LinuxLefty's personal blog - Media

Sometimes the best (and easiest things) in life are free...

nospam@example.com (LinuxLefty) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:00:15 -0600

Recently, I've started listening to audio Bibles in the morning as I get ready for class and then at night as I'm drifting off to sleep. The Bible says we should meditate as we rise up, walk along the way, and as we fall asleep, so I'm trying to do that.

I found the EXTLINK:@http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/en-US/Product/ProductDetail.htm?ProdID=com.zondervan.9780310918639&QueryStringSite=Zondervan | NIV Audio Bible Dramatized@ which looked like an awesome audio Bible. So, I scoured the Internet trying to find a place where I could purchase a mp3 version. Zondervan has an mp3 CD version but that's not what I'm looking for. Since I'm currently in China anything involving shipping is a bad idea. Of course there where tons of places that I could download it via torrents, but I decided to be good and press on looking for a place to purchase it.

Finally, I saw that Audible was a incensed reseller of Zondervan material and had the audio Bible. It was normally $41.99, but Audible had a special deal where if you signed up for the Gold membership of $7.99/month you got one free audio book/month. So I plunked down my $7.99 and then used my one free audio book purchase to get the audio Bible.

With Audible, you can't just download the audio books, you have to use their special downloader (which of course there is no Linux version). No problem, says I, WINE comes to the rescue!! After fighting with wine, I finally get the Audible downloader installed and happily add the first audio book. Problem #1 was that it was in an encrypted format that Linux couldn't play. I could have used the Audible downloader to export to an mp3 or burn it to a virtual CD and then rip it, or try to find some kind of converter. But, there are like 4 books of the Bible per audio file, which is rather dumb. I like to listen to one chapter at a time, not 4 books of the Bible / time. I could have fired up Audacity and then cut the file into chapters ... but that would have taken FOREVER.

So what did I do? I did what I was tempted to do in the first place: download them from bittorrent. Not only did they come in MP3 format, but also every chapter had its own mp3 file and they were nicely grouped together in folders by book of the Bible. Some people might frown at the "illegal" activity. However, I payed for the book, they make it impossibly complicated, I dumped them and did it my own way. It made me wonder, though... why I even bothered to give them money since I just wasted a lot of time and ended up just download it on bittorrent.

When will company's learn DRM kills? Just let me use the data I bought, for crying out loud.

~Peter

New Cell Phone!

nospam@example.com (LinuxLefty) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 08:44:04 -0700

My camera has been broken for about 4-5 months now and I've been missing a lot of pictures. I've been thinking about buying another camera for a long time, but I decided on buying a camera phone instead. Laura has a good camera and I can use those to take high-quality photos. However, a camera phone is really nice as you always have a camera with you.

One of the nicest things about the phone is the Chinese/English dictionary. Since the system is stylus-based, I can look up characters that I see on the street by writing them into the dictionary. It helps a lot when I'm texting in Chinese, too

The phone usually runs for about $350 USD, but I was able to buy it in China for a little over $200 USD

This should also mean that there should be more updates to the photo album and blog!

Oh, and the cellphone is Linux based (yay!)

Finding a Language Exchange Partner

nospam@example.com (LinuxLefty) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:37:04 -0600

As the common English saying goes, "Practice makes perfect". When learning a new language, practicing your new found language will allow you to learn at a faster rate, while retaining things that you've already learned. For me, practicing is extremely important. Since I have a poor memory, I have to use and hear/see words over and over until I finally get it.

在英语我们说"practice makes perfect".那个意思是如果你想学习一个新的东西，你应该练习很多。你学习一个你的外语时候练习是一个非常好的方法。我学习汉语的时候，我记得很慢，妄了快。所以我也应该练习很多！

Fortunately, there are a TON of language exchange websites out there. I'd thought I would take a moment and review some of the larger ones.

在上网友很多的语言换的网页你可以用练习你的外语。

《请用下面的按钮继续读》

Continue reading "Finding a Language Exchange Partner"

Funny Picture

nospam@example.com (LinuxLefty) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 09:57:45 -0600

I have a bunch of new pictures to upload, but I took a really funny one today I wanted to share with you all.

