Directory — Travel — Blog Details for "Thoughts From My Life"

Thoughts From My Life

Thoughts From My Life
Advice on Traveling, Photography, and Finance

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Articles

Cloning Your Hard Drive to Another Hard Drive
2008-06-06 14:15:00
A friend of mine the other day had their hard drive approaching death. It was grinding away and had a number of errors occurring. It was time to replace it. After picking up a hard drive that was almost double the size, he gave it to me as I offered to install it. There are two main things you need to do when upgrading or replacing your hard drive: Installing the drive. Copy over your data. Installing the drive is the easy part. Just open up the case, find a spot that is available and the data and power cables can reach the drive from there. Plug everything in, turn on the computer and make sure it can detect the drive. Duplicating Data From Hard Drive to Hard Drive I had done this a few times before with Norton Ghost, but I couldn't find a trial copy that would let me do it. It was time to look for something else. I ended up downloading the basic version of HDClone. A free piece of software that does the trick. Basically, you just download it and unzip it. There is ...
More About: Cloning

Earn Revenue Online - May 2008 Recap
2008-06-04 13:28:00
May 2008 has come and past and another month of earnings is in the books. Another record for Adsense I might add. Thoughts From My Life Traffic Stats for May 2008 May's numbers and April's numbers are in brackets. Page Loads: 26,358 (21,802) Unique Visitors: 17,311 (14,086) Average Uniques/Day: 558 (469) Lowest Uniques/Day: 474 (384) Highest Uniques/Day: 637 (592) This month was a record for almost every metric. Way more traffic and it was very consistent across the month. Kind of strange as I didn't write as much this month but traffic picked up for my usual articles. May 2008 Traffic Thoughts From My Life Revenue Overall, my earnings for May 2008 were $290.09. Here is the breakdown with last month's numbers in brackets. PayU2Blog: $95.00 ($65.00) Adsense: $168.77 ($135.14) Kontera: $26.32 ($29.69) LinkWorth: $0 ($10.50) Azoogle: $0.00 ($0.00) Commission Junction: $0.00 ($0.00) My Adsense set a new record. It just keeps going up on the increased traffic to my...
More About: Earn , Online , Recap

Basement Is Rented
2008-05-29 19:32:00
Well, the suite is rented so that is exciting! We are going to scramble and try to get a few renos done while we have the opportunity as well. One of the rooms doesn't have a closet and definitely has enough room for it, so I will see if I can get one done. Would also like a more durable coat rack and shelf in the entrance.Published on Thu, 29 May 2008 10:32:48 MST. - 0 Comments

Renting Out The Basement...Again
2008-05-21 21:26:00
Sorry for not posting in awhile. It has been busy and I have been lazy as well. The most recent turn of events is that our tenants downstairs are leaving so I have posted an ad to rent it out again. It is actually a pretty sweet little location. Bus stop out front, newly renovated, two bedroom, 1000 square feet, laundry, large backyard, tons of parking, utilities are included, and the internet is included as well. Don't really need to do anything other than hook up the phone. Hopefully it goes well. We just did some showings today and hopefully do more going into the weekend.Published on Wed, 21 May 2008 12:26:25 MST. - 0 Comments
More About: The Basement , Renting

Credit Card Fees - Are They Worth It
2008-05-12 17:57:00
I have had a few people write me concerning my articles on Aeroplan and Airmiles, asking how I created my formulas for figuring out how much money you would need to put through your credit card to get back the annual fee for the credit card. This only works for cards that have a reward feature like airmiles, aeroplan points, or some other reward points. I will try and get a baseline value for each type of reward point on each card and keep it in a table on this page (see below). If you want me to look at a card, let me know the name of it and I will look up the details. This page will have 3 sections. Show how I create my formula for how much money you need to spend on a credit card to pay for the fees. List the formula for major cards. Use one of the reward items available for each card to figure out an exact value for how much money needs to go through the card to pay for itself for that reward item. I'll try to stick to gift cards since the value is fixed (i.e. $20 gift ca...
More About: Card , Credit , Fees , Credit Card , Worth

