Archigos' Life

I hit a cow….

They don’t bounce.

*What I’m Watching or Listening to Now*
After I finish catching up on some missed news, going to finish my “The Guild” marathon.
*Random Question*
Why the hell do people make empty promises?

*Empty Promises*
As you can see from the post prior to this one, I was in the middle of talks with a few people to collaborate and expand the purpose of this blog, but apparently I can’t trust at least some of those people. Now, before I go any further, there were a few people I talked with that said they would love to help out, but due to time constraints, personal life, etc. are still willing, but it probably wouldn’t be often… and I thank them for at least having the willingness to help out and the balls to be honest. To the other 2 assholes that promised they would write up some new content that would flow well with the guides that I was writing at the time, thanks for showing your true personality. I bet you didn’t realize the person you were talking to when you called me a “Mindless Cripple” that you could “Easily take advantage of” was a really good friend of mine. Thankfully I had enough forethought to tell them to write a few guides and submit them to me prior to giving them the damn password.

*Last Couple Months*
I still have to finish writing the HTPC related guides I started a couple months ago (I kind of forgot about them). I’ve been so busy the last couple months providing tech support for “XBMC Constellation” (and a little for “Plex Constellation”), working on a couple personal website projects, and doing some iOS related projects. A project I took on a couple weeks ago (which is taking almost all my awake time) is essentially a re-imagining of MediaFrontPage that ‘hernandito‘ (the original creator) and I call “HTPCPortal”. This project requires that you are running PHP5+ on your network (most likely your HTPC) and obviously are running at least ‘some’ of the typical HTPC Apps. You can grab a copy (or fork it) from GitHub at either of the following locations: “Master Repo” or “Beta Repo“. I know there are obviously easier ways to manage the project on GitHub (like multiple branches on the same Repo) but for now, new features, etc. are distributed to a few select beta testers and once stable are added to the Beta Repo. After bug-fixes and required tweaks, the repo is than copied to the Master Repo. I’m currently working on a massive update that will include a full modular design and ‘on-site setup’ so you’ll no longer need to manually edit the ‘settings.ini’ (which will be auto-created if unavailable). After I finish the last couple of sections to the setup and the beta testers verify the application settings are working properly I’ll push a copy to both repo’s.

*iTunes is being a pain in the ass again*
I’ve been running iOS 5.0.1 on all my devices pretty much since it came out and everything has been working great. I recently found a new app and a jailbreak tweak that I really want to play around with but they required iOS 5.1.1, so I attempted to use the ‘on-device’ update which failed (not sure if it was because of the jailbreak) so I figured fuck it and did a full reset on my iPad, hooked it up to the laptop and upgraded to 5.1.1 and than proceeded to jailbreak it again. All fine and dandy but when I tried to restore all my apps/music/etc. and it taking almost 6 hours to do the fucking restore I typed my password in and what do I see? Only Apple’s official apps… It did transfer my personal settings for those apps, but NOTHING else. I tried to run a restore from a different backup and this time it took about 4 hours… again, NO APPS or anything. Cydia still works so I installed AptBackup and tried the restore in there which re-installed iFile and that appears to be it. After a dis/re-connect iTunes didn’t bother to complain or say anything when I manually told it to re-sync my iBooks/Audiobooks and pictures, but when I went to re-sync the apps it told me it had to dump all the apps on the iPad to “Sync a new library” since you can only use one at a time (although the iPad has an identical name as it did last time it was set up). Anyway, 21 hours after the initial ‘upgrade’ fucking iTunes is STILL trying to sync the damn apps and it wont surprise me in the least when it finishes and is still missing a bunch of shit. I guess I’m going to wait for iOS 6 (and a jailbreak for it) are released before I bother to update my iPhone.

It’s 5am… I’m going to bed.

I’m currently in the process of talking to a few people about contributing to this blog and integrating it more into part of the network of sites we have. If everything goes well and we proceed I’ll be moving all my personal entries from below to a new page (and other contributors will get personal pages).

My hope is that the blog will turn more into a HTPC/Web Design/Networking/Whatever type of thing.

