vyl

Preemptive rant.

2009-02-24T23:39:44Z

The new TV arrives tomorrow, so I get to hook it up. This means I get to wrestle with SCART on a low-profile TV.

For those americans, SCART is one of the most hideous standards ever invented. A SCART connector carries composite video, svideo, RGB, component, stereo audio and control at once. Both ways. Except when it doesn't - because RBG only goes one way, svid and composite share a conductor so can't both be on at once, many pins are dual-purpose, and such problems. Due to the sheer number of conductors, the cables are as thick as hosepipes - and you just have to hope they hooked up every pin, because many of them don't - and so heavy they easily pull out the non-latching connectors.

SCART is evil. If it were forced to compete in a free market it would never have lasted - but, due to some political games by the French government and their eagerness to see a French technology (patented by a French company) made universial, it's been required for years that all TVs and associated equipment in the EU have SCART inputs. This is why Americans usually don't have to deal with the horror of SCART.

The only good news is that the TV has a built-in DVB-T decoder, which means one less SCART cable to wrestle into place. How I am to fit the one that goes from the cable box and the one from the PVR I cannot imagine - unless I apply a good amount of ducttape, those connectors will never stay in.

Video restoration.

2008-12-22T13:59:41Z

I've been practicing for a while with repairing degraded video - I am getting quite good at it now. I can do VHS, or film transfer. The only requirement I have is that is be digitised.

I have a few examples on YouTube - http://uk.youtube.com/user/Qybat . Yes, One of my other identities is a bat :>

Lacking much to practice on though, I'm open to suggestions and requests. If anyone has an old, damaged TV program they want back, or some family videos that have been sitting in a cupboard for decades they would like improved, let me take a look.

Bored...

2008-10-03T10:50:57Z

Bordom is the driving force for...

- Breaking into every wireless network within range, buying a huge antenna, and repeating for the longer range. Just to learn how.
- Creating a device capable of forceing almost any user off the internet, just in case I ever need to properly kill a troll.
- Writing a program which can invert any form of image convolution, but takes years of processor-time to do so.
- Writing two video codecs, a block-based deduplication program, and a series of video denoising filters.
- Accumulating more than fourteen terabytes of data.
- Constructing computers with more combined processing power than most companies could find a use for.
- Buying useless rubbish on ebay.
- Constructing bat-ears. Badly.
- Buying cybergoggles, together with the parts to construct custom optics that allow a variable 50-95% attenuation by turning a control.
- Making 3d art.
- Repackageing two cratefulls of beanie babies into one, larger crateful.
- Filling a shelf with plushies.
- Resowing the lawn.
- Fitting a removable ladder giving access to the garage roof so it may be used for storage space.

So, if anyone has work that needs doing, I have a lot of free time and very little money.

Toys!

2008-08-21T19:53:37Z

Arrived today: A rope ladder. To be used to gain easy access to the garage roof, to perform maintinance on the guttering, use it for storage space, and in future perhaps fit antenna.

Awaiting: The 'everything card.' A mini-PCIe 802.11a/b/g/n module for my tablet.
Awaiting: PCI 802.11a card for my router.

Between them, they will expand my domination of the local spectrum. I don't know why I seek this, it's just a fun game to play. I'm learning a lot about wireless and funny routing tricks.

All this costs money though... I really need people who would be willing to pay for artwork or code, or anything else I can make :( I have some new art out:

http://www.furaffinity.net/full/1482821/
http://www.furaffinity.net/full/1479963/
http://www.furaffinity.net/full/1479601/

Anime.

2008-07-07T11:42:59Z

To all my LJ friends, obtain the anime Princess Tutu. It's not licenced, but there are ways around that.

Obtain. Watch. Because this anime - confusing, twisted, and just plain strange in many ways - is one of the best animes I have seen. Ever. It actually had me crying at points, and to make me feel anything strongly at all is a near-impossible task. With unpredictable twists and the sheer emotional impact, I urge everyone I know to watch this.

Oh, it's not perfect. The characters can be a bit simple, and they seem to be in an informal contest to see who can make the most pointless sacrifice in the name of love, but dispite that it still adds it's own unique and very enjoyable touches to the 'generic transforming magical girl' base. The music is well chosen, and very powerful - with a score like that, even the silliest moments can become tear-inducingly emotional.

Plus, a main character is a duck. Sometimes. A cute duck.

A rare quiz.

2008-06-25T12:33:27Z

Greed:	Medium
Gluttony:	High
Wrath:	Low
Sloth:	High
Envy:	Very Low
Lust:	High
Pride:	High

The Seven Deadly Sins Quiz on 4degreez.com

No news.

