Daring rodent shows puzzled leopard exactly who's boss by stealing its lunch

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1190772/What-squeak-Daring-mouse-whos-boss-scares-leopard-steals-lunch.html

Daylight Savings Time

Spring "Spring Forward" > Move clocks forward - lose one hour of time
Fall "Fall Back" > Move clocks backward - gain an hour of time.

Forward references in Verilog

Verilog supports forward references in an odd/different manner.

If you instantiate a module with port connected to a signal line that
you have not declared, Verilog will instantiate a one-bit wire for you.
(and not complain during compile time). This is also true for wrongly
spelled wire names.

If you later attempt to declare the same wire, verilog will complain of
double-declarations.

You can get around this by declaring at the top line of every file
`default_nettype none . This will force verilog to flag all undeclared
wires.

see this thread for more information on this:
http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Comp/comp.lang.verilog/2009-01/msg00023.html

Part select in Verilog

Verilog allows you to declare the ranges of wires of components in
either increasing or decreasing order (0:n] or [n:0].

However, all references in a given system have to follow that same order
- regardless of whether it is a part-select, non-indexed assignment(s) etc.

New homepage template

I have changed the template of my homepage on the university site. My
old template had too much wasted white space down the center for most
content. This template looks more efficient in use of space.

View PDF contents in Vim

From http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Open_PDF_files

To open a PDF file (in readonly mode) add the following lines to your .vimrc

autocmd BufReadPre *.pdf set ro nowrap
autocmd BufReadPost *.pdf silent %!pdftotext "%" -nopgbrk -layout -q
-eol unix -

(remove any line breaks, the second autocmd entry is one continuous line
all the way to the "unix -" statement)

Fourteen billion years ago expansion started..Wait...

Our whole universe was in a hot dense state,
Then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started. Wait...
[pause momentarily, then quickly]

The Earth began to cool,
The autotrophs began to drool,
Neanderthals developed tools,
We built a wall (we built the pyramids),
Math, science, history, unraveling the mysteries,
That all started with the big bang! (bang!)

The above is the first set of lyrics for the theme song of the TV show
"The Big Bang Theory"
http://www.lyricstime.com/barenaked-ladies-the-big-bang-theory-lyrics.html

Two theme songs

Theme song for "How I met your Mother"
Group : "The Solids"
Song : "Hey Beautiful"

For the full album, the theme song clip starts at 3:08.
Details here: http://www.howimetyourblog.com/theme-song/

Youtube link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SowWTahdb8Y
---
Theme song for "Big Bang Theory"
Group : "Barenaked ladies"
Song : "Big Bang Theory Theme"

Show Page from Wikipedia :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Bang_Theory_(TV_series)

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aym8_S3BXKw

Breakfast?

2 Waffles + Maple Syrup
2 Small Chicken Nuggets
1/2 Glass of Unsweetened Orange Juice
1 Medium sized Banana
1 Tall glass of Water at room temperature

The search for zero

On Google, the search for '0' produced 9,170,000,000 results in 0.10
seconds.

Ascii Cats

Cats and other felines drawn in Ascii Art format:
http://www.xmission.com/~emailbox/ascii_cats.htm

Ceiling function-

Ceiling functions symbols are present in Unicode under the font 'Symbol' .
Font: Symbol
Character Code: 233 (Open) ⎡ Unicode: U+23A1, 250(Close) ⎤ Unicode: U+23A4

Tweet from the Windows Command Line

I cobbled together two tiny scripts in about ~30 minutes - that allows me to post tweets to Twitter from the Windows XP command line.

My requirements for the setup were:
a) I should not have to install yet-another-piece of software just to post to twitter. (There are tons of them for download on almost every possible platform)
b) I'd like to be able to tweet from the command line.
c) I want to know what's happening in the code.
d) Since I have perl installed, if I could use it, even better.

So I went to CPAN and looked for Twitter related stuff. Found a lot of packages. I ended up using the Net::Twitter::Lite package in a perl script.