Replacing The Tailpiece On My Mandolin
2008-05-07 14:29:00
I unfortunately broke a piece of the tailpiece off on my mandolin the other day. I was restringing it and was putting on some old strings (they hadn't been used) I purchased a few years ago. I don't know if that was the problem or not, but one the little pegs in the tailpiece that the eye of the string holds onto snapped off. I didn't know what to do, so I phoned around to a number of places in Calgary and no one wanted to deal with it. Replacement tailpieces were selling upwards of $100 on eBay so that didn't look very good either. I ended up phoning Long & McQuade here in Calgary (Calgary Long & McQuade) and they said to bring it by and they would take a look. Anyhow, I walked in and they have a replacement tailpiece of the exact same shape and size for $20. I couldn't believe my luck. It was the same size as my original so I could use my Kentucky tailpiece cover on it as well. It wasn't even stored in the back. It was a plastic wrapped item on a display shelf. I ...

Earn Revenue Online - April 2008 Recap
2008-05-05 14:21:00
April finished last week, but I was a bit slow in tallying the results this time. I did have a new record this month and it maintained the status quo overall, but I still need to work on improving the traffic. Thoughts From My Life Traffic Stats for April 2008 April's numbers and March's numbers are in brackets. Page Loads: 21,802 (21,599) Unique Visitors: 14,086 (14,029) Average Uniques/Day: 469 (452) Lowest Uniques/Day: 384 (299) Highest Uniques/Day: 592 (630) I had good traffic again across the whole month and set records just barely for a few of my metrics above. I am pleased with that as a few other bloggers have reported less earning for the month of April. April 2008 Traffic Thoughts From My Life Revenue Overall, my earnings for April 2008 were $240.33. Here is the breakdown with last month's numbers in brackets. PayU2Blog: $65.00 ($10.00) Adsense: $135.14 ($129.26) Kontera: $29.69 ($40.87) LinkWorth: $10.50 ($10.50) Azoogle: $0.00 ($0.00) Commission Junctio...
More About: April , Earn , Online , Recap

File Reading On the DS In An Emulator and on the DS
2008-05-02 12:23:00
One of the biggest annoyances when developing a homebrew application for the Nintendo DS is when your application is using the FAT library to read files and you want to be run your application in an emulator like nocash (no$gba) and have it work on the DS with minimal changes. I have finally found a technique to do this that works very well. It lets you use FAT file access in an NDS emulator or another way to put it is libfat in an emulator. The only catch is that is only works for reading and not writing. The result is also in two separate NDS roms. One works in the emulator and one will work on your DS. However, this big plus is that your homebrew code does not need to change to work with both. It allows you to code, test, and repeat without any extra work. I found the information to solve this issue from two separate articles: FCSR Tutorial - I actually just found this so haven't used it myself, but it looks simpler and I think it should work too. http://forum.gbadev.org/...
More About: Reading , File

Win32 Application and Logging To The Console
2008-05-01 13:22:00
I have been writing demo applications using OpenGL recently in C++. I documented how to set up the environment and create a project in my article OpenGL and Visual Studio Express 2008. I started out by writing the application as a Win32 application. This was a problem though. When you are doing it in a Win32 project instead of a Win32 Console project it makes it very hard to do simple debugging using print statements. If you are like me, I like to scatter prinf or cout statements through different parts of my code so I can trace the progress and examine variables during development. It makes it very easy. If you use these statements in a Win32 project however, this output does not get printed out to the console or anywhere for that matter. It is just eaten and no errors are incurred. My Solution to Logging On Win32 Projects The correct solution, which I didn't do, is to create a logging interface. Either create a separate dialog window that you can write your statements t...
More About: Application

Largest Cruise Ship In The World Under Construction (pics)
2008-04-30 04:29:00
The world's largest cruise ship is under construction in Finland right now. My brother-in-law has been over to work on it a number of times and every time he shows us some pictures, but he is not allowed to give them out. Royal Caribbean, who is building the cruise ships, has finally released photos of its construction. The project is called Genesis and you can read more about it on the Genesis Wikipedia article. It is rather impressive as it will hold over 25% more passengers and has over 53% more gross tonnage than the Freedom of the Seas, in the current class of largest cruise ships (also owned by Royal Caribbean). Anyhow, there are a few pictures below, but you can check out the Royal Caribbean Genesis Gallery and the Genesis Renderings for more. Genesis Class Ship Construction Genesis Class Ship Construction Published on Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:29:21 MST. - 0 Comments
More About: World , The World , Cruise