2008-06-12T13:25:55Z

- Still unemployed. If you want 3d art or a program written, I need money.
- - http://www.furaffinity.net/full/1363578/
- - http://www.furaffinity.net/full/1306211/
- Blood donation today. Yay for the smug sense of superiority it grants.
- Quincunx appears to be working aside from a number of stability issues.
- My secret box in the loft is, at last, working as it was designed. There are a few issues of precise alignment - the presence of an eighty kilo sack of mostly-water throws it off enough that the optimal settings when I am the room are not good enough when I am out, but after much fiddling I have it working. Link is established and stable.
- Painting done, four doors. Sink resealed, cable burried, lightswitch bodged into place. Not sure what there is left to do now - give the shed a good clearout, perhaps?

Fish.

2008-06-03T23:50:27Z

Last friday I did some electrical work in the garden - I installed a time-delay switch for the lighting. It involves the type of bodging which would cause a safety inspector to flee the house in the direction of the nearest bunker, with connections protected by silicone sealent, cellophane wrap and hot glue, but it works.

Unfortunatly, after doing that work, I forgot to plug the freezer back in. The mistake was only discovered today.

I now have an airtight box full of rotten wet fish, soaked cardboard boxes and unidentifiable ex-food. If the shed wasn't a half-inch deep in rabbit droppings already, it might be quite the stink.

I live!

2008-05-22T16:17:27Z

I very rarely post anything on this journal at all, but just rarely I will. So, a few updates from the last few months:

1. I have an FA account for my art now: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/vylbird/

2. I am still unemployed, getting lots of interviews but no jobs.

3. I am now learning to code in perl, and doing so quite well.

4. I am studying for CompTIA A+ certification.

5. I have a blog, which unlike this journal is active. It's not personal news, it's for debating those who are worth debating and mocking those who are not.

Reviving this old journal

2007-12-30T19:02:14Z

Its been a long time since I used this place now, but much has happened. For one, I am once again unemployed - I lost my job a couple of weeks ago, when orders came down from on high to get rid of someone in the department because we were going over payroll budget. Only two were expendable, and I cant compete with the technician who plays football and bowls with the boss.

Im using the new free time to practice my art - I made a FA account under the name Vylbird - and to attend more Londonfur meets. A confusing matter right now, as having five characters has resulted in a bit of an identity crisis - im known to half those at the meet as a bird, and the rest as a bat, and probably to one or two as a female.

vyl @ 2007-08-25T11:01:00

2007-08-25T10:10:05Z

On holiday. Back in eight days. Im going to Bath for a time.

As for work... the last day of changes didn't go quite as well as hoped. A switch was not what I expected, so link aggrigation had to go. Ive left schematics for the network manager to impliment which give a substantial improvement in performance, but still its not as good as I had hoped to achieve.

If he makes the changes. We have been in a minor dispute about the appropriate level of documentation. He wishes to document every single cable in the network, while I hold - based on my experience when the students are in - that the edge of the network changes so quickly that attempting to maintain documentation at the edge is pointless. Only the core needs documenting, and for the workstations its enough to know what switch they connect to. No need to know which port on that switch, as the boss requires. He also wants every single helpdesk call documented in a database system recording tech on duty, time taken, source of complaint, problem and solution - all so he can make a nice end-of-year powerpoint presentation to justify keeping the staff. But most of our helpdesk calls are things like 'I forgot my password' or 'Printer needs paper' - things so quick to fix, it takes longer to write up the paperwork.

He is used to working in a big office environment, maintaining a corporate network (He previously worked for nokia). Thus he expects us to have procedures, precise documentation and a paper trail for everything. I hope that once he sees the chaos that students bring he will reconsider his policies and realise that a school is a completly different environment.

Work progress. Im good!

2007-08-23T12:00:26Z

I have a two immediate bosses at work. Level One Boss is the network manager, who technicly has authority over Level Two boss, but has only been here a few weeks. Level Two Boss is the senior technician.

L2 boss is a very reluctant to change anything in the network. L1 boss is obscessively documenting every cable in the building. But this week, L2 boss is on holiday. Which means me and L1 have been documenting everything. While doing so, we found a few areas for making small improvements... then large improvements... and by now, its turning into quite the overhaul.