This caused one small issue, running the perl script required that I type in perl scriptname "message" to post to twitter. If I could compress it to just AppName "Message" that would be perfect.

To fix this, I used a Windows Batch file (.bat) to encapsulate the script and pass it the message.

If you want use it, you need two files, (twitterpost.pl and tweet.bat), let me know if you want to look at the source.

Fixing a Yahoo Widget

I managed to fix a bug in a certain Yahoo Widget.
I am a fan of Yahoo Widgets for their clean look and generally good performance.

One particular widget has been a favorite of mine for sometime, because it does one task extremely well. However, it had one flaw. To display the text color correctly, it seem to rely on a set of deprecated Unix system calls. The bug/error was manifested when you tried to change the text color. The only text color it supported was Black _IF_ you did NOT have the Yahoo Unix Utilities installed.

Today, I downloaded the widget and then spent some time reading around the Yahoo Widget developers' section. The reference manual allowed me to find the valid replacement code. It was a two line fix. Remove one line of an old system call then add two lines of code to implement the new API call.

Since Yahoo widgets are just a repackaged compressed/zip file, extracting the code, changing the command repackaging it was simple. :) I was done in <20 minutes. I now have a working widget, that does NOT depend on the Yahoo Unix Utilities. Yay!

Cosmos decommissioning announcement

COSMOS, the ALTIX 3700 128-cpu symmetric multiprocessor and at one time
our computational flagship, will be retired in mid-June this year. We
urge current users to port their codes to HYDRA as soon as practicable
and to back up all valuable files not residing in their home
directories. Because COSMOS has not been under hardware or software
maintenance for the last three years, a repair from a hardware failure
may just be too costly to afford. Supercomputing Facility analysts are
always available to help with with the transition to HYDRA.

By its retirement, COSMOS will have capped five and a half years of
extremely reliable (99.9% uptime) operation. It remains the favorite of
many users and the only system on campus with large enough RAM (128GB)
to accommodate serial jobs that require large amounts of it . Chemistry
has expressed interest in assuming control and administration of COSMOS
and plans to welcome users from other areas. We will keep our users
posted on any relevant developments.

---
Dear COSMOS users:

The system will be powered off at 9 AM of June 29, 2009. Thereafter, the
Chemistry department will take over its operation. This will be the
LAST notice about the decommissioning of COSMOS.

The Facility will delete all user data from the system right before
power off. Since COSMOS is not under maintenance, the resumption of its
operation, much less a prompt one, is not a certainty. Although we have
every expectation that the transfer will be smooth and uneventful, we
cannot exclude misadventures. The latter may even include junking it
because of high repair costs.
----

Yahoo and Pidgin

Sometime in June 2009, Yahoo modified their IM authentication protocols.
If you are running Pidgin 2.5.6 (www.pidgin.im/) or older, and having
issues connecting, updating to 2.5.7 will fix the issue.

[This is for WinXP-SP3]

SCSI is not magic

"SCSI is *not* magic. There are *fundamental* *technical* reasons why you
have to sacrifice a young goat to your SCSI chain every now and then."
-- John F. Woods

Learn with BOOK

LEARN WITH BOOK

- R. J. Heathorn

A new aid to rapid - almost magical - learning has made its appearance.Indications are that if it catches on all the electronic gadgets will be so much junk.

The new device is known as Built-in Orderly Organized Knowledge. Themakers generally call it by its initials, BOOK.

Many advantages are claimed over the old-style learning and teaching aids on which most people are brought up nowadays. It has no wires, no electric circuit to break down, No connection is needed to an electricity power point. It is made entirely without mechanical parts to go wrong or need replacement.

Anyone can use BOOK, even children, and it fits comfortably into the hands. It can be conveniently used sitting in an armchair by the fire.

How does this revolutionary, unbelievably easy invention work? Basically BOOK consists only of a large number of paper sheets. These may run to hundreds where BOOK covers a lengthy programme of information. Each
sheet bears a number in sequence so that the sheets cannot be used in the wrong order.

