encoded notions

I just spent several hours trying to get my Linux system to burn a CD that didn’t produce the following output when being read:

hdc: media error (bad sector): status=0x51 { DriveReady SeekComplete Error } hdc: media error (bad sector): error=0x30 { LastFailedSense=0x03 } ide: failed opcode was: unknown end_request: I/O error, dev hdc, sector 1397004

First I thought it was a configuration error in xcdroast, then I thought that it had to do with the Linux 2.6.8.1 kernel, so i upgraded to 2.6.11.6. I booted back to windows and burned a fully functional, error-free CD using Nero, of the same file that I had been trying to burn in Linux! Ok, so at this point, I concede that the problem is in my Linux burning software, which I have used in the past to burn stuff.

So what the hell? I tried not using the xcdroast interface to cdrtools, and used mkisofs and cdrecord directly and the errors came back. I made about 4 coasters today, and the program that was burning them never reported any errors were made in the process.

I don’t know what the fsck is wrong. I don’t feel like spending any more time troubleshooting this. Fsck it. I’m doing something else.

Ever since officially drinking the Flickr kool-aid and turning Pro, I’ve slowly developed an rather unhealthy addiciton to it.

My photo-taking is rather slow, due in part to the inclement weather that is almost a trademark of the fine city of Rochester. Even though I don’t use the upload feature often, I frequent the “Recent Activity”, “Comments you’ve made”, and “Contacts’ photos” sections way too often for mere mortals. I’m talking about checking it 8…maybe 12 times a day!

After I’ve read all of the new posts in my feed reader and followed most of the new links in my del.icio.us inbox I will hop around the Flickr site navigating through contact lists, favorites, groups, tags, and sets—looking for pictures that catch the eye. Favoriting them, commenting on them, staring at them.

It’s all Matt’s fault, too.

(part of a series)

I like reading. My parents got me a shirt when I was a kid that said, “So many books, so little time.” The only problem with the way I read is that if a book is around 200 pages, I could theoretically finish it in a day and a half. I burn through too many good books too quickly. In order to process them properly, I need to cool off and let the words, themes, and message soak into my head after I’ve finished reading. This takes an arbitrary amount of time dependent solely upon the content of the book.

I have also been drifting towards a state of continuous partial attention more and more as time progresses. Because of this, I have an aversion to devoting large blocks of time to reading a book (which will inevitably happen, as once I start I must finish quickly). The frequency with which I pick up a book is detrimentally affected by this, and I wish that weren’t true.

There is also a problem with always having your eyes pointed at a book. Eventually, you start to feel like you are missing out on something in your real life. Living vicariously through characters in novels is no way to live.

If you read enough Palahniuk, you start to think about the world in a slightly different way. You think about people, their actions, reactions, motivation, hidden agendas, and desires more. You think about less-ness, the returning back to a simpler version of self. You think about how one person can make a significant difference in the world when you adjust your window of effect. You think about how the world affects the individuals in it.

Most importantly, you think that perhaps you can do this whole fiction writing thing, too. If you have something to say, all you have to do is wrap a story around the message or observation and press the process button on the side of the blender. Mix mix mix. Splice splice splice. Bake it in your mental oven. Cool it on paper. Serve it to your guests.

Maybe it’s not so hard after all.

I’m heading off to visit the physics department of The University of Texas at Austin from Friday to Sunday. I’ve heard good things about them and their chaos & nonlinear dynamics program. This will be only the second time in my life (aside from those times when I was really really young) that I’ve flown on an airplane, and this will be the first time since flying became a bit more of a hassle with the removal of the shoes and the no-nailclippers rules were put in place.