I’m moving again

http://leyanlo.blogspot.com/

GeekTool

If you find yourself often checking the Console for error messages or the Activity Monitor for determining memory hogs or CPU hogs, then GeekTool might be for you.  You can get it for yourself here.

I have it set up on my desktop like the image above, with the console output on the left and the linux activity monitor, top, on the right.  The console output is from the shell command:

tail -n31 /private/var/log/system.log

This takes the last 31 lines of the system log and outputs it to the desktop.  I find that the Shell command is better for the console than the File option in GeekTool because the File option doesn’t refresh with the file as fast.  I have the Origin set at (16,38) because when I Exposé my desktop, there is a 16 pixel darkened border around it, plus a 22 pixel tall menu bar.  I set the Size to (624,373) so that it takes up 1/4 of the available space for my macbook’s desktop.

The top output is also from a shell command:

top -n43 -l2 -o-CPU > top.txt && tail -n52 top.txt

What this does is first takes the top 43 entries sorted by CPU and outputs this to /top.txt, with two samples.  Then it outputs the last 52 lines of this file to the desktop.  I have the Origin set at (640,38) and Size also set at (624,373).

Dvorak

I started learning how to type in the Dvorak keyboard layout at the end of August 2007, when I heard that a friend was also learning it.  Typing was pain-stakingly slow at first, starting off around 12 wpm, but soon picked up as I practiced more and more.  By the end of the week I was at a bearable 40 wpm and after two months I was typing at a blazing 75 wpm (my old QWERTY speed was around 70 wpm).  The main selling point of Dvorak is ergonomics.

• Home keys — The home keys (keys in the middle row) contain the more commonly used letters of the English language, so that your fingers don’t have to jump around as frequently.
• Hand alternations — Typing words all with the right hand or all with the left hand is slower than typing words that alternate hands.  That is why Dvorak puts all the vowels on the left side — to maximize hand alternations.
• Inward rolls — The letters are arranged with the more commonly used letters towards the center of the keyboard so letter combinations tend to roll toward the center which feels more natural.

After two months of typing in Dvorak, I decided that it is absolutely wonderful for typing.  Typing had become not only more comfortable and faster, but also quieter, as my fingers stayed on the home row most of the time.  However, the Dvorak layout is not without its flaws.

• Learning curve — The keys are completely different from QWERTY, which makes the transition difficult, and discourages a lot of people from switching.  Also after switching fully to Dvorak, I could no longer type very fast on QWERTY, which made it difficult to use other computers.
• Shortcut keys — Common shortcut keys, like xcv, are scattered all over the place making copying and pasting a pain in the ass.
• WTF? — Some keys are in positions without logical reason.  Why is the L key, which is the 10th most commonly used letter in the English language, on the top row under the right pinky?  Is there any point to having the punctuation marks on the left side, other than just being annoying?  Don’t the letters U and I need to be switched?

These flaws kept nagging away at the perfectionist in me until I finally decided I had enough with the layout, and switched over to Colemak.  More on this later.

hypermiling

I first became interested in hypermiling after I came across this article.  I never knew such amazing things were possible!  Upon reading the article, I went out and bought a ScanGauge of my own.  You would not believe how useful that little tool is for improving your mileage!  The best analogy I have is to DDR — driving without the ScanGauge is like playing DDR without the “Perfect” “Great” “Good” marks turned on.  You can’t adjust your rhythm if you don’t know how you’re doing at all times!  The key to improving your fuel economy is to become aware of how everything affects your MPG gauge (acceleration, speed, temperature, wind resistance, weight, gear, tire pressure).  I have gone from averaging around 31 mpg (on my Honda Civic ‘07, with EPA of 25/36) to averaging 44.6 mpg on my last tank!  Here are some things I have learned from this experience:

• Slow accelerations and low top speeds are key — Don’t be in such a hurry to reach your final speed.  Never exceed the speed limit.  55 mph in the right hand lane of the freeway improves my fuel economy by 20% right there, and only adds a couple minutes to each trip.
• Leave plenty of room in front of you — Don’t be in a position where you are forced to brake whenever the car in front of you slows down.  Leaving a buffer between you and the car in front will give you the space you need to keep your foot off the brakes.  Every time you brake you are throwing gas out the window!
• Drive like a roller coaster/bike — There’s a reason why roller coasters have you slowly climb a hill before speeding into a dive.  It’s just fuel efficient!  Think about it like riding a bike — you wouldn’t pedal as hard as you could up a hill to maintain the same speed, would you?  You should slow down driving up hills and speed up on the way down, just as you would on a bike.
• Turn off the engine! – With modern car engines, turning your engine on is equivalent to 5 seconds of idling.  If you are at a long stop or are waiting for someone, just shut that engine off!  Idling burns around 0.3 gallons per hour (at least for my car), which is around 2 cents every minute.

More information about techniques can be found on wikipedia.

I recently began experimenting with the Forced Auto Stop technique, where I shut off my engine and coast for a while in neutral.  It takes a little bit of practice to get used to, but I’ve been seeing significant improvement to my mileage so far.  More on this later.

First post!

I’ve been contemplating switching away from xanga for some time now, mainly because of the dated layout and closed community.  It wasn’t until I stumbled upon this valleywag post that I decided on wordpress:

3. Blogger

• Why it sucks: The system’s full of spam blogs (even though bloggers have to enter an insulting word verification on their own blogs), the commenting system is stupid (separate pages just for comments?), and the templates are junk.
• Why we still use it: It’s easy as pie. Like, smooth pumpkin pie that you could gum even if you had no teeth.
• The alternative: For beginners, the adorable and friendly Vox; for those with a bit of knowledge, WordPress.com.

Before this article, I was sure I wanted to switch over to Blogger, mainly because it was linked to my Gmail account.  I feel that it’s always a nice thing to have things linked together :-)  I am a dedicated fan of Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Reader, and I love how they integrate with each other!  However, when I made my blogger account I realized that it had very little in common with the rest of Google’s products.  Its interface was ugly and full of clutter, the widgets were bloated, and yes, the comment system is ridiculous.  Even xanga had the sense to put comments on the same page as the post!

Then, after reading this article I ventured over to Vox see what they could do for me.  I found the experience mediocre, as the clutter did not sit well with me.  Do I really want to dedicate 100 pixels on the top and bottom of each page to promoting Vox?  It didn’t take long for me to delete my account.

And finally here I am, writing my first post about this adventure on WordPress.  I am very pleased with this layout, which means a lot to me because of my OCD perfectionist tendancies.  Hopefully I will continue to enjoy writing here as time goes by.

Kind of amusing how my first post is about blogging :-)