Most people probably wouldn’t notice the two changes to the Affiliates/Links on the left, but the first change is a great deal. For the HTPC crowd, most of you are familiar with Usenet or at least heard of it. For people in need of a Usenet Provider, I recently (just a couple hours ago) switched to NewsDemon, who are currently running a sweet promotion (no idea when it ends) where you get your first month of unlimited Usenet for $7 and it’s just $10 per month after… If you click the link after this promotion ends, the same plan is $19.95 a month. If you don’t want to pay month by month, you can buy ‘chunks’ from as little as 10GB ($2) to 1000GB ($87) that are a single fee until you run out. The second change is switching from MediaFrontPage to Maraschino. Maraschino, like MediaFrontPage before it is a singular website you would host on your home network that tries to incorporate features/information from SabNZBd+, SickBeard, etc. and consolidate the different interfaces to manage your HTPC.

—-
“Normal” Post:
As I’ve stated before on the blog, my memory sometimes annoys the hell out of me. It turns out I’ve written four different blog posts since the last one you see… When I wrote them apparently I saved them as drafts by accident (probably due to being tired and wanting to proof read before I submit) but I never got around to actually posting them. The ‘paranoia’ post below this one was written two days before my 31^st birthday and pending on how you look at it, not much has changed since then. Being the dumb-ass I am, I deleted the four posts that never went public before I read them so… oh well. Here’s a quick run down for those that keep track: Birthday (uneventful), Thanksgiving (uneventful), Hanukkah (spent alone), Christmas (mostly uneventful), New Year’s (drunk), Jan. 5 – Social Security Review for my disability*¹, Jan. 29 – 5 year anniversary of when I was diagnosed with Cancer, Valentine’s Day (Don’t ask), the last week – screwed up my knee when I fell because of the damn snow/ice.

The forums for the iOS application “XBMC Constellation” by “FSS.cc” are no longer sealed to Beta Testers and now open for the public. If you’re an XBMC user, please use the same screen name when you register for the Constellation forums to make it easier for other users to recognize you.

Both my iPhone and iPad now bitch at me every few days to remind me to write more for the blog, so things should happen more frequent (at least for awhile), especially if we get some new contributors for tech related stuff… Tutorials, Product Reviews (Hardware or Software), iOS related news, etc.

On that note, I’ll write again soon (my Mass Effect 3 pre-order arrives tomorrow).
—-
*¹: The review went well, my range of motion wasn’t as high as I thought it would be and the muscle damage in inner/front part of my right leg is apparently not as bad since my body compensated and the muscle in the back of that leg is stronger. The doctor said she’d never seen that before, but with the dead muscle in the front she couldn’t figure out why the circumference was still equal on both of my legs until she tested the muscle mass in the back of each leg. For doing their tests the beginning of January, they just sent me the paperwork/results about two weeks ago, so I was kind of confused for awhile with no clue what was going on (it’s a third party doctor that performs the review so they legally can’t tell you anything about if/how your disability would be affected).

Is it still paranoia if someone IS trying to get you?

I have no idea what’s been going on lately, but my body essentially wants to do nothing but sleep… sadly although I’ve been laying in bed almost 20+ hours a day the last few days, I’m still not getting shit for sleep. My birthday is this coming Friday so I’m guessing it may be related to my depression, but it’s beyond pissing me off at this point.

A lot of people tend to side one way or another on the “Windows vs. Mac” front and call people “Windows Fanboy” or “Mac Fanboy” respectively. No matter what side you fall on, you have to admit that Steve Jobs, one of the co-founders of Apple, Inc. was a wonderful inspiration to many people. He made so many innovations, not just to Apple but to the entire world.

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.”

— Steve Jobs, Stanford University, 2005

As many people know, Mr. Jobs announced in mid-2004 that he was diagnosed with a rare form of Cancer and underwent a “Whipple Procedure” that summer to remove the tumor. In late 2008, early 2009 his health became a concern again that resulted in having a liver transplant in April 2009. A year and a half after the transplant in January 2011, Mr. Jobs once again took a medical leave from Apple to focus on his health. With multiple forms of health problems that continued, he announced near the end of August 2011 that he was resigning from Apple, stating in his internal Apple resignation that he could “no longer meet duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO”.

Sadly, Steve Jobs passed away on October 5th, 2011 at age 56. Apple confirmed his passing with the following statement:

We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today.

Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.

His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts.

*What I’m Watching or Listening to Now*
Just random stuff… nothing important…
*Random Question* OR *Random Quote*
“Dude, go f*** yourself!”
“With what?”

*Dates* – B = Birthday; E = Event; W = Weekend; X = Closed

*College*
Due to recent events, most of you know I haven’t finished my degree yet, and have been really thinking about how I’m going to proceed, be it the same college or elsewhere. I hope to finish where I started, but some things are making it difficult.

*Work*
See new “Dates” area for a few details of office closings.
I have so many projects that I need to work on and finish, but I can never seem to find the time or when I do, I can’t keep my focus.

*Medical*
A few months ago I mentioned about ‘over doing it’ at the Relay for Life and have been keeping a clearer view lately of my limitations. That part has gone back to as ‘normal’ as normal can be for me these days, however I ended up with other issues that started prior to the last post I made (not sure why I didn’t mention it then). I got an infection that caused a Temporomandibular Joint problem (essentially my jaw hinge got screwed and I couldn’t open my mouth). I spent a couple of weeks where I couldn’t even open my mouth far enough to take my pills without wedging them in there and damn near choking. So I was living on bottled water, Mountain Dew, and “Protein/Nutrition Drinks” (like “Boost” and “Ensure”) which taste like shit after your 50th bottle.
On the plus side, I found myself a new doctor to replace the asshole from February. She’s great, my first appointment with her we sat and talked about EVERYTHING medical from the start of the cancer onwards and ways of either explaining and/or treating most of the issues that have risen since then. I took this new type of antibiotics to ‘fix’ my jaw and although I still can’t open my mouth fully, I am able to open it about maybe 80-90% of normal, so I can finally eat without much problems. When the doctor checked my weight (Sept. 19) I sadly dropped to about 140 lbs. (down from about 165 range prior to cancer).
Another thing that had me worried (only a little) was the mass quantity of Ibuprofen I’ve been taking the last couple months since the last doctor cut all my medications. For those that don’t know, mass quantities of NSAID’s can cause hearing loss, but more importantly liver issues and since I was taking close to the recommended max daily for a prolonged period the new doctor ran blood work to check both my kidney’s and liver which thankfully returned normal results so I haven’t fucked them up (yet).

—
As the title of the post states, it’s the start of a New Year (Rosh Hashana). In fact, the current date (as of writing) is the 5th of Tishrei, 5772 meaning that New Years was less than a week ago. I didn’t get to fully celebrate this year, but I plan on making up for it in a few days with Yom Kippur, which I hope to spend with a certain person so I can make the most of it. This year my birthday falls on Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, which is the 30th of Tishrei and for those curious, my actual date of birth was the 18th of Cheshvan, 5741 (which this year would translate to November 15th in the Gregorian Calendar).
More facts my readers probably don’t care about:
The year I was born, Chanukah was Dec. 2-10, but this year it’s Dec. 20-28, in both cases that’s ’24th of Kislev’ to ‘2nd of Tevet’. Ok, I’m done with the lessons (for now)… I guess we’ll see if any of my readers comment on if this was fascinating info or I should just shut up about it.

*What I’m Watching or Listening to Now*
Doctor Who (2005) – S06E08 – Let’s Kill Hitler
*Random Question* OR *Random Quote*
Melody: “I need to get out of here now…”
The Doctor: “Anywhere in particular?”
Melody: “Well let’s see… You’ve got a time machine, I’ve got a gun, what the hell, let’s kill Hitler!”

*Dates* – B = Birthday; E = Event; W = Weekend; X = Closed

*College*
I’m an idiot… been too busy with shit and I missed the deadline to return for this session, so I hope I can work something out to return and finish sometime soon… Just need to get some other things in my life worked out first.

*Work*
See new “Dates” area for a few details of office closings.

*Updates/Upgrades*

Project being announced tomorrow on XBMC Forums.

