Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Playing Chess

I have started to play chess again (for the first time in many years). I am not very good at it but I am keen to learn and find it intellectually stimulating. At the moment I am playing against the computer but I may play against real people (online) at some point. I purchased some basic chess books as my Christmas present and am slowly working my way through them.

For some reason I have always been intrigued by the game. Grandad and Grandma Howell gave us a really nice wooden set when we were younger (I have it in the shed) and Chris and I would sometimes play games. From memory he would usually beat me...

At the moment I am just playing the version of Chess that ships with Mac OS X. I have installed Deep Green (by Joachim Bondo) on the Newton 2100. I will be having a look at Glaurung as well.

Red-capped Plover

Red-capped Plover (Charadrius ruficapillus, Point Walter, WA, Australia).

I stumbled across a pair of Red-capped Plovers while walking to the end of the spit at Point Walter.  I was initially trying to get a better look at the birds further out into the river and didn't see them until I was 2-3 metres away.

New Mobile Phone

My Sony Ericsson K610i has had a hard life - busted screen, poor battery, numerous scratches. I have replaced it with a Sony Ericsson W610i. I purchased the phone outright.

So far it has been a nice phone - has the same connection cable (for charging and data) as the K610i (so I have less "redundant" chargers lying around) and a few new features (you can use it as a torch, it has a radio tuner). It also has much nicer buttons (that don't try and connect you to the web the moment you brush them accidentally).

The torch/light feature comprises of two white LEDs. One of the applications on the phone signals SOS continuously...

Declan Oren Howell

Declan was born a few hours prior to this photo...

Safe and sound

Declan is finally home after a 4 day stop over in PMH.  No one is really sure what he caught but the staff at both PMH and KEMH (where he was born) were fantastic.  He is now more active, less yellow and generally happier.  He had his first bath at home today (in the kitchen sink).

Thanks to all who have prayed/visited/called/sent gifts/cooked meals - we all really appreciate it.

New Howell

Declan Oren Howell was born 19/11/2008 at 11h30.  At birth he was 45cm tall and weighed 2.315kg (about 5 pound 2 ounces for those who work in imperial).  He was born by C-section (sort of in a hurry).  Kylie and Declan are both doing well.

Stay tuned for some photographs...

Birding trips I need to do

In my ongoing attempt to see more of the birds of WA, I think trips to the following locations are in order:

• Rottnest Island (seabirds, waders and odd introduced birds like the Indian Peafowl and the Common Pheasant);
• Dryandra (bushbirds and hopefully some of the nocturnals);
• Albany (seabirds and some of the SW rarities);
• Broome (for reasons that should be obvious).
  

If anyone is interested in coming along (especially for Rottnest Island) send me a message.

Review: Twinhan Alpha Mac Edition (DVB-T USB 2.0)

Harris Technology have these for under $60. I thought that was a bargain so I picked one up. I have recorded a TV show and was very impressed (it is my first foray into digital TV as well). Here is a brief review:

Pros:

• It's cheap;
  
• It includes EyeTV (version 2.x, still great);
  
• It works exactly as advertised.
  

Cons:

• The box is big (and mentions that you need a FireWire port?);
  
• The printed documentation is average (thankfully you don't need it);
  
• The included aerial is useless unless you live under a transmitter (use a rooftop antenna).
  

Umm... Yes?

Observed when copying files out of a zip file in Windows Explorer under Windows XP SP3.

Chasing Birds on ABC1

For those that don't know, Chasing Birds is screening on ABC1 tomorrow night (Thursday) at 2135.

Birding Life List Update

My birding life list has now passed 150! Not really that impressive...
For comparison, Sean Dooley saw over 700 species on 12 months.

A will update the online version shortly.

Mission Accomplished

I have finally finished re-building my PowerBook G4 12" (1GHz). I have upgraded the hard drive (40GB to 160GB), replaced the broken combo drive (got one cheap off eBay) and upgraded the operating system (10.4 to 10.5).

To others considering a similar mission:

• The hard drive is much easier to replace than the optical drive;
• The 160GB 5400 RPM Western Digital Scorpio disk runs warmer than the stock disk (to be expected really *);
• Remember where all the screws came from (I didn't);
• Use the right tools for the job;
• There are a few service manuals available on the web. Use them.

I can't really justify a new laptop at the moment. I think these upgrades have extended the life of my old one a bit longer.

* Edit: this may be due to the fact that the original disk was 4200 RPM.

Buff-banded Rail

Buff-Banded Rail (Gallirallus philippensis, Ascot, WA, Australia).

Hoary-headed Grebe

Hoary-headed Grebe (Poliocephalus poliocephalus, Ascot, WA, Australia).

This is another first for my list!