So far we have greatly increased capacity in the art department, improved reliability in foodtech, brought two lengths of dark fiber almost into service - and would have them up if Procurve switches would take non-Procurve SFPs - and generally made everything a lot better. The chains of daisy switches are being consolidated. The nasty Purelan* switches have been moved out of the core, which is not running on Procurve and Level 1 switches. Im obcessivly making this into an ideal network while L1 boss tries to keep his paperwork up to date. Ive traced the mystery cables - the cat5 and fiber runs that have been in and unlabeled so long noone knew where they came out. Ive even been codeing a network monitor program in my spare time. Very simple one, but thats all we need - I dont want to have to mess around with the complexity of any of the existing web-based monitoring programs.

And im hardly started yet. There is so much more than I can make better! When L2 boss gets back, we will hardly know his own network... but its going to be a lot faster and more reliable.

*Budget rackmount switches, very unreliable. We have a pile of broken and suspect purelans.

Photo.

2007-08-06T16:57:58Z

This belongs to my workplace:

Code!

2007-06-28T11:01:21Z

Ive been putting together lots of little utilities for months now. Simple ones, really. Just video filters and programs for repairing or recovering data.

All very nice, but really I would like to make better utilities - and a bit of money off them if possible. So, ive decided to start making more capable and elaborate software, and releasing it under the old donation-driven model - free to download, free to use, but expect begging.

For DRF, I just extended SubstituteFrame to support alpha blending. With that, and another filter im working on, I should soon be able to properly merge his pokemon episode pieces to a level of quality somewhat higher than merely professional. I hope. Fortunatly, im really good at working with video like this.

My rather plain utilities page will get a makeover to reflect the increased attention I intend to give it. Some of the utilities are going to be extended with new features and capabilities.

This also means that I am now taking requests, so if anyone has a need for a niche program, ask! Im not a professional-standard programmer, but I will give anything I consider within my limits a try.

Work update

2007-06-26T13:19:37Z

Im still here... bored, currently. Im on helpdesk, as I am every other hour now.

The work goes well. Im good at it, lots of things getting fixed. Five printers so far just today! The teachers and other staff like me because I am good, and will put a bit more effort than is really needed into getting things done.

The pupils, with a few exceptions, also like me. This is an annoyance. I do not want to be liked by the pupils - they are idiots. I would rather they just ignored me until they have a computer in need of repairs. Its hard to work when they keep trying to talk to me. Espicially when they want to pat me on the shoulder in greeting, or welcome me to a room by name.

I am the technician. I do not need a name for work.

Im trying to diplomatically point out to my boss that his switch configuration skills, er, suck... and mine dont. That needs dealing with, so I can get permission to give them a major tidyup, and so we no longer have the whole network taken down by some pupils with a cable to stick in two sockets.

And I need to go, as my shift is ending, and my replacement is here.

vyl @ 2007-06-14T19:31:00

2007-06-14T19:19:11Z

Zombies?

I imagine by now everyone has some idea of the events here. Except possibly myself. For want of a better term, its some type of zombie uprising.

I thought something was up at work - the students have been even dumber than usual, I think perhaps with the onset of whatever this is. Some type of virus, I really dont know. If I had realised, I would have stayed - its a defendable building, with a water-tower.

For those who may have been lucky enough to escape, this is just strange - its like a zombie film, really. They used to be people, now they shuffle, sometimes breaking into a short run, never speaking. They attack on sight. I dont know if its contagious yet, but ive already seen some victims. Its not nice.

Im home. The power is out, but the cable node seems to be running, and ive jerry-rigged a power supply from my inverter and a car battery to keep online in hope of summoning help. If I ration it, I have enough power to last a week or two. More if I chance a run to the cars.

My friends online seem to be going for a barricade approach, but ive found theze zombie things arn't that smart or observant - the stairs are blocked, but they dont even try to get in so long as noone goes near the windows. My dad had to 'kill' one trying to get through the block, but... well, when your most powerful weapon is a 1400w drill with a rapidly spinning sharp blade dangling from a wire at a height tempting for the zombie to grab hold... it bled to death, or whatever you should call it. Its going to stink soon.

Our main concerns are water, fire, and the smell. We have a corpse here, and it might lure others in. Our improvised baricade can hold off one or two indefinatly, but its no match for an army, and we see them wandering the streets outside. My sister is missing, and mother is in hysterics over it - its all me and dad can do to stop her charging off.

We do have a plan, of a sort. Its too late now, but we are going to hole up overnight before I try this, and leave in the morning. The zombies are durable, but not too smart or agile - im going to try smashing the roof out from underneath, to create a hole. From the top of the house we should get a clear view of the area, and limited travel. Hopefully a zombie-free way to the shops, and fresh supplies, and to check other houses for survivors. If we draw the loft-ladder up, its a safe spot, no way the zombies will reach us so long as we dont fall off the sloped roofs. Hopefully we can get to a flat-topped building. From there its just a 'help' sign and a helicopter to rescue. If there is anyone left to rescue us.

