Working computer in a multitasking, time restricted setting offen means to you need to be very aware of when it’s time to switch tasks. Maybe you need to catch the bus in fifteen minutes, or got to a meeting in an hour. Keeping close tabs on the time can often be very distracting from the task at hand, but at the same time you can’t afford to miss the bus or that meeting. A very simple tool which can really help in these situations, are timers. While there are a bunch of fancy (and complex) timers out there, I often find that the best timer for a I-need-to-catch-the-bus-in-fifteen-minutes situation is the simpliest one. After trying out a few, the best timer that I could find is Minutes. It’s elegantly simple and just the thing to remind you about catching that bus. Check it.

I’ve been quitely adding some more photographs to my account, so it was about time I made note of it on the blog.

Public Notice: New photographs are now online. And this one is my favourite:

I’ve been scratching the last few days over a GCC error that’s been popping up in a project which I have been porting from Visual Studio 2008 to Xcode 3.0. The cryptic error message from GCC (version: i686-apple-darwin9-gcc-4.0.1 ) is:

error: expected unqualified-id before ‘OTHER’ token

After debugging it for a while, I figured it might of been caused by some incorrectly set extended attributes on the source files, as these errors were coming from files with extended attributes. I cleaned out all the extended attributes (thanks to Diego Zamboni’s script), but the error still remained. In the end the only thing that worked was to delete the erroneous files, create a new file, and paste the code back in. This solution suggests that the files were corrupted and therefore needed to be re-created.

Orville

Just yesterday, the Calgary Zoo lost 34 stingray’s due to currently unknown causes.

A look at things to come….

What’s that car on the cover of Out Loud?

I’ve been wondering about that one for a while now, so I decided the other day to put this question to rest. The album cover of Boom Boom Satellite’s 1999 album Out Loud, features a Alpine A110 Berlinette rally car, circa 1961-1977.

This past week, I’ve uploaded a few new pictures to my Flickr account. This one here is definitely my favourite of the batch:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 7 garlic clovers, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• pinch hot pepper flakes
• 1 lb raw shrimp, pealed and de-veined
• Spaghetti
• 1/3 cup fresh chopped parsley
• Optional: 4 cups broccoli, freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Algorithm:

• Heat oil in medium skillet at low heat. Cook garlic and hot pepper flakes in the olive oil until lightly golden.
• Increase temperature to medium-high, add shrimp. Cook for two to three minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook pasta. If adding broccoli option, steam broccoli. Drain, return to pot.
• Combine pasta, shrimp pan, parsley and optional ingredients (if any). Stir up and serve.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. green beans (frozen are OK)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup slivered, red onions
• 1/3 cup raw cashews
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• few springs of fresh parsley
  

Algorithm:

• Boil water. Put beans in for five minutes on high. (Three minutes if frozen.)
• Strain. Run through cold water, set aside.
• In a large frying pan, heat up olive oil. Add black pepper and salt. Add onions, cashews, and stir-fry for two to three minutes at medium heat until onions soften.
• Add beans, cook until they are hot. Warning: Cashews burn!
• Put in serving dish, garnish with chopped parsley.