List = List + 2

Went on a Birds WA walk on Saturday and added two more birds to my life list:

• Inland Thornbill (Acanthiza apicalis);
  
• Grey Shrike-thrush (Colluricincla harmonica).
  

Both were seen in the Dell Forest in Kalamunda. Thanks to Maris Lauva for helping me find the Grey Shrike-thrush - it helps if someone knows it's call.

Thousands of tiny screws...

The 12" PowerBook G4 is a real pain to take apart. I am in the process of replacing the HDD and optical drive and you have to strip the PowerBook down completely. Everything from the motherboard up needs to be removed before you can extract the optical drive. The HDD is only marginally easier to get to.

Anyhow, last night I reached a milestone. I am now putting things back together instead of taking them apart. In all honesty I probably have another 6 hours of tinkering to do.

The end result will be a very usable PowerBook with a working optical drive and a 160GB HDD. I think it's worth it...

Photo Updates

Check out my Flickr page for more...



Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena, Ascot, WA, Australia).



Percy, Thomas and Toby.

Birding Target Groups

There are a few groups of birds that I haven't been very successful in seeing (and identifying).  The more obvious groups (parrots, finches, honey-eaters etc) are well covered in my list but the following are not:

• Cuckoos (I have only seen two species);
• Waders (especially migratory);
• Penguins (a trip to Penguin Island was a failure);
• Quail (and other small ground-based birds);
• Some of the more difficult water birds (Crakes, Rails etc).

A pelagic trip earlier this year helped me out in the seabird category, now all I have to do is organise some excursions to see some of these.  Looking at the Birds WA Sightings page, now seems to be a good time for the cuckoos...

Ordering from the Australian Apple Store rocks!

I ordered a copy of iLife 08 (Family Pack) from the Australian Apple Store late on Wednesday and it arrived early on Friday morning. Maybe I am new to the whole web ordering thing but I think that is sensational service.

We will be using iLife primarily for iPhoto - not much else will run happily on our G4 and earlier Macs.

Updating the Macs

Migrated Kylie from her Sage iMac (450MHz G3) to her "new" eMac (1.25GHz G4) last night. All I need to do is install iLife (which should arrive tomorrow from Apple). The big advantage is the USB2.0 ports on the eMac - allowing her to read camera memory cards and use her iPod a little more effectively.

As a result of the upgrade I moved the RAM (a single 512MB stick) from the iMac to my dual-G4 500MHz PowerMac, giving it a total of 1GB of RAM! This is my first home computer to reach the magical 1GB mark :)

I will be keeping the iMac - it is too nice a machine to get rid of.

Edit: Yes, this means that Kylie's Mac is the fastest in the household and the only one running Mac OS 10.5. And I am OK with that...

Website Migration

In an effort to be independent from whatever ISP I happen to be using, my website is now hosted on the Google Sites servers. Here is the URL. I guess I am now tied to Google (what with email, Blogger and now Google Sites). At least Flickr is separate...

The old Optus webpage will be removed and redirect to this one shortly.

Mute Swans at Northam

Last weekend we went for a drive to Northam. It was a nice day for a picnic and it allowed me to see the famed Mute (White) Swans. There were only two I could find and they were located in a pond separate from the Avon River that has been set up to help build up numbers.

Mute Swans are on the Australian list, but given that these two were in captivity (I assume they can't fly over the 1.5 m fence) I can't really count them.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

1. Work switched from using a web-based Citrix login system to a Remote Desktop Connection system, making it impossible to login in to the company system from the main site that I work on up north (they block outgoing RDC);
2. The workaround provided was a PCMCIA Telstra Wireless Broadband Card, which I installed on my laptop;
3. The (very buggy) installer required a reboot (why?);
4. On reboot, I could no longer log into my laptop (cached domain logins had expired, normally I just hibernate the laptop);
5. Thankfully I knew the Local Administrator password so I can get to my work.

Firstly, why replace a working solution for people on site with one that only works for a very limited number of sites (certainly not out main client sites)? Secondly, is there any rational use for Windows Domains? *

* I know the reasons that domains are used, they just seem to be the main cause of grief for me at the moment.

First Pelagic

Yesterday I survived my first pelagic birding trip. We departed from Hillarys Boat Harbour at just gone 0700 and returned just after 1500. As this was my first pelagic, pretty much any sea bird that turned up was going to be a first for me. Here is my list (all are firsts for me):

• Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator);
• Hutton's Shearwater (Puffinus huttoni);
• Soft-plumaged Petrel (Pterodroma mollis);
• Yellow-nosed Albatross (Diomedea chlorohynchos);
• Brown Skua (Catharacta skua);
• Black-browed Albatross (Diomedea melanophris);
• Cape Petrel (Daption capense);
• Great Winged Petrel (Pterodroma macroptera);
• Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus).
  