Its getting dark, and the streetlights are on. Power, if I can get it. I will see if I can get back tomorrow for a report.

I have a job!

2007-06-01T08:20:42Z

Ive had it for five days now actually... I just didn't want to write until I knew the details.

I am now an ICT Technician at a local school, about twenty minutes walk from my home. I work as the lowest-ranking of a team of three (One of which is paceing behind me and bouncing a rubber ball). Its half-term right now, so we really have a shortage of work and spend a lot of time sitting around waiting for the computers to run their automated restore program.

The pupils return on Monday, so it should get a lot more active then. For now, my only complaint is the boredom. Its currently time for performing all the minor repairs. There is a lot of vandalised equipment to fix or replace - keyboards missing keys, floppy drives with things stuck in them, broken mice, and so on. Software problems arn't really fixed, we just boot the broken workstations off a floppy that reformats and rebuilds them from scratch. It takes hours though, and needs to be supervised...

Ive checked that I do get the traditional technicians' perk: If its in the bin, I can help myself. I have my eye on broken monitors, mostly. I can fix those, with enough to scavenge parts from.

I have the job until August. After that date though, the school will go under new management. This new management is likely to get rid of a lot of the existing staff, including myself, so they can be replaced with its own people. So after that, I may or may not still have a job. Even if not, the experience and reference will make getting a new one much easier.

Chavmeets

2007-05-17T07:46:08Z

The job-center has put me on a manditory course called 'Gateway to Work' - if I dont go, I lose my handouts. I really am not enjoying it, and im only on day four of ten.

To start, the course is located in a building on the Dicken's Estate - the bad side of town, which I must walk through to get there. Its a general high-crime area. Lots of vandels, lots of youths in hoodies, not a safe place to be. The course building itsself has a barbed wire fence around it.

Presumably the course was set there so as to be near the clients, because the other members are really not pleasant people either. Uneducated, unqualified, and generially unemployable. Several of them have criminal records, while the rest just havn't been caught yet. I get the impression most of them use drugs on a regular basis.

They shout *constantly* - and I have problems with noise. Their shouting makes the course hopelessly slow. That is when the course isn't being interupted by their constant coming and going, as they like to wander outside on a regular basis for their niccotine fix.

The course itsself is pointless. Activities so far have included six hours of signing paperwork, a lecture on discrimination and sexual harassment (Of which practical demonstrations were immediately given), a game of Call My Bluff (teambuilding), and the construction of catapults from bamboo, selotape and bungee code (teambuilding, again). Nothing I have yet done makes the slightest contribution towards finding me employment.

Which I have given up on now anyway. If I dont get the last job I applied for, its hopeless, and im out - I just cant find any work at all without a reference. So I will volunteer for a month or two, full time, unpaid. Once I have that reference, I shall resume my job-hunting.

The suit

2007-03-18T13:29:43Z

As anyone who went to the meet yesterday will have seen, I was a great embarassment to both myself and to all of furry. My attempt at a fursuit was, by my own admission, absolutly awful. It was not suitable for wearing in public by a long way. I took it only in order to seek advice from those more experienced than myself.

Unfortunatly, once I had it out the bag, I soon became carried away. After so many months of preparing it, the great attention I put in and thought with which I had designed what it was to one day become, I was no longer able to see the limits of my own ability. I was already thinking of it as a suit, and not the half-completed parts of one. I jumped on the vaguest of compliments as an excuse to show it off further, long before it was ready. It was, in fact, truely awful and a shame for all who looked upon it. Those who have seen it will realise just how poor it was, those who have not cannot imagine the horror. I was just unable to realise this myself due to my own attachment to the suit and the care I put into it. Once I saw others pointing out how substandard it was, I realised my error.

After months of deluding myself into the belief that I had some ability, I have destroyed the suit to remove all temptation of attempting to continue work on it. I am requesting that anyone who has photos of it please delete them.

I am also annoyed at some others present at the meet who, though they later admitted on LJ that they were laughing at the suit from the moment they saw it, did not tell me this at the time. They instead allowed me to make a fool of myself, not realising how silly I looked.

I will not be returning to any interest in suit construction. I have no intention of returning to any Londonfurs meets, where I fear I shall be forever known as 'the guy in the pathetic suit,' even though I did enjoy the time spent there before I realised I was being mocked. I appologise for embarassing everyone. Now please, forget about it.

