I noticed that one of the 1TB disks in my Mac Pro went into an offline state for the second time in three weeks. The disk shows as good when I go into Disk Utility, however the RAID set is stale and needs to be rebuilt.
You can initiate the rebuild via the Disk Utility GUI, but you will get much more information during the rebuild if you monitor it via the command line.
Note: I have three RAID sets using 4x1TB drives. There are two RAID1 sets (2x1TB drives each) and then those two are striped across each other. The effective usable space is 2TB, but I have RAID0 performance with RAID1 fault tolerance. Here’s what the configuration looks like in Disk Utility:
Have any of you tried this flavor of Blue Bell ice cream? I’ll cut to the chase. This stuff is delicious! I got my first pint of it about a month ago and I’ve been craving the stuff ever since. If you live in or around Texas and can buy Blue Bell ice cream at your local grocery store, keep an eye out for this flavor and buy some if you can. You won’t be disappointed.
Now if I could only find that Blue Bell cantaloupe flavored ice cream that was being sold a few years ago… that stuff was amazing as well!
I ordered myself an Arduino last week to start some of my electronics tinkering. I’ve really been itching to get back into experimenting with digital logic. Going back to 6502 assembly programming is going to fulfill some of that desire, but I also want to be able to delve into microcontroller programming and refresh my C programming skills.
I ordered the Arduino Mega 2560 R3 from SparkFun Electronics. They’re in Colorado, and based on some of the recommendations I read online I felt comfortable ordering from them.
The 2560 R3 has a ton of interface lines (14) for devices such as servos (think robotics!) as well as 16 analog inputs for signal processing applications. It’s going to be a lot of fun to play around with. I still need to load the development environment on my Mac and connect to it with a mini USB2 cable. I will also need to order some additional components, such as resistors and LEDs, to run through some of the example applications that I’ve found online.
I don’t have any ideas for a “true” application for my first project, but the types of components and sensors that are available to experiment with are amazing! Radiation, distance, moisture, temperature, and light sensors are just a few that other aspiring makers have utilized in their projects. I think I eventually want to build some kind of robot that can be remotely controlled to explore the back yard at night for critters and other things that go bump in the night!
I started out my life in computers with a Commodore Vic-20 back in the 1980′s. I can still remember turning on the computer and waiting about five seconds for the intro screen to show up on my little black and white television. Each time it powered up it told me that I had a whopping 3583 bytes free to use for BASIC!
I remember one of the first programs that I wrote in BASIC was a type of “choose your own adventure” program based on Star Trek. At the time the vector-based Star Trek video game was in the arcades and it was my favorite. I remember actually running out of memory on that little Vic-20 while writing that game.
One thing about the days of my Vic-20 and Apple IIe that I really miss is assembly language programming. While doing some reading this week I was surprised to find that the 6502 processor is still very much alive and well. The 6502 Microprocessor Resource has a lot of relevant information about programming this venerable little chip. I’m so rusty after 30 years I can hardly remember a lot of the specifics of this processor, but I’m going to start refreshing this old memory of mine.
I’ve picked up a few 6502 books off of eBay and Thriftbooks over the past couple of weeks. I guess I’m just feeling nostalgic. I do plan to break out some breadboards, a soldering iron, and components and see what I can come up with as far as hardware design as well.
I’ve given it a lot of thought and I have decided that I will be resuming my blog activity on this site. With the recent changes to Facebook and its decision to go public, I have somewhat of a feeling of contempt for it when all they are doing is using my personal information and the information of others to sell advertisements, data mine, and reveal my information to marketing firms.
Granted, I’ll still post on Facebook in order to redirect readers to this blog, but I will be removing my photos and other items from there and placing them here on this site. That means I have to get serious about getting back up to speed on all of the blogging software like WordPress. I don’t even know what the latest and greatest photo gallery software is for blogging.
Blogging does still exist now that Facebook is so popular, right?
When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous “yes.” The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things–your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions—and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else—the small stuff.
“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
“Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first—the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked.” It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, “there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”
I’m usually not a big energy drink fan, but these Celsius energy drinks that Michelle has been getting at Wal-Mart are really, really good! There are several different flavors, but the one that I have come to be most fond of is the Celsius Green Tea Peach Mango. It is fantastic! It’s the perfect pick-me-up for when I start to get lethargic in the afternoon.
Thankfully I have just discovered that you can purchase them via Amazon in bulk.
One reason that I like these drinks is that they are sweetened with Splenda, not Aspartame. Aspartame is nasty stuff – it metabolizes into formaldehyde in the body.
Splenda is an excellent substitute sweetener for sugar. You can even bake and cook with it. I pretty much only drink sweet tea now if it’s been sweetened with Splenda, not sugar.
The reason that the Green Tea Peach Mango is my favorite flavor is because it isn’t carbonated. Usually you will only see me with a Dr. Pepper in my hand, but a non-carbonated energy drink tastes good for a change.
Do yourself a favor. If you haven’t tried one of the Celsius energy drinks, pick one up today!
Michelle and I watched the election results late into the night last night. OK, it was about 1:30am when we went to bed. By then, everything that was going to be decided by last night had been announced.
Yes, the people have spoken with a mighty voice. The majority of the country, which is in fact center/right, does not like the current policies, agenda, and attitude of the people and their party that are currently in power. America isn’t about getting something for nothing, and it’s not about losing touch with the principles of free enterprise and a market-based economy. I’m sorry, but nothing is too big to fail.
The politicians also need to realize that they are in office for the purpose of letting the voice and the will of the people be heard and represented. They work for us.
You know the one single thing that bothers me over the past few years? It has been the motivations and actions taken to silence the conservative opposition. Strangely this isn’t a normal attribute of the Democrat party.
But it is the Progressives’ strategy. Maybe with a little of the “Chicago Way” mixed in.
It will not succeed.
Anyone who has to win by silencing the opposition is the enemy of all Americans. Stealing votes, cheating, mud-slinging… all have become too common yet are not true symbols of the American democratic process.
Sure, we may disagree with each other, but when did we part with the spirit of democracy expressed in the following quote:
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
When we abide by this single principle in American politics, everyone wins regardless of the winning political party.
That, my friends, is what makes The United States of America the greatest nation on the face of the earth!
At my request, my wife Michelle has been quilting a wooby for me. She has been sitting in the dining room with her Janome sewing machine and various selections of beautiful fabrics that she personally hand selected. Watching her diligently carry on with cutting, pressing, and sewing all of these fabric swatches together makes me appreciate the end product even more.
I am so excited to get my very own wooby I can hardly stand the anticipation!
But alas, some of her blog readers have asked what exactly is a wooby? To those readers I say: It’s very difficult to explain the true definition of a wooby to a man. The derivation of the word is lost to history. I have, however, found a video clip that may shed some light on this mysterious subject.
Have any of you tried this flavor of 
When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee. 
“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things–your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions—and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else—the small stuff. 
. It is fantastic! It’s the perfect pick-me-up for when I start to get lethargic in the afternoon.
One reason that I like these drinks is that they are sweetened with Splenda, not Aspartame. Aspartame is 
Thank God!
At my request, my wife 
and various selections of beautiful fabrics that she personally hand selected. Watching her diligently carry on with cutting, pressing, and sewing all of these fabric swatches together makes me appreciate the end product even more. 