I’ve been meaning to write for awhile and have so much on my mind, but sadly every time I sit down to start writing I can’t seem to think or put what I need to into words. Over the last month or so things have changed a lot, some good, some bad… mostly issues with my memory getting even worse. Lately it seems that if you ask me to recall something, if I can… no matter when it actually happened, it feels like it was about a week prior to current day. The other thing that’s been messing with my head lately is the fact that for years I’ve been the type of person that has VERY vivid dreams, however the last few weeks these dreams have included someone that has been dead for over a decade, yet the dreams take place in the present or future… Each time I wake up and remember she’s no longer around kind of throws my depression in overdrive… not because she’s gone per se, but because of how lonely it reminds me that I am.

On a positive note, Todd kind of talked me into continuing at least one of the short stories I started while in college as well as working on the novel I started almost a decade ago… I’m debating on what to do with them when I finish. He made the comparison of “That’s how Matt Damon started…” and I just laughed, cause even if someone other then myself considered this good writing, there’s no way it’d become the next “Good Will Hunting” or even a lame ass TV Movie. My ego isn’t large enough to think that anyone would give a shit about my life… “Oh, this poor guy has had a rough life… oh my god, he got cancer, even after fighting for his country…” blah… I understand there are more important people out there… some famous, some not, that have done things to actually change the world we live in and nothing in my shit life could really compare to that. In fact, if by a miracle they decided to turn my ‘novel’ into a movie, the reaction I would expect is “Wow, who wasted money on this crap? What’s so important about this asshole?” and “Um, who gives a shit?”

Anyway, since Doctor Who ended awhile ago, I’m going to finish watching the last of the PAX coverage from Destructoid before finishing the DLC for Borderlands while thinking of more to write (either here or part of the stories).

*What I’m Watching or Listening to Now*
Mel Brooks Marathon – Spaceballs, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein

*Random Question* OR *Random Quote*
Preston Preston: “It’s all his fault… Albert Einstein, what kind of name is that for a scientist!”
From Yahoo Serious’ “Young Einstein” (1988)

*Dates* – B = Birthday; E = Event; W = Weekend; X = Closed

The Relay for Life was as expected this year and I got to catch up with some friends and fellow Cancer survivors. Sadly our team didn’t receive too many donations this year, so for the time being I removed the donation box from the site as I think of new ways to attempt this for next year. I was going to take some pictures at the event and post them here but I know some of the people prefer not to have their pictures taken, especially people who are still going through treatment and I wanted to respect their wishes. I have another event I’m going to soon and will attempt to get photos there to make up for it. Sadly, the butt load of Ibuprofen I took before the event didn’t last long so I was in massive pain for the last hour or two I was there, but I completed my six laps as promised before heading home. They attempted a new “Poker Run” style lap to see how the people would like it and I managed a pair of Queens, so I got my ass kicked on that one (didn’t stay for the results).

*College*
If everything goes well, I should be returning the end of August to finish up my degree and offer my sincere apologizes to Lisa and my other advisers for all the issues caused.

*Work*
See new “Dates” area for a few details of office closings.
Added two new domains into ‘the family’ in regards to a few projects that we have started and did some updates/maintenance to a few of the sub domains. Soon we’ll be adding at least two more repo’s to GitHub for projects in regards to HTPC automation and a simplistic image gallery (for showing off HTPC Library).

*Medical*
Obviously my fault, but I ‘over did it’ at the Relay for Life and my back is killing me, plus my left arm due to the way I have to walk with my cane (so my upper shoulder and my wrist/palm). I have a meeting next week to see if a new doctor would be willing to work with me and see what, if any of my complications can be resolved or lessened. I’m still searching for a ‘replacement’ psychiatrist (a.k.a. non professional that will just listen to me bitch and moan without judgment).

*Gadgets*
XBMC: Since running the Nightly installs (‘Eden’, pre-11.0) upgrade Dharma’s (10.1) Sqlite3 database (meaning you can’t downgrade) I have to figure out how I managed to bork the TV side of the Video database when I installed the July 7th Nightly. Granted, the database was the least of my problems with that version and the following 3 or 4 that I tried after, since they all made XBMC crash so damn frequent that if I wasn’t such a diehard fan I would have bailed on the entire app and tried something new. Since MediaPortal and a few others I’ve tried in the past didn’t work the way I wanted I gave the 07/10 Nightly a few days of pissing me off before trying a new one. Everything was back to great with the 07/12 and on… although the vid-database is still screwed I’m going to just deal with it until I finish with the remaining re-prep I’ve been doing on the structure. Once the restructure is done I’m going to do a complete overhaul on the server and create a step-by-step guide for many of the HTPC related pieces of software and post guides here (probably create a dedicated page for them).