On my way home from school, I saw this small bicycle carrying a HUGE load of Styrofoam. I passed the bicyclist and then took a picture for you all. I later saw the same guy with the bike parked at a street corner. However, the load was so large that the Styrofoam was laying on the ground and the bicycle was pointing up in the air, lol.

It's kind of strange, here in China. People use cars to transport people and bicycles to transport goods. Since there is so much traffic, you hardly see any trucks on the road. You'll see people with a boat load of hula-hoops, shoes in shoe boxes, etc, etc on the back of their bicycles.

Photos online!

nospam@example.com (LinuxLefty) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 09:23:30 -0600

W00T! I finally got some of my pictures online. You can see them here: PAGELINK:@/photos/index.php?cat=7|Peter's Chinese Pictures@.

Sorry for the short post, I've written a bunch on the picture's captions I don't have much to write here right now

~Peter

Idea For a Book

nospam@example.com (LinuxLefty) — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 23:35:35 -0700

I just got an idea for a book! After finals, hopefully I will have some time to start writing.

I've wanted to write a book for quite a while. However, it has been centered around fiction. I enjoy reading and have often been intrigued with the possibility of writing a novel. I've started countless ideas, but they usually end up in some dead end where my characters are rather unbelievable and the plot even more so. So, I put the ideas away until I see something that sparks my imagination which I attempt to work into my plot, but nevertheless it results in yet another paradox which I am unable to resolve.

However, I got an idea for a non-fiction book, which I am really excited about. I watched a video on youtube presented by an atheist and septic. He didn't present any arguments against Christianity, but rather demonstrated how he, as an atheist, was able to convince people that there was a God by playing on their emotions and manipulating them psychologically. This really opened my eyes and revealed to me the problems in today's church and our society as a whole.

In this sensationalist and individualist society, feelings are valued very highly and are often taken advantage of. When people in the Church are asked how they know God exists, they often respond by referencing a feeling. In addition, people today widely accept debunct theories such a global warming and evolution which uses shady evidence at best and contrived stories at worst. They accept such things due to feelings of peer pressure and intimidation from scholars. However, people simply do not research and find out facts for themselves. Rather they allow themselves to be manipulated by others.

It is a ironic that in this individualist society we are allowing our minds and emotions to be controlled by others instead of seeking out truth for ourselves.

They book that I plan on writing will be dealing with these issues and strive to motivate Christians and non-Christians alike to roll up their sleeves and find out the facts for themselves, instead of checking their minds in a the door.

NOTE: Obviously there might be some flaws in the logic that I'm using in this entry. Once I write this out formally, it will be given much more thought. 2AM is not condusive to thinking

I'm thinking about titling the book "Trusting Echos"

So Long Self

nospam@example.com (LinuxLefty) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 21:23:25 -0700

Paul writes in Ephesians 4:21-24,

But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

"So Long Self" by MerceMe in the album EXTLINK:@http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Up-Breathe-MercyMe/dp/B000EU1PM8/|Coming Up to Breathe@ puts this in a witty song. The format is the same as many love / breaking up songs. However, it is a song about how were are to forsake our old selves and follow Christ.

Well if I come across a little bit distant, it's just because I am. Things just seem to feel a little bit different, you understand. Believe it or not but life is not apparently about me anyways. But I have met the One who really is worthy, so let me say

So long, self. Well, it's been fun, but I have found somebody else. So long, self. There's just no room for two, so you are gonna have to move. So long, self. Don't take this wrong but you are wrong for me, farewell. Oh well, goodbye, don't cry, so long, self.

Stop right there because I know what you're thinking, but no we can't be friends. And even though I know your heart is breaking, this has to end. And come to think of it the blame for all of this, simply falls on me. For wanting something more in life than all of this, can't you see?

So long, self. Well, it's been fun, but I have found somebody else. So long, self. There's just no room for two, so you are gonna have to move. So long, self. Don't take this wrong but you are wrong for me, farewell. Oh well, goodbye, don't cry, so long.

Don't feel so bad (don't feel so bad), there'll be better days (there'll be better days). Don't go away mad (but by all means), just go away, go away.

