GalacticSlacker HQ - GalacticSlacker HQ

Obscura converta

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From time to time one needs to convert some obscure audio file from the past into something that modern devices will play. Other times you end up with devices that will only play files that aren't easy to create.

The Pearl Audio Converter (pacpl) is your friend!

http://pacpl.sourceforge.net/

Perl Audio Converter is a tool for converting multiple audio types from one format to another. It supports AAC, AC3, AIFF, APE, AU, AVR, BONK, CAF, CDR, FAP, FLA, FLAC, IRCAM, LA, LPAC, M4A, MAT, MAT4, MAT5, MMF, MP2, MP3, MP4, MPC, MPP, NIST, OFR, OFS, OGG, PAC, PAF, PVF, RA, RAM, RAW, SD2, SF, SHN, SMP, SND, SPX, TTA, VOC, W64, WAV, WMA, and WV. It can also convert audio from the following video formats: RM, RV, ASF, DivX, MPG, MKV, MPEG, AVI, MOV, OGM, QT, VCD, SVCD, M4V, NSV, NUV, PSP, SMK, VOB, FLV, and WMV. A CD ripping function with CDDB support, batch conversion, tag preservation for most supported formats, independent tag reading/writing, and extensions for Amarok, Dolphin, and Konqueror are also provided.

Driving and shooting

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Here I stand... now what?

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"Here I stand. I can do no other," quoth the great Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms on 17 April 1521.

People love to quote (knowingly or not) it in context of their own convictions of scripture.

"Unless I am convinced by proofs from Scriptures or by plain and clear reasons and arguments, I can and will not retract, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen."

That's quite a statement.

Well, that's nice, but now you've put yourself in a position where you have to be right – you can never back down. You can never admit you were wrong. You can never make a course correction. You've just made the statement that you are right and all others be damned.

Now, here's the sad fact: You're wrong.

No, you may not be wrong specifically about the specific thing you just took at stand on, but there are a lot of things that you are wrong about. Complicating everything, you can't tell which of the beliefs you hold are wrong – after all, if you knew which beliefs you ware holding that are wrong, you would go in, correct them and be right.

So, now you've taken an absolute, unmovable stance on something that you may very well be wrong about. Now, you've painted yourself into a corner with no way to get out.

To cap it all off, you've closed the dialog. You can no longer explain to me why we disagree on that point because you've forced me to make the same statement in opposition to your wrongheadedness.

Stalemate. We both loose.

Do me a favor next time we have a disagreement on something – don't slam the door on the conversation. I know I'm always willing to learn something, and I'm willing to bet you could stand to learn something, too.

I believe

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I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended into hell. [See Calvin]

The third day He arose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy catholic church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting.

Amen.

Some random thoughts from the last week or so

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When Christians wear cognitive dissonance as a "badge of spirituality," you have to worry about everything.

Our churches are just full of monkeys and weasels. The monkeys are too stupid to realize it's not a game, and the weasels are to stupid to know they're evil.

My bark is pretty bad, and my bite is pretty bad, but I always try to bark before I bite.... It helps reduce the trauma.

Prov 23:9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,/for he will despise the good sense of your words.

What some people lack in character and integrity, they make up in gall and audacity.

claim code

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28fajwdvtz

[quote] Thinking matters

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I think ideas matter. And I think that the 62 million to 78 million people who were killed in World War II: they died over ideas. The Fascists, the Communists, the Democracies; they had different worldviews -- different ideas. I think thinking matters. I think reading matters.
- Ken Samples

source (audio)

[quote] The Peotic Principle

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I don’t believe there is a driving force to this Universe, no guidance or hand at the wheel… but it still gets to me sometimes, just how poetic a cosmos it is that we live in.

Phil Plait, Our Galactic Twin

Phil is a committed "skeptic." (i.e. materialistic naturalist.)

Extending Bash completion

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So, I have a script that I want intelligent bash completion to work on....

http://linux.byexamples.com/archives/329/a-b....on-tip/

hint: Edit /etc/bash_completion

Some anti-slogans that we should think about...

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"Stand up for your responsibilities." "I don't know what I need to know and must now devote my full attention and strength to finding out." "Practice routinely purposeful kindness and intelligent acts of beauty."

From Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy.

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Suvive and Others Die

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Chip Heath and Dan Heath (brothers) have compiled a lot of research on what makes ideas stick. If you try to teach things to people, it will change the way you relate to the content you're trying to teach to the people you try to teach it to. If you're trying to sell things to people, it will change the way you relate your product/service to your customers. Outstanding.

A modern Bible translation with the Apocrypha

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I've been interesting in reading the books of the Apocrypha for a while, but that interest has never really found any traction. I'm not willing to purchase a Catholic Bible just for that. In the few casual encounters I've had with the Apocrypha up to this time online indicated that they were all translations in near-King James English, so any enthusiasm was dampened at that point.

During visiting with a friend of mine at Church Sunday, I commented that I had stumbled across near-King James translations of Apocryphal texts at BibleGateway.com. Today, I did a little more digging and found that the Good News Translation at BibleGateway.com includes the Apocrypha.

I'm going to see if the GNT/GNB is available through the Sword Project so that I can put it on my pocket computer.

UPDATE: No GNT/GNB available at the Sword Project. I don't know if any of the several available translations include the Apocrypha or not.

15 Books

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Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Tag 15 friends, including me because I'm interested in seeing what books my friends value. (To do this, go to your Notes tab on your profile page, paste rules in a new note, cast your 15 picks, and tag people in the note - upper right hand side).

Bible
How To Read a Book
Orthodoxy
The Institutes of the Christian Religion
Hatcher's Notebook

Friday
The Silver Chair
Mere Christianity
The Science of God
Web Design Usability

Atlas Shrugged
Without Remorse
Unintended Consequences
The Hidden Face of God
Circle of Shadows

Heidelberg Catechism

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Unlike most people I know who are content to make up whatever they want to believe about God, I'm happier to stand on the shoulders of theological giants. The men who wrote the Heidelberg Catechism (as well as the other Reformed catechisms) are giants who were standing on the shoulders of those who came before them.

This is just a low-resolution, 5-minute clip of a 44 minute video I made that combines the Heidelberg Catechism with a random mix of Bach's music. The DVD is nice. I created it to help me and the boys learn the catechism.

Hot notebook

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My 2-year old notebook has been running really hot lately (lately = ~ the last 4 months). I finally dug the canned air out of the camera bag... Boy! There was a lot of dust in there! Maybe it will run cooler for a while.

Heidelberg Catechism

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Heidelberg Catechism

Lord’s Day 1

1. Q. What is your only comfort in life and death?
A. That I, with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ; who with his precious blood has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, wherefore by his Holy Spirit he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me heartily willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him

2. Q. How many things are necessary for you to know, that you in this comfort may live and die happily?
A. Three; the first, how great my sins and misery are; the second, how I am delivered from all my sins and misery; the third, how I am to be thankful to God for such deliverance.

Heidelberg Catechism
Heidelberg Catechism with references

Distorted views of Christianity - Eagleton

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http://www.patrolmag.com/sessions/1741/chris....or-foul

This is possibly the saddest misrepresentation of Christianity I've seen in a long time. Thoroughly Marxist Liberation Theology. With friends like Professor Eagleton, Christianity really needs no enemies.

His version of the "New Testament," is like the Twisted Cliff Notes for Kindergartens for only the fluffy parts of the Gospels. (Remember "Twisted Fairy Tales?") He did occasionally hit on a truth, but at an angle to obtuse that the odd rock bounced off in a random and dangerous direction.

If Eagleton's representation of Christianity is correct, Dawkins, Harris, Dennet and Hitchins are right to want to destroy it.

Free Google Voice Calling With Asterisk

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Nerd Nirvana: Free Google Voice Calling Returns to Asterisk

I'll want to find this later.

multihoming with Linux for better internet service

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Stuff:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=fi....oq=&aqi=

http://www.linuxhorizon.ro/iproute2.html

http://lartc.org/howto/lartc.rpdb.multiple-links.html

http://lartc.org/howto/

I'm thinking about it.

A nagging question

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I know I saw it addressed once a long time ago, but I never did implement it, and it has been bugging me ever since.

