Cool and rainy, just how I like it :)

The new hard drive arrived Thursday morning and I'm back up and running. The only issue now is the second video card, which has died (it's fan ground to a halt and I think the chip has been damaged due to the heat, the output is over-bright). I'll have to search around for a reasonable replacement for it, that has good signal quality.

So, nearly everything is reinstalled now. Although I've forgotten a few things and lost some data, my system is nice and clean again.

My arm is still sore from the Meningocele C vaccination needle I had Thursday afternoon. It was very sore Thursday and Friday, but now it's only a dull ache. To look on the bright side, that means it's doing something. The antigen must be kicking the immunoglobulins into overdrive :D Go little fellas, go!

Although I've been trying to avoid doing work over the last week, I find myself designing a logo for a construction company, coming up with interface ideas for another client and coding the XML interface for the secure transaction system. I think I need more coffee :)

The other day, after rain, there was one of the most intense red sunsets that I've ever seen. It was as if the sky was on fire and everything bathed in its flames; brilliant orange and red shapes casting deep blue shadows. Refreshing.

hard drive failure.

When a computer starts making clunking noises, you know that you're in trouble. In my case last night, it made a horrendous series of Morse-code-via-hammer-and-paint-tin noises, released a vile odour, then hung the OS. A system disk failure.

What followed was a disturbing feeling...

Anyone that has lost a lot of data in a hard drive failure knows that feeling, the one right after you realise what's happened. Losing data is like losing something very personal... like standing on the road, watching as your house and treasured possessions vanish in flames and smoke brought on by a faulty heater, knowing there's nothing you can do to reverse the situation.

Why are data important to us and why do we feel so personally attached? Often it's because we rely on data for our work, but even more often because the data are the result of our mind, a result of our unique vision and effort and the realisation of our ideas; what people lose in a hard drive failure is not just information, it is knowledge, like a mechanical extension of an individual's memory.

Fortunately, the amount of data I've lost isn't substantial. All of my "critical" data is backed up and kept on separate drives, but it is the files that I can't remember now that will be the hardest to replace. Many other personal files that were temporarily stored on the drive that people have sent to me, such as photos, sounds, text documents and chat logs, cannot be replaced. They're lost forever, cast into nothingness. The drive was only 19 months old.

More than anything, something like this is an inconvenience and a massive loss of time.

My IRC bot, chat logs, the wonderful photos people have sent to me on IRC and ICQ in the last few months, the photos I took last week, the countless hours spent installing all of the software and configuring the system, the collection of favourite internet sites and information services, the notes jotted down during a phone conversation with a client, the e-mail address book, the colour schemes, the drivers... all gone. Some things are impossible to back up properly, others you simply forget about.

Luckily I still have all of my e-mails intact, all of my work information and designs, the latest "The Sheer Line" project files and a vast array of other "stuff" built up over the last 6 years... A-OK.

For now, I'm using my laptop to recover documents and sort through the mess. Data recovery isn't an option because of its extreme expense for the relatively small amount of data (it'd require sending the drive away to a clean room and hoping they could do something with it). I'm waiting on a new hard drive, ordered last night, to arrive. The "old" one was just out of warranty. Hopefully the shiny new chunk of metal and plastic will arrive tomorrow (today, now), because Friday is a public holiday, which means it'll be Monday otherwise. In Mayne I place my hope! The days after it arrives will be spent rebuilding the system from scratch, getting everything back on as quickly as possible and then resuming work.

In other news, my merchant account should be up and running in the next few days! That means I can get my account with eWay and start finishing the transaction system, which is a huge step towards completing the website I've been working on!

It's become cold and rainy... perfect weather really. My friend should be a dad in the next day or so! Exciting times ahead!

The meeting with the new client the other day didn't go too badly, I think, but time will find the truth of that.

My brother arrived today... he's up here over Easter, which is cool. The weather over the last few hours has been rainy and cold, perfect for rugging up, lazing about and relaxing... after finishing some more code, that is. I've nearly got it... just a bit more tweaking and I'll have the main CC storage section done. It's become somewhat of an elegant implementation... my far more complex original version was reworked after a moment of inspiration two days ago, solving many problems along the way.

I really like this new hair cut.

Time for bed.

Crazy... I'll leave it there because I haven't yet worked the rest out in my head.