So long, self. Well, it's been fun, but I have found somebody else. So long, self. There's just no room for two, so you are gonna have to move. So long, self. Don't take this wrong but you are wrong for me, farewell. Oh well, goodbye, don't cry, so long

Animusic

nospam@example.com (LinuxLefty) — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 06:43:21 -0600

Yesterday, I stumbled across EXTLINK:@http://www.animusic.com|animusic@. It is 3d music videos in which robot or mechanical devices perform the musical pieces. All the music is synthesized and is very nice, but the 3d artwork is outstanding. If you've never seen these, there are a number of samples on EXTLINK:@http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=animusic&search=Search|YouTube@. I'd love to be able to do 3d modeling and animations like this. I've listed several of my favorites below:

Continue reading "Animusic"

How to Install Vista and How to Grade Exams

nospam@example.com (LinuxLefty) — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 20:17:10 -0700

This week I came across two funny "How to's".

The first was a guide on how to successfully install Windows Vista. The person who made the how-to spent over 12 hours fighting with the installer. He downloaded countless incompatible drivers and encountered numerous hardware conflict issues. He finally figured out how to install Vista and wrote the following tutorial on it:

In addition, I came across EXTLINK:@http://www.rvc.cc.il.us/faclink/pruckman/humor/grading.htm|A Guide to Grading@. It's a good read and a good laugh. I've had some teachers that must grade like this

Great Vacation!

nospam@example.com (LinuxLefty) — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 23:30:00 -0700

This past week, our family was at EXTLINK:@http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Lake+Harmony,+PA+18624&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=6&ll=41.178654,-75.629883&spn=7.870596,22.060547&iwloc=addr|Lake Harmony, PA@. Personally, I think that this has been the best vacation that our family has taken. There were numerous little "best" things which, when summed together, made this the "best" vacation.

EXTLINK:@http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437800/|Akeelah and the Bee@

At the resort, there was a daily free video which was shown in the theater. Upon hearing that Akeelah and the Bee was playing, I was quite reluctant to go as I assumed it was an animated kid's video about some animal named Akeelah and a friendly bee. On the contrary, it turned out to be a very touching movie, most possible the best I have ever watched. Akeelah is a young black girl who has a knack spelling. She is encouraged to enter a spelling bee and must overcome her own fears, the mocking of her peers, and racial prejudices. Akeelah ends up entering the bee and training with an older black gentleman. She ends up doing well in the bee, and in the process, her trainer and her help each other through personal struggles and past griefs. It is a wonderful movie and definitely worth the watch if you get a chance!

EXTLINK:@http://www.amazon.com/High-Calling-Courageous-Columbia-Commander/dp/0785261958|High Calling@

Hands down, this is best book I have ever read. It is the biography of EXTLINK:@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Husband|Rick Husband@, written by his wife, Evelyn. Rick was the commander of the final Columbia space mission in which the spacecraft EXTLINK:@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Columbia_disaster|fell apart@ and killed all the crew upon re-entry in early 2003. Rick was a very strong christian and has become one of my heroes. We was a model father, husband, and lived his faith. One thing that he did so well was to praise and encourage others. His life has really motivated me to firstly, do everything for Christ, and secondly, to become an encouragement to others.

Skiing

This has been the forth time that we have been skiing and it had definitely been our best. We started out on the green (easiest) slopes to warm up and then quickly moved to the blue (intermediate) slopes where we spent most of our time. Towards the end of the day, we were going down the terrain park! There are all kinds of railings for grinding and jumps to provide airtime. None of us tried grinding, but Philip went off and landed several jumps. At the end of the day, Philip and I even went down a black diamond (hardest) slope a couple of times. I'm still a little sore from the skiing!

Family relations

The family has been working really well with each other. Philip, Natalie and I almost always get along well with each other, but often there is tension with the two smaller kids and with the parents. Since we spend all day together coupled with the stress of packing, traveling, and unpacking, the family will often quarrel and exchange some sharp words. However, in general, the family really worked well together. We talked a lot, worked through, and resolved some problems. Hopefully we will continue to work well with one another.

So, this has been one of our best vacations! I saw a great movie, read a great book, had an awesome time skiing, worked well with the family and had an all-around super time!