To make it even easier for the user to keep the sheets in the proper
order they are held firmly in place by a special locking device called a 'binding'.

Each sheet of paper presents the user with an information sequence in the form of symbols, which he absorbs optically for automatic registration on the brain. When one sheet has been assimilated a flick of the finger turns it over and further information is found on the other side.

By using both sides of each sheet in this way a great economy is effected, thus reducing both the size and cost of BOOK. No buttons needto be pressed to move from one sheet to another, to open or close BOOK, or to start it working.

BOOK may be taken up at any time and used by merely opening it. Instantly it it ready for use. Nothing has to be connected or switched on. The user may turn at will to any sheet, going backwards or forwards as he pleases. A sheet is provided near the beginning as a location finder for any required information sequence.

A small accessory, available at trifling extra cost, is the BOOKmark. This enables the user to pick up his programme where he left off on the previous learning session. BOOKmark is versatile and may be used in any BOOK.

The initial cost varies with the size and subject matter. Already a vast range of BOOKs is available, covering every conceivable subject and adjusted to different levels of aptitude. One BOOK, small enough to be held in the hands, may contain an entire learning schedule.

Once purchased, BOOK requires no further upkeep cost; no batteries or wires are needed, since the motive power, thanks to an ingenious device patented by the makers, is supplied by the brain of the user.

BOOKs may be stored on handy shelves and for ease of reference the
programme schedule is normally indicated on the back of the binding.

Altogether the Built-in Orderly Organized Knowledge seems to have great advantages with no drawbacks. We predict a big future for it.

-------------
Found on slashdot :http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1276127&cid=28404637

Twitter

So I signed up for the Twitter bandwagon this morning. In classic
fashion, I went for the one username that has been mine for so long, my
full name :P Nothing else I tried was available! (honest!)

If you want to follow me on twitter, here's the relevant link ->
http://m.twitter.com/suneilmohan

Punching bag violence

"Did you know a punching bag is hit somewhere in the world every 10
seconds? End violence towards punching bags now."
-- STKinTHEmud @ the PHD Forums

Cat and Mice

Person A: (talking about network data cables) The largest danger to
cable longevity remains mice...
Person B: Any category of "cat" can certainly help with that...

(Cat 3, Cat-5, Cat-5e, Cat-6, Cat-6a ... are all types of network
cables- the one you plug into your laptop / router is generally Cat-5)

[Seen on slashdot]

Thunderbird about:config

Thunderbird, the email client from Mozilla stores its preferences the
same way as the Firefox browser.
In Firefox, if you want to change advanced configuration settings, you
can get to this page, by typing in about:config into the address bar.

So how do you do that in Thunderbird which has no 'address bar' ?
Some research on Google found me the answer:

Thunderbird's about:config can be reached by navigating as follows.

1. Open Thunderbird,
2. Goto Tools>Options>Advanced>General
3. At the bottom of this tab, is an entry that says "Advanced
Configuration" and has a button to the right called "Config Editor".
4. Click on Config Editor to launch the Thunderbird editon of about:config

My fortune of the day

I logged into Orkut this evening and found this message greeting me.

Today's fortune: The guy who reads your fortune is not feeling well. We hope you are.

:D

Whitespace

Whitespace sensitive languages are evil.

1,234,567,890 seconds since the Epoch ...

At 23:31:30 UTC on February 13th, 2009, it was 1,234,567,890 seconds since the Unix Epoch

In Unix world, the calendar starts on Jan-1,1970 and Unix systems compute time since the epoch.[5]

The system call, 'gettimeofday()'- returns the number of seconds since the Epoch, which is defined as Jan-1,1970.
[http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/000095399/functions/gettimeofday.html]

As was pointed out on Slashdot,([1][4]) if you want to be really precise about it, you would figure out that Unix time does not take into account leap seconds. Therefore Feb-13,2009 @23:31:30 UTC is not exactly 1,234,567,890 seconds from Jan-1, 1970.