Giftmas presents

2006-12-26T15:49:28Z

1. MoneyMoneyMoney
2. A "No, I wont fix your computer" tshirt. Incorrect though, of course I will.
3. Hammer+screwdriver+pliers+wrench toolkit
4. Powerball wrist-exerciser. The one without the display.
5. 320G external harddrive. Usful for repair, storing data while reformatting PCs.
6. Chocolate, now eaten.

Downloading:
Lots of Jonathan Creek episodes.

University complete

2006-10-11T17:42:08Z

Ive droped out. Simple enough.

I managed just one lecture of the new Management and Communications module. That was quite enough for me to realise two things: First, that I would fail it. Secondly, that I would hate every minute of it, and probably end up destroying some part of the university if I tried to take it.

The second lecture (I missed the first) was on personality types. It sounded like a cross between phycology and some form of new-age spiritualism. I understand the rest of the course would be much the same. Not a mention of anything technical in there, and the whole thing would be on team management. I cannot and will not do that. After the last year I was very reluctant to attempt the third, and seeing what this module had in store was more than enough to convince me to quit.

With some style, too - I was sufficiently tense for some hours afterwards that I could barely contain myself, and kept imagining myself attacking the university. It wouldn't be safe to go through that every week for two years. I managed with only one item destroyed, a poster ripped from the wall that has been bothering me since I arrived... bragging about the universities total commitment to all forms of non-discrimination. Its my view that the university takes a good idea there and then carries it *way* to far... but thats a rant for another time.

So, I am no longer a student. I still have the CCNA course to deal with, and I am going to try to salvage a diploma (For those not in the UK, its a qualification worth something, but not as much as the degree I wanted). Between them, I hope enough to get me a job as a lowly techie and mover of heavy equipment somewhere.

Until then, I have the loft things to take up my time.

The Loft

2006-10-06T19:31:46Z

Ive been working for a week or so on the loft now - its getting interesting. Im designing and building a complete new flooring system.

Tasks done so far:
1. Paint the ceiling white for better lighting (incomplete, need paint, about half-done).
2. Construct one panel of prototype flooring (perfect fit).
3. Install tidy socket for power-distribution system.
4. rerun first of the power and UHF cables through tidy holes in the beams - not just draped over them.
5. Rewire fan control box for easier future alteration. Thanks to Sister's Friend for helping pull the cables.

Tasks waiting:
1. Build the first two rows of flooring panels. This could take weeks.
2. Crowbar out a big structural beam on each side that is in my way.
3. Install replacement structural beam (Require brackets, bolts, new drillbit).
4. Rerun the network cable with one that reaches.
5. Install junction box for phones, not just soldered-together wires.
6. Rip up disused cable.
7. Chisel chunks from one end-wall. Plaster it tidily.
8. Properly wire in the fan control switch.
9. Remove potentially sparking motor from highly flamable noise-absorbing material.

At that point I can start the really hard parts - disposing of the good, solid, and completly fixed flooring which is getting in the way of my cable-laying to replace it with the new fully-modular design. Floor panels that are strong and solid, and dont slide around, yet can be lifted up with ease.

Exercise.

2006-08-21T14:19:01Z

The fifteen minute walk became a twenty minute walk. Then two days of half an hour walk. Then a break for a day out walking, and then...

Two and a quater hours walking to get there and back. I feel worn out... and that was only walking. Or rather, trudgeing. Not running, not even jogging. Im not fit enough for that yet.

Bored

2006-08-17T17:15:11Z

The university assignment deadline draws near. Its still barely started, and I see no possibility of passing it now.

Ive been playing around with modeling instead - its not done yet, but my new dragon character for ut2k4 is looking good: http://vyl.avians.net/dragmod6.jpg

Ive started going for a morning walk. around 15min to half an hour each day. It might get me a bit fitter, and its an excuse to check the local skips for salvage.

Science museum

2006-08-13T12:44:55Z

The meet went well. Hawthorn, Akil and I spent most of the day at the science museum - while I took photos, http://vyl.avians.net/oldphotos/museum120806/ - just exploring and looking at the various sections. We met Faraday, or a reasonable approximation thereof, explaining the princibles of electromagnetism he discovered and the functioning of his early transformer. Then to Hawthorn's place, where we watched Howl's Moving Castle and I repaired a horribly bodged installation of a harddrive he apparently forgot he had, as it didn't work. So he has another 40G.

vyl