Fnord.

Via Preshrunk, a shirt that’s probably got my number. Especially with the persistent sleep deprivation. I actually tried the new Starbucks yesterday, which I normally avoid.

Sigh. Meandering, aren’t I? Anna’s asleep next to me on the couch, Chris is crashed and Grandma M is likewise napping. I have got to get my sleep schedule more in phase or I am doomed.

I use and like Bins for generating photo albums like this one. When we upgraded our camera from 2 to 7 megapixels, the small/medium/large image sizing that bins does became a problem: at 7MP, even ’small’ was over 1024×768.

Solution:

Edit the bins config file to reduce the sizes. It uses percentages, so given a target of VGA (640×480) I ended up with 20/40/100%.

For Debian, you first have to copy the default file into your own directory:

   cp /etc/bins/binsrc ~/.bins

Then edit it like so:

  <sizes>
    <size name="Small" shortname="Sm" height="20%" width="20%"/>
    <size name="Medium" shortname="Med" height="40%" width="40%"/>
    <size name="Large" shortname="Lg" height="100%" width="100%"/>
  </sizes>

It works, my family is happier, you have to remove the generated albums and re-run bins on each. Tedious, but only have to do it once.

As per request, misc pictures from the first three weeks…

From Rev Stang:

Or maybe not. Anyway, do you see, then, that the Church of the SubGenius is the best religion on the planet?

WELL, SINCE HUMOR IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF SELF-AWARENESS, AND RELIGION IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF SELF-DELUSION, A RELIGION THAT COULD COMBINE THE TWO WOULD SEEM TO BE THE BEST BET FOR ENLIGHTENMENT… FOR THE PEOPLE WHO CAN HANDLE IT. THERE SEEM TO BE A LOT OF PEOPLE ON THIS PLANET WHO WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO HANDLE IT, THOUGH.

Two in a continuing theme as our household adjusts:

Quick notes so far:

1. Sleep dep feels just like jetlag, the really vicious kind from a 12+ flight with bad ergonomics and no sleep. My memory is shot.
2. The joys are there!
3. Be Prepared. It really helps. Wait, that’s fatuous, isn’t it? Sorry. I’ll do better later.

As another blogger put it, the amount of happiness may have decreased, but there’s a lot more joy in the house.

PS Oh yeah, we got a new camera and fast chip for kid pics. Still to arrive are the UV filter and polarizer. We live in amazing times! This stuff was megabucks back when I first learned photography. Now a DSLR-lite is under $350!

PPS (Added 7/8/07) See this page for more camera info.

James Richardson, click for his home page.

In reference to recent news, a related aphorism from James Richardson:

59.
When she was little her face rose up before
me, reading, driving. Even now I cannot have
her out of my sight for thirty seconds in a
supermarket. But she will leave home, and
there will be whole days I hardly think of her.
Between this beginning and that ending is a
story I cannot admit I am being told. Com-
pared to it, what is the failure of my work, out
language, the planet?

This is from Vectors: Aphorisms and Ten-second Essays, a book I cannot recommend enough. That and

I’ve mostly kept this blog focussed on technology, cool stuff and suchlike, but I have to warn y’all that Anna’s arrival will most likely add parenting-related content and uber-cute pictures.

You Have Been Warned. Sing along with me, won’t you? “It’s my blog and I’ll cheese if I want to, cheese if I want to…”

He has a better macro setup than me it seems. Really nice pictures!

Added him/her to the Marinemaster page.