*The Vote*
I know I don’t have many readers of this site, so it’d be stupid for me to assume I did much to help, but the vote I mentioned in the last post currently has Maria in first place (with 30.68% of the votes). I’m not even sure when the voting is over since I can’t read the Russian and Oleg hasn’t been around too much lately to translate for me. Anyway, for those readers that did vote, thank you.

*What I’m Watching or Listening to Now*
Bored out of my mind and not feeling good, so was going to watch a mini marathon of the Pirates of Caribbean movies.

*Random Question* OR *Random Quote*
This was a REAL conversation I just had
Him: Are they ever going to come out with a second season of ….? (don’t remember the show mentioned)
Me: Yeah, it comes out in September I think
Him: Shit, that’s nine months away…
Me: Um, dude, that’s three months….
Him: (counting on his fingers) April, March, May, June, July, Sept….
Me: It’s the middle of freaking’ June…
Him: Oh?!? But….
Me: (cutting him off) Seriously?

*Dates* – B = Birthday; E = Event; W = Weekend; X = Closed

*Work*
See new “Dates” area for a few details of office closings.
We’re extending the current Microsoft promotion for another two (2) weeks as an ‘apology’ for the fact I’m going to disappear for a week of it.

On a side note, although the current widget near the top left for the Relay for Life still says 0% raised, it appears it was broke as the donations we’ve got registered under the other tracker (supposedly it’s fixed now). I know many people have their reservations for donating to charities that do events since some of the money donated goes to running said event instead of it all going to research and I’m normally one of those people. I have no problems giving money to a charity but up until a couple years ago I would outright refuse to give during ‘event time’ for that same reason. In fact, with the exceptions of the Red Cross doing a blood drive or the Relay, I still donate directly to the charity (outside the event). I know the economy sucks, believe me, living on disability for the last couple years hasn’t been fun, but if you have the means to spare a little, click the “Donate Now” above and give a little hope and a smile to those fighting Cancer or know someone who is.

*Gadgets*
No idea why it took so long to upgrade the iPad from 4.3.2 to 4.3.3 but WOW it’s so much better, in fact about 90% of the issues I had with the Home Button being a sporadic little bitch went away. Now I just have to finish reconfiguring all my damn apps (didn’t restore a backup to start from a clean slate) and wait for iOS 5 to be official released.

*Updates/Upgrades*
Now, the “Vote for a Friend” part listed in the title… If you head on over to the Russian State TV and Radio Music Centre it will let you vote for Maria Tretyakova (listed as “Третьякова Мария, Россия” 7th from bottom). I apologize, as far as I know, the site does not provide an English version of the poll, that’s why I listed Maria’s position in the list. If you click her name, you can find a YouTube video at the bottom of her playing Piano… 🙂

*What I’m Watching or Listening to Now*
Playing “catch-up” on a bunch of Rev3 Shows…

*Random Question* OR *Random Quote*
As some of you know, I’ve been battling depression (among other things) for years… How sad/fucked up is it when you visit a new psychiatrist and spend an hour with them, don’t even delve into a third of the issues you need to deal with when they stop you and say “Um, my practice can’t handle the volume of issues you seem to have and you need to seek help elsewhere.” Yet more useless forms of ‘medical assistance’…. yet more reasons I want to leave the US and find somewhere that can help me… not that I could ever afford it.

*Dates* – B = Birthday; E = Event; W = Weekend; X = Closed

*College*
🙁

*Work*
See new “Dates” area for a few details of office closings.

*Medical*
Now I’m dealing with all the ‘normal’ medical issues and dealing with Social Security as well… Why can’t I just get better?

*Gadgets*
Don’t remember what I was going to write… Haven’t gotten anything new, but was supposed to write a review on something… don’t remember what that was either…

*Updates/Upgrades*
Anyone with my cell phone number feel free to call me, I have some electronics as well as DVD’s and Games (Playstation 3 and Xbox 360) for sale if you’re interested.