Archive for September 2007

Random Friday: What We Shall Read 2

Here is our current book reading queue:

Queen of Candesce / Karl Schroeder

Radio Freefall / Matthew Jarpe

… and His Lovely Wife / Connie Schultz

Coercion: Why We Listen to What “They” Say / Douglas Rushkoff

The Assault on Reason / Al Gore

Making Money: A Novel of Discworld / Terry Pratchett

I Am America (And So Can You!) / Stephen Colbert

Super Crunchers / Ian Ayres

Discover Your Inner Economist / Tyler Cowen

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism / Naomi Klein

Ha’penny / Jo Walton

The Winds of Marble Arch / Connie Willis

Halting State / Charles Stross

The Merchants’ War / Charles Stross

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian / Sherman Alexie

Black Holes: A Traveler’s Guide / Clifford A Pickover

Related post: What We Shall Read, What We Read

Theremin Bot

Random Friday: What We Bake 3

Cheesecake (Low carb, small portion)

For crust, mix:

3 TBS almond meal (or very finely chopped dry-roasted unsalted almonds)
1/2 TBS melted butter
dash cinnamon
1/2 TBS Splenda

Press loosely in bottom (not sides) of small (12cm) springform cheesecake pan. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes, let cool.

For batter, mix:

1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1/4 c Splenda

Add and mix until smooth:

1/4 c sour cream
(2 tsp wheat gluten, optional)
2 egg whites (left over from this recipe)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Pour batter over crust.

Bake at 200F for 30min, or until set to desired firmness. Let cool to room temperature and then chill. Serves 4 small portions.

Notes:

  • Fresh grated lemon zest or fresh lemon juice may be added to batter for a change.
  • Unsweetened berries may be added for a variation.
  • If top of cheesecake cracks, try baking next time at lower heat and varying length of bake time.
  • Beware of low-fat cream cheese, which tends to add carbs.
  • Check ingredients of sour cream. Some brands use a large number of additives. Ideally, the single ingredient should be “cultured cream”.
  • Mix at low speed. We don’t want to add air bubbles, which will slowly rise and make top less smooth.

Related posts: What We Bake, What We Bake 2, What We Cook

Talk Like a Pirate

Arrrrrr’, on this Talk Like a Pirate Day, we be presentin’ one of our previous logs in pirate-speak. Tip o’ me cap to this translator.

(Pirate) WinChime RingTone: TracFoneV176

We be havin’ a TracFone v176 (GSM, Motorola) an’ wanted t’ add a WinChime ringtone t’ th’ handset, preferably at nay charge.

Generate a MIDI File

We know that this phone be capable o’ playin’ MIDI files directly. This can be verified by navigatin’ on th’ phone t’ Multimedia-> Sounds-> Clouds-> (Menu)-> Details-> Select, an’ noticin’ th’ file Type be “MIDI”.

WinChime allows us t’ generate a MIDI file, usin’ th’ currently selected program settings fer scale, wind, instrument, an’ so fore. Click WinChime menu File-> Save MIDI File As, enter a file name, an’ specify th’ number o’ notes in th’ file.

Usin’ WinChime, we create a unique file wi’ our chosen program settings: pitch, musical scale, an’ so fore. Since nay copystarboarded tune be used, we do nay steal from creative artists.

(download)

Send MIDI File t’ Cell

Before sendin’ a MIDI file t’ th’ phone as a message, we first wanted t’ explore th’ possibility o’ usin’ a data cable, t’ avoid th’ minor 1-2 unit charge o’ receivin’ an’ downloadin’ a message. Googlin’ fer “V176 data cable” does return some hits. (Well, t’ be objective, almost any cell-phone related search returns some hits.) Perhaps Motorola once manufactured a version o’ th’ V176 havin’ a port fer a data cable, but this handset purchased from TracFone certainly dasn’t be havin’ a data interface (unless ’tis also shared wi’ th’ headset jack– doubtful) an’ we disassembled jus’ t’ make certain:

Nope, nay place fer a data jack, although an empty spot on th’ bottom o’ th’ circuit board might be havin’ had space fer one in an alternate version.

We didna try usin’ a GSM SIM reader/writer, t’ be seein’ if we could transfer media files t’ th’ phone usin’ this interface. Has ere tried this wi’ a V176? Me guess be that SMS messages might be stored on th’ card, but nay MMS or media, so this probably wouldna work.

Send MIDI File t’ Cell — Try Again

This cell service provider provides a way t’ send MMS messages t’ TracFone phones from an e-mail account, addressin’ t’ cellNumber@mms.att.net . We sent a message, wi’ a WinChime-generated MIDI file as attachment.

Save th’ File as RingTone

Th’ phone received our message an’ could play th’ attached MIDI file. Click th’ “navigation” button, select “Save Content“, an’ use th’ file name “WinChime”.

At th’ cell phone top level menu, press “Navigate” button-> Multimedia-> Sounds-> WinChime-> “Navigate” button -> “Apply as Rin’ Tone“.

Our cell-phone now has a unique wind chime ringtone!

Next

Future articles may explore WinChime ringtones fer other mobile providers an’ cell-phone models.

(copystarboard Sagebrush Systems, July 2007)


Go t’ Sagebrush Systems homeport page fer unique Windows software.

Random Friday: What We Quote

“Software is hard.” Donald Knuth, “Selected Papers on Computer Science”

“Two idiots meet, fall in love, they’re happy… briefly… and then all hell breaks loose. Happens all the time.” –Jeffrey on Romeo and Juliet, Slings and Arrows, Season 2, “Birnam Wood”

“Don’t tell me you know how to make a bomb out of a stick of chewing gum!”
“Why, you got some?” — MacGyver, pilot episode

“Normal? Hah! Whoever got anywhere by being normal?” — Charles, The Tick vs Season 2.0, “Coach Fussell’s Lament”