For quite a while I have been working on cleaning up all of the junk on my computer. One of my big things has been changing all archives, aside from tar.gz and tar.bz, over to 7z. I have saved a considerable amount of space. Just the other week I decompressed a number of zip files (5.55gb zipped) and compressed them into 7z format (4.77gb) saving me 800mb. These are things I do not use very often so it is not really an inconvenience to have to decompress them.

I have been considering a different way to handle large file sets without zipping them. This is mainly for things I do use a lot, for example text I have saved from the internet such as manuals, books, etc. My idea is to place them in an ISO and then I can mount the ISO or keep it mounted at all times. I have done this with my font collection so I could move it or defragment without having to handle 4000 files. I think there is even a program and possibly an extension for Daemon tools that will mount the ISO on double click. If I can find a program that will do that I will consider putting HTML books in ISO form instead of compressing them, this would however not help me on space.

Let me know what your methods have been aside from burning them to disc.

A number of years ago when going through some server logs I came up with a quick method of seeing the information, a spreadsheet. It is very simple.

1. Download your log
2. Replace all spaces with tabs (most logs do not put spaces in critical data)
3. Copy the text and paste it into Excel or OpenOffice calc.

Each column with represent certain data and you can now remove certain columns or shrink them to make it easier to read. With IIS files you will want to use a sorting function to combine all of the commented lines and then remove them. This will make things a little easier.

Both applications have a row limit of 65,536 rows. So I do not recommend this if you have huge logs to look at.

I found this gun last night and decided when I pay off my car and all of my other debt I am going to buy this.

The price tag is a bit high at just under $2000 without a scope. The effective range is the same as the M40A1 at 800 yard, but has a max range much further out.

Ammunition: .308 Win.
  Capacity: 10 Rounds
  Magazine: Detachable
     Twist: 1:12 in

    Weight: 11.9 lbs
   Overall: 48 in
    Barrel: 26 in
 Dovertail: 0.7 in

Polymer Stock
Mirage Shield
Two 10rd Magazines
Muzzle Brake
Thread Protector

I have added the Iraq flag to my translation bar. I think I am going to have to write a quick plugin for wordpress to handle translation differently. I currently use Translator and enjoy it, but Arabic seems to cause problems. Arabic is read and written right to left and if you view my website in Arabic you will see that it has put my sidebar on the left. I would like my text to be in available in Arabic, but I do not want my site to be altered. I am thinking about using CURL to post to the translator and I will make it per post linked with the Iraq flag or something. Then it will show up in a separate window and it will only be the Arabic text.

My reasoning behind all this is that I am beginning to learn Arabic and I am waiting for some CDs from a friend of mine that are supposed to be exceptional. I will be giving updates on the process as I learn and I am very excited.

One of the last things I needed to ensure I would not lose is my GAIM logs. I believe I have only mentioned once my obsession with making sure things are organized and on separate partitions, and this is no exception. I wanted to change my log location to D:\GAIM\logs but unfortunately that is not possible to have it just the way I wanted. What you can do is set an environmental variable of GAIMHOME that changes it to GAIMHOME\.gaim\logs, etc. I made the variable “D:\” which made my log directory “D:\.gaim\logs”. Make sure you copy all your settings from C:\Documents and Settings\USER\Application Data\.gaim to the GAIMHOME\.gaim directory.

This is a quote I heard that I absolutely love. It is more than a quote, but I feel that I need to start to follow what it says.

I’ve come to the conclusion that if having things turn out the way you wanted them to is a measure of a successful life; then some would say I’m a failure.

The important thing is not be bitter over life’s disappointments. Learn to let go of the past.

I recognize that every day wont be sunny but when you find yourself lost in darkness and dispare.

Remember that it is only in the black of night that you can see the stars and those stars will lead you back home.

So dont be afraid to make mistakes, to stumble and fall, because most of the time the greatest rewards come from doing the things that scare you the most.

Maybe you will get everything you wished for; maybe you will get more than you could ever have imagined.

Who knows where life will take you, the road is long and in the end the journey is the destination.