Nintendo DS Homebrew Bonanza
2008-04-25 17:22:00
I have tested out more homebrew in the past week than I ever have with my Nintendo DS. It has been quite refreshing really. Everything from animation drawing, flight games, video players, book readers, platform games, puzzles, emulators, and more. There are some neat ones out there and I will write some reviews on them in the future, but a lot of them are still in their infancy or have been abandoned anyways. If you are looking to try different kinds our yourself, they can be difficult to find and I just found a new site the other day that had tons that I have never been too. Here is a list of ones you can try out. NDS Homebrew - lots to download Nintendo DS Emulation News - news of current projects and releases Drunken Coders - great news and check out their Homebrew Catalog Dev Scene NDS Homebrew Repository - just explore in here. A lot of links from other sites might just go here. Published on Fri, 25 Apr 2008 08:22:38 MST. - 0 Comments
More About: Nintendo Ds

Starcraft On The Nintendo DS
2008-04-23 17:39:00
Unbelievable! This the game I would love to see come to the Nintendo DS. StarCraft is one of my favorite real time strategy (RTS) games of all time. There were rumours of it coming to the DS, but is has never been announced by Blizzard and I can't imagine them doing it now. Anyhow, a group of guys did a "proof of concept" for the game. I downloaded it from the StarLite download page. Unfortunately, they have already been shut down by Blizzard I have heard, so this will be as far as it goes I suppose. Watch the video, this is how the downloadable version plays exactly. Published on Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:39:36 MST. - 0 Comments
More About: Starcraft , Nintendo Ds

2007 Taxes Are Due
2008-04-21 17:08:00
It has been busy that last little while. Some of the reason I haven't posted much (other than just being lazy). The other thing I was working on this weekend was my taxes. I still have a few pieces of information I need to collect before I get them finished off by my tax person. Anyhow, if you live in Canada and didn't remember, taxes must be done by the end of the month.Published on Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:08:00 MST. - 0 Comments
More About: Taxes

Twin Isles - Civilization for the Nintendo DS
2008-04-16 15:48:00
I think I found one of my new favourite games and I can't believe it has taken me this long. Twin Isles is an excellent homebrew game for the Nintendo DS. It has the basic gameplay from the original Civilization (in my opinion). I have added it to my Best Nintendo DS Homebrew list, just after Warcraft Tower Defense. Twin Isles is by far the most commercial feeling game I have played yet from the homebrew community. The graphics are clear, there are sound effects, some decent background music, a tech tree, a dozen or so structure that may be built, in game tips (which can be disabled, and just fun to play. I definitely recommend playing it if you were ever a fan of the Civilization series. The game has a number of great features: Free Play Mode where you can just practice by your self. Versus CPU to challenge a computer opponent. First to 100,000 population or destroy the other island. Scenarios where you have to complete a specific task. i.e. Grow the population to 500 b...
More About: Nintendo Ds

Calgary Snow Storm - April 10th 2008
2008-04-10 18:40:00
What a wonderful country we live in...right? Well, I woke up today to quite a sight. Calgary is getting bucketed on with snow right now. My wife's normal 20 minute drive to work is now at 2 hours and she just pulled into the parking lot at her school and got stuck. She opened her door to step out and the door was pushing snow. Apparently everything is severely backed up, people are turning around on hills and off ramps and driving back down them. City is at a stand still. I'm staying put for a bit, but will try to head in later. My truck is useless on hills when the whether is like this (and I have to go up one to get to work). Anyhow, here are a few snapshots from our house. The Street Sign on the Corner Looking South West Cars On The Street Out the Kitchen Window Looking South Out Our Back Window Published on Thu, 10 Apr 2008 09:40:12 MST. - 0 Comments
More About: April , Storm , Snow