Overall the trip was good. The birds showed up as planned and I didn't get sick. The sea wasn't too rough and the weather held out (despite threatening to rain for most of the day). Experienced sea birders were quite happy to identify and discuss birds to complete novices like myself. I will post some photographs once I have had a chance to sort through them.

Thanks to Frank O'Connor and the rest of the people who helped organise the day!

Upgrading my PowerBook

I have finally decided it is time to upgrade my 12" G4 PowerBook (1GHz).

First up I am replacing the non-functioning combo optical drive with one from eBay which works. I have a FireWire external DVD-RW drive so I don't see the point in spending up big on a SuperDrive (I don't burn DVDs away from the office, or very often at all actually).

I am then upgrading the slightly full 40GB HDD (1.5GB free) with a 160GB one. Having a camera that can take 5MB digital photographs can chew up disk space quickly.

I have previously upgraded the RAM from 256MB to 768MB and added an Airport card.

Finally I am upgrading to Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5). All of this will probably take a few hours to do but I should end up with a very usable Mac as a result. I just can't justify spending the cash on a new one.

Fun with Newtons

I recently purchased a Newton MessagePad 2000 (upgraded to 2100 specifications). It came with:

• An original stylus and leather wallet;
• A recently repacked battery (that holds a charge quite well);
• A black serial cable and adapter for plugging into the Newton;
• All software disks and manuals;
• A Lucent Orinoco Silver wireless card (that will work with the Newton);
• A Palm Stowaway keyboard with adapter cable (that will also work with the Newton).

The battery, wallet and stylus are being used with my Newton MessagePad 2100 at the moment. Once I get the Stowaway keyboard driver working that will travel with me also.

Milestone

This blog has finally passed the 1,000 hit mark!

This would be a momentous occasion except for the small fact that I think I am responsible for >90% of these hits...

Birthday Song...

From This Day in Music, the number 1 song in Australia on the day I was born was:

Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen

Derringer madness

I picked up my fourth PowerBook 100 yesterday - a working unit (I haven't confirmed this yet) with an external floppy drive. No power supply but I have a few of these now. Hopefully it will have a working hard drive and more than 4MB of RAM (I can hope).

With enough time I intend to build as many working examples as I can. The other three have power-up issues (although at various times ALL have worked).

For those wondering, "Derringer" was one of the alleged code names for the PowerBook 100 in production (see this photo). Derringer/Deringer is also the last name of a gentleman who made small firearms. Given that the PowerBook 100 was Apple's second attempt and first real success at a laptop/notebook computer (the Portable being barely that), I can see the link.

Edit: Sadly, it doesn't boot (why am I not surprised?). It does have an Apple 20MB 2.5" Connor SCSI drive that may work though. As far as RAM goes it looks like 4MB (again, still searching for the elusive 6MB upgrade card).

Project for the kids (really!)

Percy, pulling a tar wagon and S.C. Ruffy (all Bachmann gear).


Thomas, pulling four trucks, two of which happen to be troublesome (all Bachmann gear).

Darter

Photograph of a remarkably tame Darter at Ascot Waters in Perth, Western Australia. The feather pattern is incredible.

Dingo

I saw my first Dingo yesterday - it was feeding on a kangaroo carcass on the side of the road between Tom Price and Paraburdoo.  I didn't get any photographs, we were keen to make sure we didn't miss the plane home.

I also saw a fair few cows near the junction of the Rail Access Road and the road to the Brockman mine site (where I went for work).  A lot of the mines in the Pilbara are on/near functional cattle stations.  There has been plenty of rain recently so the cows looked in very good condition.

Review: Belkin Flip

I just purchased a Belkin Flip (a two computer KVM setup). It works as advertised and currently shares my monitor, keyboard and mouse between my Mac Mini and my Power Mac G4 500MHz DP. I am impressed with the quality of most of the cables. My only gripe is the paddle that allows you to switch between inputs is a little flimsy (and the cable is very thin). For the price, however, it is excellent value.

Train Set

I spent some of the weekend wiring up a switch for the train set. I now have two separate sections of track (joined so trains can travel between them but not joined electrically). I can control the sections from separate power supplies (allowing two trains to run at the same time) or control the whole board from the one supply. This is achieved using a switch and some fairly fancy (for me anyway) wiring.

On the list of things to do are:

• House the wiring and switch properly;
• Child-proof the two power supplies (so they don't get pulled off);
• Fix a few sections of the track that seem to cause intermittent derailment;
• Take some photos (and videos) of the train set in action;
• Wire up the two "experimental" electrically controlled points (these will allow access to two sidings I have added);
• Fix some things that have been broken;
• Design and construct the tunnel, station and quarry.
  