The hair on my skull is now shorter than the hair on my chin... you can try to imagine that if you like. It's the shortest I've ever had my hair cut and hopefully it will be maintenence-free. It's like a pseudo military cut, something that'd go well with a Buzz Rickson's B-15B, perhaps.

Good thing that happened: got paid.



After days of... not so productive efforts... I've cracked the problem I was having with my CC payment system. *closes eyes and sees the solution in the dark* All that's left is to get it into code.

"your rescue-squad is too exhausted"

Netspace plans have been updated again, yielding an additional 2.5 GB free! How handy, good going Netspace! :D

My search for accurate colorimeter information continues. Word came back from the Australian reseller of GretagMacbeth colorimeters, saying that the new model would be $944 AUD ex GST - insane! So I checked with the US supplier again and they're selling it for only $249 USD (which translates to about $410 AUD at current exchange rates). The Australian supplier's explanation was that "shipping is expensive", but I find it hard to believe it could cost $534 AUD to get something from Switzerland to Australia.

So, I'll probably order direct from Switzerland, where the colorimeters are manufactured, or from the US, whichever is more convenient.

I've now applied for a merchant account (an amazingly involved process - jumping through hoops would be an understatement), which will hopefully be processed before the end of the month. If it's ready by about the 28th, I'll be able to save $665 in additional fees by ordering my payment bureau/transaction processing account early. *fingers crossed*

Another client wants me to meet with them on Monday regarding a new website which they need to have completed very quickly, so that will be interesting. In the meantime I've been coding more of the backend credit card processing system for another project and playing with new ideas for firewave.com.au's design (but I don't want to go any further until I have a colorimeter and have calibrated these LCDs).

Is it just me, or does SBS really stand for "Soccer Broadcasting Service"? ;)

It's also great to see that the Iraqi people are happy about removing Saddam from power.

I'm writing a program at the moment to allow me to "vanish" applications easily. I've found with the new amount of screen real estate, I tend to have many more applications open simultaneously, or applications open for several days at a time while I'm in the middle of something. This means that it'd be nice not to have them sitting on the taskbar, taking up space. So, I've made a little program that hides applications complete (from the taskbar and from appearing on the desktop), and then allows me to show them again at a later time. It should be very convenient once it's finished :)

The final trailer for The Matrix Reloaded will be released this weekend in Australia - get ready everyone ;)

The LCDs are going great :) Thanks to dad, the stand is now painted in a sleek and metallic dark grey - it looks excellent :)

It's still difficult to get used to the clarity of the displays. The brightness is much higher than traditional displays, the colour is much more vivid than any CRT I've seen and the geometry is brilliant. There's also no real hue shift like there is with lower-end LCDs and the response time is better than I'd expected. Even fast-moving things like Q3A display well!

I couldn't be happier with them.

I'm now searching for a good quality colorimeter (a device that measures light frequencies) to build ICC profiles for the displays. ICC Profiles are used to accurately adjust the output colour/gamma that's sent to a device to ensure that the colour that's displayed is the colour that it's supposed to be (read back to my entry on February 14 for more information on why this is required). There are a few colorimeters on the market, but most aren't available to Australia. I was going to purchase a MonacoOPTIX, but I've been informed that the leaders in the field, GretagMacbeth, are bringing out a new series next month that's more accurate, while being less expensive than their existing range (which is upward of 1000 USD). I'm also thinking of writing a tutorial and explanation of colour management that I'll put on the website, so that people can understand it better (if anyone is interested).

I've also been putting together summaries of merchant accounts and credit card transaction systems over the past week to allow me to decide which system is best for what I want to do with my current projects. I've roughly settled on one now, so I'm changing some of my existing code to make it more user-friendly. The new system will allow me to do real time credit card transactions online, without having to use a physical unit like MultiPOS. It works out roughly the same price, but it's far more convenient.

The weather has sharply become cooler this weekend, dropping about 5-7 degrees on average over a short period. There's also been some rain about and the weather made me look for warmer foods. I think I'm addicted to Udon noodles (it's like a Japanese super-sized noodle - if you like 2 minute noodles then Udon is your dream come true) and McDonalds Bacon & Egg McMuffins. For the first time in my life I was awake late enough (or early enough, depending on your point of view - around 5 AM) to pick up 'breakfast' at Maccas. Now that the '24/7 mini-mart' is no longer 24/7, McDonalds is my only saviour for post-midnight munchies on weekends.

But now, back to the code!