To be precise, Feb-13,2009 @23:31:30 UT1 is 1,234,567,890 seconds from Jan-1, 1970 See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Time for an explanation of what UT1 is and how it differs from UTC.[2]

People across the globe celebrated this time by having party and such. See the coordination link below[3]

Possibly interesting further reading :

[1]http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/13/1534240
[2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Time
[3]http://www.1234567890day.com/
[4]http://entertainment.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1127059&cid=26851049
[5]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_time

Anyway, Happy 1,234,567,890 seconds since the Epoch!!

Classic TV Ads

I went Youtube surfing a while ago and found a bunch of old TV ads/spots that used to be played over the air many many years ago. Its been atleast on the order of 8-10 years since I've seen any of these aired. These were classics in their content and evoke memories of days gone by.

Spread The Light of Freedom

This was a television spot that was created by the Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad many years ago. It was a part of 2-3 series that were aimed at spreading the message of National Harmony and Integration. This one is my favorite amogst the lot. It features famous atheletes of the time carrying a flaming torch across the country.
(2:37 in duration, completely instrumental)

Note: Doordarshan is the Indian state run TV broadcaster. The music clip starting at 2:16 to the end is the closing verses of the Indian National Anthem.

Bajaj

A manufacturer of vehicles in India, came out with this ad in 1989. Classic for its content. I seem to remember this playing every weekend morning before some of my favorite cartoons.

(40 seconds long, Hindi words)

Doodh

(Note: Doodh = Milk in Hindi) The ad is promoting milk consumption. -This ad that took me by surprise. Without having seen the ad for atleast 8 years in a stretch, the first time I viewed it on Youtube, I found that I could sing the words of the jingle flawlessly without stumbing or hesitating even a bit for the words.. Talk about information retrieval! I was impressed by my own ability to be able to recall this so well.

(32 seconds long, combination of Hindi and English content)

I'll post more of these if I come across more interesting ones.

Creating GMail Interface buttons

Gmail recently introduced new buttons' in its interface.



They look pretty nifty and simple, but a lot of work went into them. Google's Visual Lead Douglas Bowman (stopdesign.com) was the leading force behind the creation of this new set of buttons. He wrote a detailed blog entry on the design and describes the work that went into creating the set of buttons that are just right for the job. Read his blog entry by following the link below

Read "Recreating the button" by Douglas Bowman (stopdesign.com)

Building SimpleScalar/ARM cross compiler based on gcc-2.95.2

This entry talks about my experience in building the SimpleScalar/ARM cross compiler based on gcc-2.95.2

This was built on Ubuntu 8.10 with gcc-3.4 running on a Virtual Machine - Sun Virtual Box, XP Host, x86 Architecture

(The following instructions are an updated version to the instructions in ANNOUNCE.cross from http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~taustin/code/arm-cross/ANNOUNCE.cross)

--
1. Get all packages from http://www.simplescalar.com/v4test.html
cross compiler kit

http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~taustin/code/arm-cross/ANNOUNCE.cross
http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~taustin/code/arm-cross/gcc-2.95.2.tar.gz
http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~taustin/code/arm-cross/binutils-2.10.tar.gz
http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~taustin/code/arm-cross/glibc-2.1.3.tar.gz

2. Untar and expand all 3 .tar.gz files into a single folder. (/home/example/arm-cross)

3. Make sure you have gcc-3.4 installed on the system. (Ubuntu's GCC 4.3.2 did not compile this package)

4. Build and Install binutils

cd binutils-2.10
../configure --target=arm-linux --prefix=/home/example/arm-cross
make
make install
cd ..

