Hawaii ✈ Taiwan ✈ Tokyo (Summer 2011)

Yesterday, I finally had the chance to edit together a video of my summer vacation from June. Special thanks to everyone I visited, and hello to all of the friends I made in so many places!

See you all again soon.
じゃ、ね。

Studio Ghibli, Inc. (株式会社スタジオジブリ) productions recreated in Minecraft.

I stumbled upon this link to a Minecraft map that mimics the worlds from various Ghibli anime films, including My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ), Howl’s Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城), Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し), and several more. Having watched many to study Japanese (日本語), I found this to be a great introduction of exploring user “seeds” in this sandbox building game.

Download the Map — [http://www.planetminecraft.com/project/-minecraft-ghibli-world-/] … To install, drop the extracted folder inside of User → Application Support → Minecraft → Saves

After installing the Map, you can follow signed train tracks to the worlds of the films, and then further into other destinations within those worlds.

The Bathhouse (おんせん）in Spirited Away. (sorry for the rain and darkness, the game controls the weather and daylight)  — You can follow the train tracks across the water to the house in the forest, even.

The house and ricefields in My Neighbor Totoro. In the background is the world from another film I’ve yet to explore.

If you’ve heard of Minecraft, be sure to check this out. A tribute map like this is a fascinating addition to an already fascinating project.

When choosing roommates, 3 is the magic number.

Having lived with both a single roommate, and between 3 to 5 roommates at a given time, I’ve found that 3 total occupants creates the best fit in a home. Why?

1. Whenever there’s a disagreement, there’s always majority in a vote. — Odd number of people = no inevitable ties!
2. Negative energy does not get focused on a single person. — If you’re upset with your roommate, the other roommate is either on your side, or on his/her side. This encourages people to function as a group vs. developing grudges.
3. It’s not “too many” people. — Three is a crowd, but not a big one. Having a single roommate who is often out or away can be lonely, or even annoying. Having two alternating personalities around you provides balance, while still limiting the chances of it becoming a party house.

Hope this helps!

The tale of the Whitesoap T-shirts.

Every major project I’ve developed at one point had a “t-shirt venture” of some sort, and Whitesoap was no exception. However, Whitesoap was a short-lived project and even though I promised t-shirts to the staff and others, it never happened. I *had* the shirts… but…

They were all mis-prints.

For some reason, we just couldn’t silkscreen the design properly. Edges would bleed, or there would be gaps in the print …. In the end, I scrapped the idea and accepted an additional batch of Mobile17 shirts, instead, to give to friends and family.

But, I still had the shirts. I left them in a bag for a long time … then stumbled on them today while cleaning my closet. I figured it was good clothing that people could really use, so I gave them to goodwill. Goodbye shirts!

Apple’s Remote Desktop software is secretly bundled for free with every Mac!

I’d always used Apple’s built-in VNC server for remote system administration via Chicken of the VNC, but today I learned there is a better option based on what Apple includes with their “sold separately” Remote Desktop software. Ironically, it’s essentially the same product (including Clipboard sharing and Image scaling) … just less bloated and hidden for free deep inside most Macintosh computers!

Go to this folder on your computer: /System/Library/CoreServices/
(You can get there quickly by pressing Command+Shift+G in the Finder and pasting that string in as the folder)

In that folder, you’ll see an app called “Screen Sharing” … create a shortcut in your Applications folder by holding Command+Option and dragging it there. Do not move the actual file, make sure you hold those keys down and it will “link” it as a duplicate alias.

This App works just like Remote Desktop, and can even save passwords in your system’s Keychain. Just enter a hostname and remember to enable “Screen Sharing” on the destination machine before starting!

I’m not sure why Apple didn’t just put this in the Utilities folder? Enjoy!

The new Flip cameras. (Review; with image stabilizers!)

So, I am a big fan of Flip video cameras … and brought one along on my trip to Japan. However, what was a minor nuisance was the lack of an image stabilizer. It caused action footage to come out a bit “jagged”.

This is no longer an issue on the new Flip cameras with image stabilizers. I ordered one, and decided to try it snowboarding this weekend.

Much better, even without any stabilization hardware/rigging!  A trick I’d used in the past was to placing the camera on a steady surface, but many video editors can also try to fix older footage. (such as using the “SmoothCam” filter in Final Cut Pro) Why not prevent it altogether? Or, make the image even smoother?

Mobile17 v3.0 released

So, I’ve spent the past year working on this third, and final version of Mobile17. 

It’s pretty cool. Really simplifies everything and streamlines the “make your own ringtones” process. Very easy to use, fun, and with less clutter! Check it out, and be sure to tell your friends or post your ringtones to your Facebook wall. :)

New wheels/tires for the $1400 Jetta!

So, including the car, I’ve barely even spent $3000 total at this point. This includes the stereo upgrade, new wheels/tires (below), all maintenance/repairs, etc.  Insurance is roughly $100/mo, and I barely even use a single tank of gas in that time. The car’s in great shape and the project is going very well.

In the past, I installed a new stereo (Sony CDXGT550UI MP3/WMA/AAC Player CD Receiver with iPod Direct Control via USB) and also a pair of rear decklid speakers (Sony XSGT1626A 6-1/2-Inch Coaxial 2-way Speakers). Now, I’ve added wheels and some snow tires.

I installed this set (today) of 16” Sport Edition F2 wheels from TireRack, with the same Pirelli Sottozero snow tires that I ran on my last car… a Volkswagen R32. Since the wheels were shipped having already been mounted and balanced with these tires from their warehouse, I was able to simply swap them in the driveway using my impact and torque wrenches.

The car itself is a real “creampuff”, haha. Engine and drivetrain are in excellent condition, body is decent, and the interior looks the best of all. A great addition were some OEM Volkswagen winter floormats from about 10-years ago, which my friend Matt found in his garage for me. Note that, because this is a California car, there is no rust anywhere!! That’s unheard of in New England, and hopefully it will stay that way for a while if I wash it quite often.

This latest addition (the wheels/tires)… really completes the car! And, just in time for snowboarding season! Stay tuned.

Pull passwords from any webpage with one line of JavaScript

Try this out.

1. Go to any page with a login prompt, such as Facebook.
2. Type your information (including your password)
3. Without anyone looking over your shoulder, paste this line of code into the address bar of your browser, and press ‘Enter/Return’:

   javascript:var e=document.getElementsByTagName('input'),l=''; for (i=0;i<e.length;i++) { if (e[i].type=='password') { l=l+e[i].value+'\n'; } } alert(l);

Today, while coding, I realized that this command will display (in an alert)… every single “password” typed into a webpage. Without any additional software, it works in every web browser… such as: Google Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, and Firefox.

…But what about the ‘bullets’? ••••••••?They don’t matter. They imply security and privacy, that’s it. This uncovers that hidden information and displays it somewhere temporary and more user-friendly. Furthermore, if a website isn’t on a secure connection (web address beginning ‘https://’), your password isn’t even encrypted when your browser is communicating with that company. Anyone can monitor your internet connection and steal that information.

However, even “secure” websites are vulnerable to this trick… including email accounts and any banks or financial institutions. Why does it work, then? Having the ability to run JavaScript in the address bar of a web browser is a great tool for web developers, but this “tool” also opens security holes to those with physical access to your computer. Use of this particular function requires no technical skills whatsoever (beyond copying-and-pasting), and works great at: school, coffee shops, your office, the library, etc.

…Should running JavaScript in the address bar of a web browser be disabled by default, and require restart of the browser to take effect? Is that even enough?

My brother’s birthday present to me. (Taken with instagram)