Note: no peanut butter was used to achieve this effect.

I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1990. In the 19 years since my diagnosis, I had been hospitalized several times for diabetes-related issues and conditions but had been fortunate not to have required the use of emergency services until this weekend. I had been dizzy all day Sunday, ate a normal sized meal for dinner, and went to bed early Sunday night. The next thing I remember, I was horribly confused, having a dream about 5 firefighters being in my bedroom asking me to wake up. I did wake up and began to realize it wasn't a dream. As the confusion subsided, it became more and more clear that something had happened requiring emergency medical aid.

According to my wife, I was sitting up in bed at about 2:30am. She tested and confirmed a low blood sugar, and brought me some juice. My blood sugar continued to drop and I became increasingly confused, was then unable to focus enough to drink the juice, and began "twitching" at which point she contacted her parents and then called 911.

I suppose this should be the point at which I should say I had a epiphany and began planning some major life changes. The truth is that I didn't, because changes were already underway. This past year, I became a father and am going back to school for my Masters degree, two substantial life decisions I haven't and will never regret. In an odd way, I'm glad those life decisions didn't require a medical event to initiate. I'm feeling more proactive and forward looking than I have in years.

While iTunes Library Updater isn’t perfect and no longer appears to be under development or supported, it works well enough and appears to offer a command line mode for those desiring to automate the process via Scheduled Tasks.  One small note: after installing the program, issue the following command in the “Run” window if using iTunes 8+: “iTunes.exe /regserver”.  Also, note the program is likely to choke and puke if any dialog boxes open after iTunes launches (version updates, etc...).

Other than that, the program seems to work as intended.  Of course, your mileage may vary.

(via Lifehacker)

Apple seems intent to not only control all the hardware and software needed for operation of it's devices, but also seems to desire the role of content monitor. iLounge reports that Apple has rejected an iPhone app called Drivetrain. Drivetrain is a remote control app used to remotely Transmission sessions (an Apple BitTorrent client).

Apple's reasoning?

"this category of applications is often used for the purpose of infringing third party rights. We have chosen to not publish this type of application to the App Store."

Apple has missed two very basic points in making this decision and others like it. First of all, Drivetrain is not a BitTorrent client, it's an app that controls a BitTorrent client. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, BitTorrent and p2p is not in and of itself illegal, the act of downloading copyrighted material is. By Apple's logic, any app that has anything to to with DVRs, data backups, mobile browsing, network access, audio/video recording, etc. should be removed. Taking it a step further, Apple's lineup of devices and software should be removed as it could all be used in the commission of electronic crime.

I'm wondering when Apple is going to implement direct filtering of content within their devices. Sad part is that many will hail that as an advancement in safety.

Almost on a whim, I decided to see what options were available given my grades.  I made the decision early that a online masters program would be best for me given my already lengthy commute and I contacted a few schools.  My wife noticed that there was an online Masters program available though our Alma Mater, California State University Fullerton.  After discussing my professional and academic background with the program administrator during an interview, he agreed that I would make a good addition to the program assuming I could score above a certain level on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT).  I studied and did well enough on the GMAT to meet the program requirements.

I officially received word on Saturday that I’ve been formally accepted into the program.  Frankly, I’m surprised that I was accepted not because I’m not capable but more because my numbers likely aren’t as strong as they should be.  I feel lucky that I’ve been given this opportunity and I know that I am going to do well because I will be focused.  I never thought I would hear myself say that I’m glad to be back in school, but I am.

Noah’s arms and legs are getting pudgy.  It may be because my wife and I are force feeding him like a goose.

As it turns out, it wasn't the frameworks fault that site was invisible in IE, it was my fault. I tend to put many comments in my code as I tend to forget what something does if I haven't worked on it in a while. I, of course, did what any programmer worth his/her salt would do, I cut and paste comments so I didn't have to completely retype the comment with every use.

HTML comments follow's a syntax that closes a comment with "-->". Too late to notice, and after considerable time spent on a redesign, I found out that I had closed my first comment with "--!>" and had copied and pasted that incorrect syntax throughout all my code over multiple pages. Firefox was still able to decipher the page with the incorrect syntax while other browsers choked and puked.

Lesson learned, use the crappiest browser available to test a site, those smart ones will deceive every time!

Please let me know if anything else is borked. It probably is, but I've worked through everything I can find.

Popular Science reports that General Electric has unveiled an optical storage technology that may help with large long term data storage. The new optical discs can hold 500 gigabytes of information, the equivalent of about 100 single layer DVDs or about 20 Blu-Ray discs. In previous optical technologies, data was housed etched on a single layer. The new technology uses holographic patterns in light sensitive plastic in what sounds like a precursor to a 3-dimensional storage matrix. Brian Lawrence, project leader for GE's Holographic Data Storage Program explains:

"In these previous three generations, plastic acts as an inert carrier for the data that sits in a thin layer of metal, while in our method the plastic becomes the storage medium itself."

This technology sounds superior to existing tape technology both in capacity and in durabilit. I'd image that commercial data operations and high storage demand consumers such as data consultants, modern musicians, and commercial photographers will be all over this technology as soon as it is released.

According to Wired, one solution to increase the exposure speed is to remove the shutter:

The Steam (Serial Time-Encoded Amplified iMaging) doesn’t have a physical shutter, instead relying on a pulse of light to freeze time, much like a standard camera flash will freeze a bullet hitting a balloon.

While the article goes into the details of how the process works, a camera without a shutter is an intriguing concept. While this kind of idea would never work in a portable consumer based application, it might spur development into ways of further improving the tech of existing camera technology for the rest of us.

Many things have happened since I went dark on this site.  Without a doubt, the biggest is the birth of my son Noah.

Noah has been quite a trooper in his first 3+ months of life.  Noah was born with an aortic coarction.  In plain English, Noah was ok when first born, but developed an obstruction when one of his heart ducts closed about 24 hours after birth.  Open chest surgery at 6 days old, and a cath procedure at 2.5 months are some of the fun he’s already faced.  And there is likely more to come.

Could be worse, he could be going through all that and not (according to others) look so much like his old man