URLs and URIs need to be escaped for safety. Here's the easiest way to do it:

use URI::Escape; $safeuri = uri_escape("10% is enough\n");

perldoc URI::Escape

An impressive collection (of links) of Augustine

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St. Augustine's Library (links)

That's a lot of work.

Goodbye, Twitter

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.... That was a waste of time.

Twitter = Stalking

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Yesterday afternoon I posted a comment on Twitter aimed at one of my cousins, "Okay. I begin to understand the Firefly Cult. http://bit.ly/Fic7V"

Within minutes my twitter was being followed by "GorramReavers."

Later, I posted, "Updated my photography site: http://www.mountainstandard.net/ I'll add new images later."

Within moments, "photoguides" (PhotoGuides.net) was following my twitter.

So far, I have 14 followers, of whom I know half. I've blocked one or two for obviously being porn pushers. One of the ones I do know, I wouldn't follow because he's just following my tweets in hopes I'll follow his in return.... and he's is all about self-promotion.

So far, I'm not seeing a lot of good things about Twitter. It certainly isn't fostering conversation.

Guide for the Perplexed, Moses Maimonides

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Guide for the Perplexed by Moses Maimonides:

"Fascinating."

I'm glad I read it. Thanks, Marie, for recommending it.

Playing with HDR-RAW

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I took a shot of our favorite restaurant last night in challenging dusk back-lighting.

This image is a straight conversion using ImageMagick with the latest dcraw installed.

This image is a conversion using the PSFtool toolset and the drago03 HDR algorithm.

The difference is subtle, but alluring.

Notes on HDR photography in Linux

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http://jcornuz.wordpress.com/2008/03/05/love....ux-too/
http://chris.quietlife.net/2006/09/06/hdr-an....-linux/

This last one is interesting because it is the only one I've seen dealing with creating HDR photos directly from a single RAW file:
http://wiki.greywulf.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl/Lup....ography

I have tested it and it does work with old files from my 10D as well as files from the 5D mark II.... I'm not thrilled with the results from the test images, but it is an interesting option. (It may very well be due to the images I've tested it with.) The results are surprising.

I've also learned that KDE's Krita will open CR2 files from the 5D mark II, whereas Picasa and Bible Pro 4.x will not. The version of dcraw I downloaded and compiled will, but the version in the Ubuntu repositories for Ubuntu 8.10 will not. Krita may be using dcraw as does the script on that last page, so they would not work without the latest dcraw.

To Moab, Utah, and back

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The VLA -- cool
Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:20 15:17:37
Exposure time: 0.0040 s (1/250)
Aperture : f/10.0

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:20 15:19:08
Exposure time: 0.0025 s (1/400)
Aperture : f/11.0

A slice of pie in Pie Town, NM.
Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:20 16:29:13
Exposure time: 0.020 s (1/50)
Aperture : f/4.0

Lava Falls near Grants, NM
Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:20 18:52:37
Exposure time: 0.0063 s (1/160)
Aperture : f/8.0

"The Narrows," near Grants, NM. (The road runs between the lava flow on the west and the sandstone bluffs on the east.)
Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:20 19:41:50
Exposure time: 0.0063 s (1/160)
Aperture : f/8.0

Roarin' 20's, Grants, NM
Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:21 10:20:15
Exposure time: 0.0040 s (1/250)
Aperture : f/10.0

Bandoleer Volcano. Grants, NM
Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:21 11:45:31
Exposure time: 0.0050 s (1/200)
Aperture : f/7.1

Ice Cave, Grants, NM.
Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:21 12:49:45
Exposure time: 0.033 s (1/30)
Aperture : f/5.6
Exposure bias: -1.00

El Morro. This is my favorite petroglyph.
Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:21 14:08:20
Exposure time: 0.0031 s (1/320)
Aperture : f/10.0

Four Corners. (bleh.)
Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:23 11:17:58
Exposure time: 0.0050 s (1/200)
Aperture : f/8.0

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:23 13:58:50
Exposure time: 0.0040 s (1/250)
Aperture : f/7.1

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:23 14:10:04
Exposure time: 0.0050 s (1/200)
Aperture : f/8.0

