bag, then apologized, ‘Sorry, I’ll stop smelling your purchases now’. Ok, thanks.

I started some other plants from seed. A bunch of herbs, but it looks like they aren’t germinating. That’s ok, the seeds were about 5 years old. The cucumbers look like they have been the most successful, and I will probably need to pot them up this weekend.

That’s all for now, I hope to get some seedlings next week and get them planted for the long weekend.

The HD PVR is out!

alexh — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:47:21 +0000

Been looking forward to this coming out. Now all I need is an HD source.
HD PVR Product overview

HD PVR is the world’s first High-Definition video recorder for making real-time H.264 compressed recordings at resolutions up to 1080i. HD-PVR records component video (YCrCb) from cable TV and satellite set top boxes, with a built-in IR blaster to automatically change TV channels for scheduled recordings. Audio is recorded using AAC or Dolby Digital.

Eliminate the penny in Canada

alexh — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:43:42 +0000

My grandpa would have been happy to see this story.

MP to introduce bill to eliminate the penny

A Winnipeg MP who thinks the penny is a nuisance and too expensive to ship around the country is expected to introduce a private member’s bill on Monday to take it out of circulation.

It makes sense for a variety of reasons:

Inflation: Prices are increasing, and there are few things that you can buy for a penny now. What you can buy for a penny is generally not sold in single units.
Metal prices: Metal prices increase over time (again due to inflation) and you get into a situation where the coins are worth more melted down than they are as currency.

The article brings up an interesting note that I doubt my grandfather ever considered: electronic payments. Transactions that are done with debit or credit cards would not be rounded to 5 cents, they would round to the penny. But this begs the question, what should we round transactions to? Computers can handle large numbers of decimal places, so why round to the penny? We shouldn’t round the amounts for any transactions that are done electronically.

Replacement firmware for Canon cameras

alexh — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:42:40 +0000

This is fantastic! I’m not a camera buff but I love hearing about people hacking their devices to add features that would never get included into a commercial product. Playing Reversi on your digital camera is such a cool idea.

CHDK in Brief - CHDK Wiki

CHDK is a firmware enhancement that operates on a number of Canon Cameras. CHDK gets loaded into your camera’s memory upon bootup (either manually or automatically). It provides additional functionality beyond that currently provided by the native camera firmware.

News clip about my work

alexh — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:25:17 +0000

Creepy: body parts washing ashore in the Gulf Islands

alexh — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 17:58:23 +0000

Having spent many summer days ‘beachcoming’ after a storm, I’ve found lots of cool things, but this would be really creepy:

Another mysterious right foot floats ashore in Gulf Islands

For the third time in six months, a right foot wearing a sneaker has washed up on the shores of the Gulf Islands, in the Strait of Georgia.

The latest foot was found on the east side of Valdez Island, near Nanaimo.

Last August two other right feet, both male and both wearing size 12 sneakers, washed ashore on nearby Gabriola and Jedediah Islands.