Peter's Place

Most Microsoft Windows users know that from time to time, they have to "defrag" their hard drives. But most users probably don't know why the y have to defrag, and just what defrag means. Geek Girls has a pretty good explanation of the what ("Sometimes when you install a program or create a data file, the file ends up chopped up into chunks and stored in multiple locations on the disk. This is called fragmentation "), and a partial expanation of the why: Why should you bother with the housework? A couple of reasons. First, disks are hard working, mechanical devices and, like all mechanical devices, prone to failure. A little preventative maintenance can warn you of potential problems and fix minor glitches before they can do damage to your data. Second, the way files are organised on your drive has a perceptible impact on the performance of your computer. If your files are stored neatly, end-to-end, without fragmentation, reading and wr...

I was in NYC's Central Park a few weekends ago, up near the reservoir . I took a picture of this tree on my mobile camera phone, because I thought it was interesting, and beautiful, in a non-traditional sort of way. It was so peaceful and beautiful up there. Nature is a beautiful thing , but it can be pretty darned dangerous (how's that for some funky alliteration ?). Then, I had to be whisked back to the cold, drab realities of what life really is like .

Test from my mobile.

OK, this is kind of scarey, given the non-traditional , do no evil , corporate culture/philosophy that they usually portray. But guess what? Google is pulling an Oprah : Search engine giant Google, known for its mantra "don't be evil", has fired off a series of legal letters to media organizations, warning them against using its name as a verb. Rather than focus on the use of their trademarked name (which they have every right to protect ), perhaps they should focus on ensuring that the definition of "Googling" retains its current meaning, and that this definition spreads throughout popular culture: The verb to Google , or to google (depending on the dictionary) means "to use the Google search engine to obtain information on the Internet ." That way, Google is protecting its trademark, but allowing its name to become a part of culture. To me, I think it would help a company, not harm it, when the name of something that the company has invented (...

OK, so I was driving home tonight, and the battery light came on in the car (I have a 1995 Buick Park Avenue Ultra , which needs a paint job). This means that the car is now running off the battery. I saw the voltmeter begin to go down, and I knew I had to make it home, fast. I stopped at my friend's work place and hung out there, where I let the battery "re-charge" for a few hours. Then I went for the gold and made it the rest of the way "home" (you know, the place where I'm sleeping on the living room floor of a friend's Section 8 apartment that I'm not really supposed to be staying in). So, there's now something wrong with the electrical system. I don't know much about the inner workings of cars. All I do know is that I just replaced the alternator about four months ago, and it appears that this is the same -- or a similar -- problem. Oh, and did I mention that it's also a new battery -- less than six months old? So this means I'...

I really love today's Daily Dilbert . It pretty much reflects are large portion of my outlook on life. Click on the image below to go to the Daily Dilbert site and be taken (hopefully) to the right strip. Post a comment and let me know if you can figure out this large portion of my outlooik on life. OK, still haven't figured it out yet? I'll give you a hint: the mildly retarted consultant, or a certain aspect of what he represents, or a certain aspect of what he says, to me, at least, represents life, itself (have I used enough commans in this sentence?).

OK, so on a scale from 1 to 10, today's pain factor is about a 7. And that's after I've already taken about 8 Aleve pills. And it's only 11:22 am. This is really getting to be a bit ridiculous. Not to mention, painful. And, of course, the pain affects my depression . Scientists have just begun looking into the effects that physical pain has on the effectiveness of various drug therapies and other treatments for depression: "In particular, the odds of a poor depression treatment response were twice as high in patients with moderate pain at baseline and three to four times as high in those with severe pain," Bair says. In another study , researchers have linked chronic pain to depression. So it's kind of like this vicious cycle, wherein pain causes depression to worsen, which in turn causes more pain: Among the participants, 17 percent had chronic pain and 4 percent had symptoms of major depression; however, 43 percent of those with major depression also had...

Well, it's taken a little more than fifteen years, but the original purpose of the Internet has finally come to fruition: But as the internet and other communication technologies have made it easier for academics to share information with others in their field (not just at one's own university), the relationship between one's output, and that of others at the same university has been eliminated. Techdirt: Who Needs Harvard When You Can Blog?