Keep Text Formatting In HTML Using The pre Tag
2008-04-09 14:46:00
While writing my OpenGL and Visual Studio Express 2008 article, I had a number of times where I wanted to include source code or error logs from the compiler. These are large sections of code that I want to display exactly as they printed out. The problem with HTML, is that browsers will not render consecutive spaces, line breaks, and other information unless it is written as an HTML tag. So it doesn't look the same as you typed it in. It won't keep the text formatting in HTML. I found a solution to the problem however...the pre tag. Just encapsulate your text with this and it will display exactly how you want it. Multiple spaces, new lines, and whatever else. The pre tag will preserve text formatting for you! One problem I found is the the pre tag would not word wrap or line wrap by default. This can be fixed in your CSS style sheet for the page. This link is where I found the solution: Forcing Long Text Lines To Wrap. This is the code I added to my CSS file to make i...
More About: Html

OpenGL and Visual Studio Express 2008
2008-04-08 13:58:00
I recently set up Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition and OpenGL on my Windows XP and Windows Vista computers. I had a few issues, but it is working now. I have a step by step tutorial below and also outlined some of the issues I had. This is also a guide on just setting up your development environment on Windows for OpenGL programming. If you are like me, I am starting out doing game programming and want to add OpenGL graphics. The OpenGL tutorials I am using are from NeHe's Website and here is a Visual C++ 2008 and OpenGL Guide I used. Getting OpenGL to Work With Visual C++ 2008 Follow each step, unless you have already done one of these steps. 1. Install Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition This is a free C++ IDE from Microsoft that is an excellent tool to start with, if you are interested in programming on a Windows environment. You can find Visual C++ 2008 on the Visual Studio Express download page on Microsoft's site. It only works on Windows XP and up. If you have an ol...

HDR Photoshop Tutorial - Creating High Dynamic Range Images
2008-04-07 13:59:00
I just made my first high dynamic range photo today. It is most commonly referred to as an HDR photo or HDR image. What Is An HDR Photo Basically, it a single image that is made from multiple images to offer a greater range of photographic detail. The different images are usually taken with different exposure settings so that more detail may be captured in light or dark areas. Why Would You Want HDR It can complete a scene by filling in areas that are too dark or too light. You can also use it to make a photo look unrealistically cool by blowing out colors and making it look surreal. The example I will show you is for filling in a scene with more details. It is a photo taken from within a house that also wants to capture scenery outside that is a lot brighter. How To Create An HDR Photo These are the steps I took to make my HDR image. I used Adobe Photoshop CS2. You need multiple photos of the exact same scene taken at different exposure settings. My example photos are f...
More About: Tutorial , Images , Creating , High

The Master Cleanse
2008-04-04 13:49:00
Just to let everyone know, if you actually care, that I am trying out the Master Cleanse I started yesterday and am still doing it today. It is interesting. The basic drink is as follows: 10 ounces of filtered water. 2 tablespoons B grade maple syrup. 2 tablespoons fresh squeeze lemon juice. 1/10 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. You drink this as much as you want or just filtered water and nothing else!. The recommend taking a natural laxative like herbal tea of a salt water solution as well. Anyhow, we'll see how I feel after a couple days. You can find more information at the following sites: The Master Cleanser Master Cleanse on Wikipedia Master Cleanse Secrets Published on Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:49:50 MST. - 0 Comments

Earn Revenue Online - March 2008 Recap
2008-04-02 14:00:00
March was finished a couple days ago and it is time for the earnings report again. Thoughts From My Life Traffic Stats for March 2008 March's numbers and February's numbers are in brackets. Page Loads: 21,599 (20,484) Unique Visitors: 14,029 (12,907) Average Uniques/Day: 452 (445) Lowest Uniques/Day: 299 (301) Highest Uniques/Day: 630 (628) Traffic was consistent the whole month. Most of my traffic came in for the same articles as last month: Acer Extensa 5420 review Acer Extensa 5420 Black Screen On Startup Frets On Fire - Free Version Of Guitar Hero Getting Frets On Fire Working On Vista Getting Frets On Fire Working On XP Still showing very strong page views are my articles on the Best Nintendo DS Homebrew and Aeroplan Versus Air Miles - Comparing Them. I definitely need to get some new good content out there. I will be doing a few travel articles for New York. The overall New York City article was published a few days ago. March 2008 Traffic Thoughts From My Li...
More About: Earn , Online , Recap , March , Revenue

More articles from this author:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7