mcbeen.com

While I have been absolutely drowned in jargon at Veritas:Vision this week… I think this takes the cake:

lithium tantalate (LiTaO3) pyroelectric crystal

So… your in Crystal, working with a database that decided it would be a GREAT idea to store all integer values as hex strings… Just use a hex conversion command right? Oh wait… there isn’t one… CRAP.

You can now rest easy knowing I have created a flexible conversion script in crystal syntax with no external modules. Just substitue your field for conversion in the top declaration. This script takes for granted that the field is flagged with 0x in the front. If you want to convert raw hex strings, then set line 3 to local stringvar hex_val:=hex_val.


Local stringvar hex_in :={your field to be converted};
if len(hex_in)>0 then
Local stringvar hex_val :=right(hex_in,len(hex_in)-2);
Local NumberVar strLen := Length (hex_val);
Local NumberVar i;
Local NumberVar result;
For i := 0 To strLen-1 Do
(
select (mid (hex_val,i+1,1))
case "a" : result := result+10*(16 ^ (len(hex_val)-(i+1)))
case "b" : result := result+11*(16 ^ (len(hex_val)-(i+1)))
case "c" : result := result+12*(16 ^ (len(hex_val)-(i+1)))
case "d" : result := result+13*(16 ^ (len(hex_val)-(i+1)))
case "e" : result := result+14*(16 ^ (len(hex_val)-(i+1)))
case "f" : result := result+15*(16 ^ (len(hex_val)-(i+1)))
default : result := result+val(mid (hex_val,i+1,1))*(16 ^ (len(hex_val)-(i+1)))
);
result;


Wow… My crazy jargon of the day… pseudomorphic heterojunction bipolar transistor

Fiona Apple saga shows Sony’s core dilemma | The Register

Some stories are painful to read. This is one of them, but probably not for the reasons you think.

» An important concession: MGM says ripping MP3s is OK | Open Source | ZDNet.com

So… Does this mean that all this copy protection crap Sony and other are putting on CDs is illegal? Seems like that would go for CSS on DVDs as well. Rather interesting since MGM and others as part of the MPAA and RIAA have spent the past 5 years villifying the people sustaining our fairuse rights. In fact, they went nuts over Apple’s emphatic claims of Ripping’s legality. I look forward to seeing how this plays out.

While it has been tested for eighteen months, it still is not ready for prime time. After installing it on a clean 2003 server at work, the server was nolonger bootable. Uninstallation failed as well. The machine locks up during boot, right after the splash screen shows.

So… You have been warned.