5. You should now have a bin/ folder inside arm-cross/. Add this to your path. (If using bash shell, use the below command, modify to fit your shell)
export PATH=$PATH:/home/example/arm-cross/bin

6. Rehash the filesystem to see the newly created executables.
In Ubuntu 8.10, rehash is /usr/bin/c_rehash - no arguments, just executable

7. Now build the GNU GCC cross compiler (This is what gave me the most trouble- after lots of playing around, the following steps worked) [1]

7.a. inside arm-cross/

cd gcc-2.95.2
../configure --prefix=/home/example/arm-cross --target=arm-linux --with-as=/home/example/arm-cross/bin/arm-linux-as

This should configure without any errors.

7.b. Now, edit the Makefile. Inside the Makefile, find and replace 'rmdir' with 'rm -rf' (without the quotes)

7.c The current version of libgcc (as shipped with Ubuntu 8.10) seems to be incompatible with the build environment of the cross compiler, so we are going to build it with STATIC linkage. [2]

make LANGUAGES=c BOOT_LDFLAGS=-static

This should take a while, but should complete without any errors.

If you encounter any errors in this step, check the above steps carefully. Before reattempting to build, always do a 'make distclean'. This will purge all files that were created during the make process and allow you to start afresh. One of the side effects of make distclean is that it will also remove the Makefile. Hence you will have to begin at the ./configure step again.

If this passes successfully, install the package using the below:

make LANGUAGES=c install

At this point you have the compiler installed and working.

Here's the output of the version string as reported by the cross compiler at this stage:

example@machine:~/$ arm-linux-gcc -v
Reading specs from /home/example/arm-cross/lib/gcc-lib/arm-linux/2.95.2/specs
gcc version 2.95.2 19991024 (release)

8. Now follow the instructions in ANNOUNCE.cross to fix the specs

vim /home/example/arm-cross/lib/gcc-lib/arm-linux/2.95.2/specs

replace all occurrences of "elf32arm" with "armelf_linux",
this fixes an innocuous incompatibility between the most
recent GCC and GLIBC libraries...

9. You now have a working arm-cross compiler that can produce binaries that can be run on SimpleScalar/ARM

arm-linux-gcc example_code.c -o object_file.o

Now run object_file.o using the appropriate simplescalar tool.

-------------------------------------------------------------
[1]
To fix error with xgcc

from http://sourceware.org/ml/crossgcc/2001-02/msg00081.html
use an explicit "--with-as=/path/to/as" on the gcc configure line

[2]
This fixes the set of messages:

ibgcc1.S: Assembler messages:
libgcc1.S:1: Warning: rest of line ignored; first ignored character is `@'
libgcc1.S:2: Warning: rest of line ignored; first ignored character is `@'

from
https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-general-1/arm-toolchain-problem-350988/

use the BUILD_LDFLAGS=-static

February

Monthly Overview: (http://shine.yahoo.com/astrology/virgo/monthly-overview/)

As the month gets going, you're going to be tempted on multiple occasions to rush. On the 1st, you don't want to spend the extra minute brushing your teeth. You want to skip the flossing. You want to hit 'send' before you spell check. You want to buy a suit without trying it on. You don't want to leave the chicken in the oven for the whole 45 minutes. The rule for you to keep in mind? Slow down! Rushing will get you nowhere (but you could contract salmonella), so watch out! You'll be in a better place for action-taking and decision-making on the 5th and 6th. Your life is more or less charmed on the 10th and 11th, when everything you touch turns successful. Going with the flow on the 16th is what you want to do, but you could find your canoe is stuck. Disentangle yourself, carefully. You're feeling awfully romantic on the 19th and 20th, so make sure somebody's going out on a date with you one of these two nights! You'll be ready to get things fixed-up
quick on the 25th, but your colleagues aren't on the same page, so watch out. On the 28th, talk shop. You'll enjoy it.

