It’s been a while since I’ve posted to my blog. The reason is a combination of lots of things happening (so I don’t have time or will to blog) or nothing happening (and thus nothing to blog about).
The news in short: I have missed submitting papers to two major conferences, had some medical trouble (more on the US medical system in a separate post), and my postdoc was extended for a second year.
The title of this post does not refer to a mistake by an admirer, but rather to the message my laptop displays shortly after starting up. I have to send it in for repair, and remain laptop-less for 7 business days or more. I’m writing this post from my green OLPC laptop, after I made it work with the encrypted network at home.
Speaking of home. my next visit to Israel is in two months from now. I can’t wait to be back and meet my family and friends.
February 15th, 2008 at 09:34
Posted by
epsalon |
Tech stuff, Academia |
one comment
I know I haven’t blogged in a while. There was not much to write about, and I skipped writing about some interesting stuff, but anyway I have something to write about today.
Last night, as was walking to my car like any other day, except that I had dinner with a visiting professor. I didn’t want to be late so I left half an hour before the meeting, even though it was 5 minutes away from campus. On my way to the car, I keyed in the location into my GPS just to be sure. Trying to type while walking, I dropped my iPAQ (which is also my GPS). The drop did not damage the iPAQ, but it did separate the screen cover and the stylus, which I have easily recovered, and kept on walking. After a few meters, I noticed that the GPS software wouldn’t work. After another try I realized that my miniSD memory card was gone.
Now, you should understand that a miniSD card is only 2cm x 2cm large, about the size of a SIM card. Looking for the card on a sidewalk in the darkness, when I did not know where exactly it fell was not an easy task, and indeed I did not find my card.
As time was running out, I decided to head for dinner, without a functioning GPS. It shouldn’t have been hard since it was basically one right turn in a major intersection. I missed the turn. If I had GPS, I would have known exactly where to go. Being GPSless, I decided to take the next right turn. Unbeknown to me, that road did not intersect with my destination road. Anyway I had to turn several times until I finally reached my destination. Google map of my path.
Today, I looked for my card in daylight and I couldn’t find anything, so I restored my backup into my old 1GB card, which am using now.
Lesson: Always look for your memory card if you drop your phone.
January 11th, 2008 at 03:06
Posted by
epsalon |
Stanford, Daily Life, Tech stuff |
2 comments
I just got my XO laptop from the One Laptop Per Child give one get one program, and I’m happy. It’s a lean green Linux machine and it’s all mine for $423.95 (and one additional laptop was donated to some poor child).
I ordered it a few weeks ago when they announced the program because ever since Zvi Devir’s Haifux talk I wanted to have one. It’s small, relatively lightweight and runs Linux.
December 23rd, 2007 at 05:47
Posted by
epsalon |
Tech stuff |
3 comments
I am experimenting with some photo gallery software. I have just installed Gallery on my hosted server and uploaded my pictures from Mexico including pictures taken by the other travellers on the trip to the pyramids.
You can visit the gallery site at http://gallery.8LN.org/. I will probably upload more photos later.
You can also try an experimental map showing where some pictures were taken using GPS coordinates.
October 4th, 2007 at 06:20
Posted by
epsalon |
Mexico, Tech stuff |
no comments
Yesterday the HP iPAQ I have ordered from eBay has arrived unexpectedly to my office. It was not expected because the US postal service website did not update the details of the delivery.
So, what is this iPAQ you ask. Well, it is a mobile PC slightly larger than a mobile phone. My model includes a full QWERTY keyboard and a touch screen and supports WiFi, cellular, GPS, and bluetooth. It can also hold up to 2GB of flash and be used to surf the web, play music and videos, and to write notes (such as this blog post).
The last day was mostly spent playing with this new toy. The other things I did were send my laptop for warranty service (LCD problems) and pack for my trip to Mexico City. I am writing this post from the Delta crown room in San Francisco airport.
September 29th, 2007 at 02:57
Posted by
epsalon |
Mexico, Tech stuff |
one comment
