Updating my scuba pictures

I've decided to install another copy of Gallery2 to manage my pictures. This will make it easier for me to manage over the long term than my previous method of creating individual directories with HTML wrappers on it. Anyway, http://rich.whiffen.org/pictures is live. I've started uploading pictures now and will be putting more up over time. Then the hard part of going back and editing the descriptions and such. It never ends.

The Scuba section is here and the "Misc Pictures" is here. That's all there is so far.

Right now I have scuba pictures broken down by year, but it occurs to me that by location might be a better choice. So don't be surprised if it changes back and forth a few times over the next few weeks as I change my mind. I tend to do that it seems.

Bluetooth phone project

So I've had this project idea for a while. I bought a 'retro handset' from Thinkgeek.com a while back. I also have a 'red phone' from a few jobs ago.

So my thought is, to combine the two and make a bluetooth desk phone. I've taken them both apart and have hit a few snags already.

First, I seem to have lost yet another soldering iron. Second, all the heft from the red handset comes from the magnets in the mic and speaker. Third, there's a physical button on the electronics that will need to be dealt with to operate the handset.

There are actually 3 buttons on the unit. I suspect the other two are volume up and volume down. (I also seem to have mixed up which one is the 'on' button but I have a 1 in 3 chance of getting that right with some trial and error).

I put a quarter in this shot so you can see how small the electronics are. I should be able to squeeze that into the base just about anywhere. I wish the red phone was part of a dicta-phone system, because then it would have a 'record' button in the handset that would be perfect. Oh well, maybe I can make the two 'off hook' buttons in the cradle work for me or put a button in the middle of the rotary dial. I intend to make the USB port go where the RJ-11 jack in the back of the base goes and use the existing handset cord to rout the sound to the speaker and mic. This is all contingent on me being able to figure out how to get the button to work in the base. If not I'll cram it all into the handset (like the original) and make a new button hole. It'll look ugly, but hey, I'm an amateur with unsteady hands.

More updates as they come...

So long Kevin and Karl

So, I've been delaying this post for a while now. But it's time to put the issue to rest for me personally. A few weeks ago (sometime towards the end of October) Robert Cray let Kevin Hayes and Karl Sevareid go from The Robert Cray Band. We had a lot of discussion about it on the Robert Cray Fan Club. That, by itself was noteworthy. Its been a quiet year on the board from an RCB perspective. Anyway, I pretty much said my peace there, but want to re-iterate it here.

It is a bitter pill to swallow. This line up has been in place for over 16 years, eight studio albums, over 1000 live performances, not to mention the compilation albums. It may be over a private matter, but it's a pubic divorce and all diehard fans are going to be affected. So while we shouldn't publicly speculate about the private reasons why, it's fair for us to discuss and lament it's effect. For me, for now, it's not going to be "The Robert Cray Band" for a while. They broke up. Now it's Robert Cray featuring Jim Pugh. I'm sure this feeling will pass, just like when the Horn's left, but for now I'm still saddened by the news. Karl and Kevin were more than just band members, they were contributers. They have song writing credits across many albums. They worked so well together.

All of the best RCB shows I've seen have been with this foursome. Sometimes with the horns, some times not. In the late 80's I caught the RCB in Minnapolis. Back when it was the Richard Cousins, Peter Boe and David Olson. I don't have the same enthrallment memories of this show as I do the shows I saw in 2000 onward. I didn't get to see too many RCB shows before moving to Washington, DC. The MSP show and one appearance at the Bayfront Blues Fest in 1995 or 1996, I forget which year. I don't know if it's me that's changed or the band, but things just seemed 'better' from 2000 onward. It's probably just nostalgia sneaking up on me.

So now it's on with the Robert Cray group. Still can't call it "band" yet.

P.S. Kevin or Karl, if you're out there, drop me an email.... I'd love to know where you land next.

EMC and cloud storage

Well this is more a collection of stuff for me to read later than a real blog post. EMC has announced their Atmos product. Atmos is the software that used to be called maui. It is used to store data on their "Hulk" product. The high-density, Low-cost storage array. So the tubes have been a buzz with info and questions about the product.

For example, Robin Harris has a link and some discussion about the theoretical underpinnings of the product, and the project in which the idea is based. Clearly the EMC product isn't exactly the "oceanstore" product but it's fairly close.