Monthly Career: (http://shine.yahoo.com/astrology/virgo/monthly-career/)

A little soul searching, when it comes to where you're at with your career, would be helpful on the 1st. A lot of soul searching would be really helpful. After all, if you never ask yourself just how you feel about your work, where you're at, how you're doing and where you're headed, how will you be able to do a good job navigating your way there? Go over all those itty-bitty nitpicky details on the 4th. You'll be ready to try being a little bit more flexible on the 8th and 9th, if only because you've run out of other ideas for how to address the problem. You'll see just what an excellent approach this was when everything comes out just right on the 11th. Your curiosity could propel you into a very romantic place on the 14th. Who knew that that cutie at the office was so very interested? If you're taken, let them down easy. Hard work pays off, just the way it's supposed to on the 19th and 20th. A couple of super confusing details threaten to derail you
on the 25th. Research on the 28th will get it all under control.
--
Monthly Relationships (http://shine.yahoo.com/astrology/virgo/monthly-love/)

Sure, it's romantic to do things for the object of your affections. But giving too much of yourself too much of the time isn't romantic at all. On the 1st, it's time for you to step back and recharge. Spend all your energy doing nice things for yourself, and you'll find that, in the long run, you have a lot more energy for romance. After all, you can't take care of other people if you're all tapped out yourself. You should keep this in mind: Your job is to love you. From there, you can love others. Put romance on the back burner again on the 5th, when your best bet is to organize friends or family in some kind of activity. On the 10th, you're finally in tiptop form and ready to welcome romance with open arms. Guess what? Romance embraces you right back! Excellent! Now hold hands! If you're curious and you want to get to know them better, be sure to schedule something special on the 14th. You two are getting along like gangbusters on the 19th. You're
ready to take things to the next level on the 24th, but don't criticize them if they lag. On the 28th, you're compatible.
--

January Review

Lets just say that less said the better.
January's so called accurate predictions didn't come true. Nothing happened on any of the many specific dates in january - though if you look at the financial aspects of it, they may have slipped by about a week.

Oh well, lets see if February works out any better shall we?

Adding PATH to bash

In your .bash_profile, (or .bashrc) add the following

PATH = $PATH:/PathToAdd1:/PathToAdd2:/PathToAdd3
export PATH

l33t

The following post is in l33t. If you can't decode it, too bad. Go
figure it out.

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Servers and fan replacements

I replaced one of the cooling fans on one of the group servers this morning. The process was relatively painless. From powering down the server to powering it back up with the replacement fan took less than 30 minutes of actual work.

The old fan was still spinning, but the server's on-board diagnostics were complaining that it was bad. On shining a flashlight onto the spinning unit, it did appear to be spinning slower than the rest of the units - so we figured that replacing it was probably a good idea.

It was much easier to do it early in the semester when people aren't using the machine that much. This made it easier to find a time slot when no one else was logged on, since replacing the fan requires that we power down the machine.

Now I get to go look at the machine about once a week to make sure that the error lamp stays OFF. :)

A Presidential Inauguration

48 fantastic pictures of the Presidential Inauguration.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/01/the_inauguration_of_president.html

The Dangers of using GOTO

XKCD says it the best.

January

Monthly Overview:

From here : http://astrology.yahoo.com/astrology/virgo/monthly-overview/

The 1st gives you the chance to immediately implement your New Year's resolution to not be overly critical -- when you wake up to find a great big post-party mess. Sure, there are party hats in the sink and plastic champagne flutes on the floor, but take a deep breath and remind yourself of your resolution: Be constructive. Don't be afraid to delegate, just don't give into the urge to nag. You'll be proud of your progress on the 5th and 6th, especially when you notice an overall sense of calm pervading your environment -- thanks to your diminished critique. On the 11th and 12th, you want to be organized, but something is getting in your way. Is it your desire to go skiing? Why not give in? You might want to lock up your credit cards on the 17th, since a whole lot of luxury items will look indispensable (they aren't). On the 21st, take a risk -- you won't be sorry. Being open-minded and experimental will only enhance your life on the 27th. There's always time to go to an experimental dance performance! Don't let a problem with a co-worker ruin your day on the 30th -- turn it into a learning experience!