As of today’s date there are no extensions other than a hacked version of the Firefox v1.5 MAF extension that will handle MHT/MAF/MAF Zipped saved web pages. Here is the link to the forum post with the extension.

I have used the extension a couple times and the items saved have worked with IE and Firefox.

On April 14th of 2004 CPL. Jason L. Dunham of the USMC was critically wounded while protecting his fellow Marines for the blast of a grenade. I remember reading about this story when it first happened and the story before the story was that the Marine had been discussing hand grenades with is fellow Marines and they felt that by placing your helmet over the grenade and laying on top of it the blast could be contained enough for those involved to survive. CPL. Dunham found out the hard way. He thoughtlessly gave laid his life on the line for his fellow Marines and layed on top of his helmet after placing it on a grenade and after 8 days of care and medical attention he passed.

On January 11, 2007 President George W. Bush presented the Dunham family with the Medal of Honor. While it is not an award that someone would ever truely want to present given the circumstances I am sure President Bush felt sense of pride in the presentation. If I remember correctly the last time the Medal of Honor was awarded was to the two Delta snipers in the Black Hawk Down incident in the 90’s and before that it was Vietnam.

I was not fortunate enough to know this Marine and I can only hope that I can be even half of the person I understand him to be. The Marines he saved that day we lucky in many respects, he saved their lives, but in my opinion having the honor to be around someone that is worthy of a Medal of Honor is a gift.

I am not a Marine and am not required to salute, but Jason I salute you.

Here is a video of the presentation of the Medal of Honor

“Nobody asks to be a hero, it just sometimes turns out that way”

Rest in Peace
CPL. Jason L. Dunham, USMC
10 November 1981 - 22 April 2004
http://jasonsmemorial.org

When you buy a Camelbak nowadays you are getting an Omega bladder which has a special FDA and EPA approved layer (HydroGuard) to eliminate 99.99% of common bacteria and fungus from your tube and bladder. This doesn’t mean you don’t need to clean your reservoir.

I did a number of searches on the internet for the best method of cleaning. I came across users who used mouthwash, vodka, water, and some didn’t even clean them. The most common methods other than the tablets you can buy from Camelbak were baking soda, bleach, or denture tablets. Here is the information from the Camelbak website.

1. Fill reservoir with warm water and mild soap.
2. Clean with Reservoir Bursh and Delivery Tube Brush
3. Re-fill reservoir with 1L of water
4. Add 1 Cleaning Tablet
5. Shale reservoir until tablet is dissolved
6. Let stand for 5 minutes
7. Remove water from reservoir
8. Rinse reservoir thoroughly
9. Re-fill for drinking or dry completely before storage

It also says in an emergency you can add a tablespoon of bleach after Step 3 just make sure to rinse it thoroughly. They also say to clean the whole pack place it in a tub or bucket and wash with cold water and mild detergent. They go on to mention how you should not place it in a washing machine.

The method I used combined the CamelBak method with others I found on the internet.

WORKING METHOD

1. Fill reservoir with warm water and 2 teaspoons of bleach
2. Let stand for 8 hours
3. Remove water by removing bite valve and draining through tube 3 times
4. Rinse once with hot water and 2 teaspoons of baking soda
5. Fill with hot water and 1 tablespoon baking soda and let stand for 2 hours
6. Rinse thoroughly and then dry

As I am writing this it is sitting with the baking soda in it.

Update: This method worked perfectly. There is no plastic taste, no bleach taste just the refreshing taste of clean water. I hope this helps some of you out.

… But if you look closer you might see someone like you.

Someone trying to find their way.

Someone trying to find their place.

Someone trying to find their self.

Sometimes it is easy to feel like you are the only one in the world who is struggling, who is frustrated, or unsatisfied or barely getting by, but that feeling is a lie. And if you just hold on, just find the courage to face it all for another day someone or something will find you and make it all okay. Because we all need a little help sometimes, someone to help us hear the music in the world, to remind us that it won’t always be this way; that someone is out there and that someone will find you.