My favorite storage blogger Chris M Evans wrote up some pretty good summaries and links to even more good posts on the topic. He has the same practical matter questions that I have. How does it actually get done? How is going to handle failures and do it's real work? I'm sure EMC has reasonable methods to handle them, but the idea is different from how we do things today.

My #2 goto Beth Pariseau has an equally compelling look and collection of links about the Atmos product as well. (Sorry Beth, you get paid to write so I have to view it with a skeptical 'payola' eye. It's not you, its me. As such you'll have to settle for my #2 spot (as if it matters to anyone other than me...)).

I have the same basic questions a lot of others seem to have:

• How's it going to work in the real world? How do I, in my point-to-point DS3 world make this work? If the answer is 'bigger pipes' then they've just eliminated a huge customer base. The large scale companies would have to buy it and then re-sell to smaller companies ala Amazon's S3. Well, that hasn't been stellar, and I don't have my data in hand, a company who could be engaging in the next version of credit default swaps does. How do I back this up? Do I need to? How does compliance work?



• Haven't we heard this song and dance before? Storage as a service has been tried and was pretty much a disaster. People want to own it. They want their hands on it. I think people are willing to tollerate their 'in flight' data being in someone else's hands, but data at rest is another issue all together. How do we convince CIO and CTOs that this isn't a remix on a bad B-side single? They've heard SaaS. They've heard Utility Computing. They've heard Grid computing (Twice, no less). Now Cloud storage is some how different. Not feeling the 'gotta have it' need to run right out and get it.



• Overhead much? Caching, N-levels of replication, Rich Meta data, Single Unified Name space... None of this is storage overhead. This is all CPU and Network overhead. Of the three components, CPU, Network and Spindles, they pile on the two that are the hardest to incrementally grow? Where does this caching and metadata 'live'? Who/What maintains consistency with out incurring murderous latency

Anyway, I'm sure the EMC partisans will march out with their explanations. As the product actually ships to live customers who are using it for their core unstructured data store (not some stove-piped sub-group within Dell, for example) I'm sure these questions will all come to pass. For now, I'm sitting on the sidelines trying to get my mind around what's real and what's marketing fluff.

The other big question I can't seem to answer is what business problem is this solving? Reliability? Cost? Performance? I have a hard time believing this will help costs or performance, so that leads to reliability? I'm sure I'll have more thoughts as time permits me to read the glut of information flowing out these days.

Music Brainz Picard

So my MP3 library's been a mess for a long time. I have a large folder full of MP3's called "Bad Tags". They're the tracks I don't listen to very often and have tags that are messed up. In most cases I'm too lazy to get the CD out of the attic and re-rip it and it would take forever to re-type them. My most common tag issue is truncated fields or the infamous "Track 01" song name from back in the days of using Real Jukebox. Man, those were the days. Then Sound Jam on the Mac. Nostalgia! Anyway, lots of bad albums.

Enter Music Brainz Picard. It makes cleaning them up a breeze! If you have MP3 tags that are wrong and want an easy tool to clean them up in, Music Brainz is the best free tool I've ever used. I've used some of the 'fee' based ones. They're good and all, but I don't like to pay for a tool I'm going to use once and never again. It's back-ended by the MusicBrainz meta data database and it quite extensive.

Heroes... love the show

So I watch a lot of shows online (hulu, iTunes, etc). I'm totally hooked on heroes since season 1. Season 2 was iffy because of the writers strike, but still pretty good. I love how the end an arc every season. But little things bug me from time to time. Here's an example: in Episode 4 of Season 3 "I Am Become Death". Future Peter and Present Peter are walking down the street and Peter Says they can't stay because they're looking for him. They know how to become invisible and can stop time. Seriously. Stop time or go invisible. They can fly. Why run? Fly away. They have telekinesis and other 'fire' type abilities. They can phase like Niko's dad (forget the name). The list goes on. Peter is just too dumb in one second, then clever about others. It bugs me.

Anyway, just my rant.

Cheers,

Rich

Jim Pugh/Pastel Motif

Jim Pugh (Robert Cray Band Keyboard maestro) has come out with a solo project.

http://pastelmotif.com/

As Jim himself put it:

Hi everybody!

For all those who enjoy deep spul groove Hammond B3 instrumental music check out

JimPugh/pastelMotif at PastelMotif.com.

There's info on PastelMotif and you can also check out some of the tunes.

Cheers.

There's a lot of great info about Jim on the site as well. Check out the Bio Page in particular. He has a few samples from the project up on the website.