Monthly Career:
From here : http://astrology.yahoo.com/astrology/virgo/monthly-career/

As the year starts out, you might think you know just want you want, career-wise, on the 1st and 2nd. You very likely based all of your New Year's resolutions on a certainty of where you're at and where you want to go, but before you take the plunge into a new year at work, take a second look: Things may be far more complex than you realize. This isn't a bad thing -- after all, it would be boring if you already knew everything all the time. Don't fret, but do be prepared for some (exciting!) challenges this year. You need to be careful -- to the point of neurotic -- when going over details on the 7th. On the 13th and 14th, some of the very thrilling upsides of the unknowns you are encountering begin to present themselves. Could all this office upheaval result in a big promotion for you? You'll be very curious on the 19th, so give your quest for more details a wide berth. On the 24th, somebody cute at work has their eye on you -- if you aren't available, let them know right away (and ditto if you are available!). On the 28th and 29th, turn off your impulse to criticize before you know the whole story.

Monthly Relationships:

From here : http://astrology.yahoo.com/astrology/virgo/monthly-love/

Somebody really, really, really thinks the world of you, and they want you to know that on the 1st. So why are you criticizing them so much? Are you maybe feeling a little bit vulnerable? Like if you allow yourself to feel how much they love you, you might accidentally give up some of your self-control? Have you considered that giving up some self-control and accepting unconditional love, unconditionally, could be a good thing? Give it a shot, this year. On the 4th, a personality clash at work could take the wind out of your romantic sails. Try not to let it. You'll be ready to communicate some of your deepest feelings on the 8th. The 13th and 14th are your days: Spend them as romantically as you can. Even just staying home and cooking dinner together could be perfect. On the 18th, if you're feeling romantically restless, explore those feelings. Where are they coming from? Fun and romance are in the cards for you on the 23rd, when somebody surprises you with a date you hadn't expected. Sushi dinner at the zoo after-hours? Don't say no! On the 26th, it's really important that you stay positive. You'll be more than ready to end the month in a well-rested spot on the 30th.

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Ok, let's see how the rest of January plays out.

Forecasts

Ever noticed that the predictions for the year/month/week/day are always glowing and positive for every sun sign every day/week/month/year? Days you know are going to be bad, always have a positive spin in the papers/website/your-source-of-this-info

Since I figured out this patten many many moons ago, I'm rather skeptical about horoscopes.

However, this being a new year and with my resolution to try to do new stuff on my own, I figured, I'd give Yahoo Astrology a chance to predict the months of January- March. Every month, I'll pick up and record what the site said for me and at the end of the month, I'm going to see how well (or not) it all worked out. Of course, the way some of these are worded, anything that happens could possibly be related to what was written.

Yahoo Astrology can be found here : http://astrology.yahoo.com

Next post, predictions for January.

Blocked schedules

This is going to be another high intensity semester. Tuedays and
Thursdays have me blocked from 9:35am through 7pm.

And this is before finding out what the lab meeting schedule and other
research based deadlines for the semester are. :-/

Miss Mailers

Essential reading for anyone curious about the etiquette connected with
dealing with mailing lists.

Miss Mailers Answers Your Questions on Mailing Lists
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/mail/miss-mailers/

<abstract>
Summary: An explanation of how to use and run mailing lists
</abstract>

Speed upgrade

We were on a 1Mbps broadband plan until recently in my apartment.
Looking at our bills over the past few months and talking to people
around us, my roommate and I decided that we need to renegotiate our
plan with the ISP. So he called the ISP this morning and they bumped us
up to an 8Mbps plan for the same price per month!! Whoop!

With a 54Mbps WiFi connection, my laptop just reported an average
download speed of 5Mbps and an upload speed of 500Kbps. Not bad at all
for a shared connection and the router being in another room. :D

Season's Greetings

Season's greetings for a very happy and prosperous New Year 2009.
May the year bring you lots of laughter, fun, success and prosperity in
all your endeavors large or small.