New to the collection

An original Apple Airport Base Station (the "graphite" one). This was easy to reset (to clear the existing configuration and password) and set up. I have it configured in bridge mode, basically extending my wired Ethernet network. I'm not really planning on using it much (all my computers are in one room and most don't have wireless) but it is a cool piece of hardware nonetheless.

This reminds me that I need to update the computer collection page.

(PS: if you understood the title of my previous post you qualify as a nerd).

NERD_POINTS++

Just scored a new Power Mac - a dual 500MHz G4. The machine currently has a 40GB HDD and 512MB of RAM running Mac OS X 10.4. For some reason I have always wanted a dual CPU Macintosh (the earlier 604 based models always seemed to be too expensive or rare). Thanks to David for this one - much appreciated. To top it off, it has on-board gigabit ethernet (although I have nothing else that has this, rendering it cool but redundant at the moment).

I am not 100% sure of what I will use this computer for, but I think it will fill the role of home server nicely. I have already installed my USB 2.0 PCI card in it (allowing it to access the 160GB USB 2.0 HDD I have already). I have also fitted a PCI SCSI card as I have a few 18GB SCSI drives lying around that it could use.

New Book (and a few new sightings)

Just received my copy of Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds (by Les Christidis and Walter E. Boles) in the mail, purchased from Andrew Isles Bookshop. I can highly recommend this shop: the delivery was quick, email notification fantastic and the packaging top notch. This is the first bird related book I have purchased that is not a field guide. It should make for interesting reading.

I have finally seen Emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae) in the wild - we saw a group of them in the Stirling Ranges a few weeks ago. Spotted a Yellow-throated Miner (Manorina flavigula) at Joondalup Health Campus last week - this is my first metropolitan area sighting.

Updated Planes to Karratha

Just flew back on an Alliance Airlines Fokker 100 (although the flight number started with QF). Generally fly on the Boeings though.

On the last flight to Karratha I realised that I had flown in a few different Qantas/QantasLink planes. A quick check of the Qantas website jogged my memory so here is the list:

• Boeing 737-400 (generally the plane I seem to catch)


• British Aerospace 146 (great fun landing on the short Karratha runway!)


• Boeing 717-200

Is there anything Lego can't do?

Check this out.

I am seriously considering building something like this.

680x0 PowerBooks

Spent some time tinkering with some old PowerBooks recently:

• I now have 3 non-working PowerBook 100's. All seem to have failed in the same manner (motherboard issues I think). The good news is they are really easy to take apart. The bad news is they use 2.5" SCSI hard drives... I should be able to sort the motherboard issue out (hopefully).
  
• I now have a working PowerBook 54oc. I repaired it using parts from a busted PowerBook 520c. It has a 320MB 2.5" SCSI hard drive and 12MB of RAM. I have installed Mac OS 7.6 on it (will upgrade to 7.6.1 as soon as I can). It is a very nice laptop - especially the active matrix screen. I really like the PowerBook 540c, on-board ethernet and modem (mine has an internal modem installed). Having SCSI, ADB and a serial port is cool also.

I think the biggest problem facing people who collect old Macs (in particular PowerBooks) is the internal 2.5" SCSI disk issue. These invariably fail and are getting harder and harder to find. Ideally, a SCSI to IDE converter should be made (or even a SCSI to CF adapter) but I don't think this is going to happen. At least with desktop Macs the 3.5" SCSI drives can be replaced by more modern SCSI drives (with the appropriate adapters).

NSIS is very cool

NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System) is a fantastic piece of software I have been using to create an installer for a project at work. It is highly customisable and handles both the installing and un-installing of files. From the website:

NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System) is a professional open source system to create Windows installers. It is designed to be as small and flexible as possible and is therefore very suitable for internet distribution.

The software itself is small and integrates nicely with my favourite (Windows) text editor: NotePad++.

ISP Mathematics

I am on a 5GB/month wireless broadband plan from Optus. For the purposes of selling the plan to you, Optus define 1GB as 1000MB (see screen shot below).

For the purposes of billing you, however, Optus define 1MB as 1024KB (also see the screen shot below). This means that they would define 1GB as 1024 MB for data used. Hence the 5GB plan is actually a (5000/(5 x 1024)) x 5 = 4.88 GB plan.



5GB should give you 5 x 1024MB = 5120MB.

Given that excess usage (not that we are at any risk of that) is charged per MB, not shaped, it would be good if they were consistent.

First new sighting for the year!

Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater (Acanthagenys rufogularis ) seen near the Rio Tinto West Angelas mine camp (23°07'53.96" S 118°41'39.18" E). They were reasonably difficult to find and identify but thankfully I got a few good photos. This is my first new honeyeater for a while.

Happy New Year

A (somewhat belated) Happy New Year to all!