Mexican Hat Rock, Mexican Hat, UT
Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:23 14:14:36
Exposure time: 0.0040 s (1/250)
Aperture : f/6.3

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:23 14:40:42
Exposure time: 0.0050 s (1/200)
Aperture : f/7.1

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:23 16:28:26
Exposure time: 0.0050 s (1/200)
Aperture : f/8.0

Wilson Arch, Moab, UT
Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:23 17:39:25
Exposure time: 0.0050 s (1/200)
Aperture : f/9.0

A bandit joins us for dinner at Zax in Moab, UT
Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:23 19:36:14
Exposure time: 0.040 s (1/25)
Aperture : f/4.5
Exposure bias: -0.67

Mesa Verde National Monument
Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:25 15:07:06
Exposure time: 0.0016 s (1/640)
Aperture : f/16.0

Mesa Verde National Monument
Unfortunately, I will be able to remember where I was when I learned that Michael Jackson had died. If I hadn't been in a significant location, I wouldn't have remembered it. We were on our way to Mesa Verde when I learned that Farrah Fawcett had died after her battle with cancer.
Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:25 15:57:11
Exposure time: 0.020 s (1/50)
Aperture : f/13.0

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:25 17:42:49
Exposure time: 0.017 s (1/60)
Aperture : f/5.0

Always my favorite part of vacation... heading home.
Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:26 14:51:19
Exposure time: 0.0080 s (1/125)
Aperture : f/5.0

One last night -- dinner, and breakfast at the Owl Cafe in "Owlbuquerque."
Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Date/Time : 2009:06:26 19:07:13
Exposure time: 0.025 s (1/40)
Aperture : f/3.5

Taos, NM, in June

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We spent a few days in and around Taos, NM. That's a long time to spend in and around Taos in the summer... if you're not a hippie. I'm not a hippie. None of the people I live with are hippies... yet.

The food is really good, but that's about it.

Here are a few images from around Toas... I didn't find anything interesting to shoot in Toas.

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.033 s (1/30)
Aperture : f/18.0

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.040 s (1/25)
Aperture : f/3.5

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 1.300 s
Aperture : f/16.0

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 1.300 s
Aperture : f/16.0
Exposure bias: -1.33

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 30.000 s
Aperture : f/11.0

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.025 s (1/40)
Aperture : f/22.0
Exposure bias: -0.33

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.0100 s (1/100)
Aperture : f/14.0

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.0080 s (1/125)
Aperture : f/14.0

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.025 s (1/40)
Aperture : f/14.0

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.0100 s (1/100)
Aperture : f/14.0

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.013 s (1/80)
Aperture : f/14.0

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.013 s (1/80)
Aperture : f/18.0

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.020 s (1/50)
Aperture : f/16.0

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.040 s (1/25)
Aperture : f/22.0

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.033 s (1/30)
Aperture : f/22.0

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.0050 s (1/200)
Aperture : f/9.0

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.0080 s (1/125)
Aperture : f/25.0

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.0100 s (1/100)
Aperture : f/25.0

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.020 s (1/50)
Aperture : f/25.0

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.0025 s (1/400)
Aperture : f/7.1

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.0050 s (1/200)
Aperture : f/7.1

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.0063 s (1/160)
Aperture : f/7.1

Camera model : Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure time: 0.0031 s (1/320)
Aperture : f/7.1

History Timeline

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This is the GS cool web site of the day:
http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/Histor..../a.html

If you like history, you'll love the History Timeline. If you don't like history, you should appreciate history and take a look at the site anyway. Find one thing in history that you're interested in, and see what else was happening at that time. Then see the things that preceded and flowed from that one thing.

Canon EOS 5D mark II firmware update

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There was a great deal of excitement about Canon's announce firmware update for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II last week. The only thing I could find out about the update was that it was going to allow full control over the settings for video (aperture and shutter speed). Since I don't plan on shooting much video with my SLR, I was wondering if anything else helpful would be included in the update.

I did the update yesterday. I was so excited that Canon had deactivated the depth-of-field preview button while in menu or playback mode! I rarely used the camera without accidentally bumping the depth-of-field preview button and getting kicked out of the menu or image playback mode. I'm very happy with my updated camera!

Yes, it's usually the little things that contribute most to our happiness.

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