mj_tech

This is my informational post (the date is so far into the future to keep it at the top). As I'm sure some people will wonder, the name of this journal was inspired by the title of the anime "Maria+Holic," which I recently watched. However, I'm not sure if the "holic" in the title means the same thing in Japan that it does in the United States. Also, the plus is officially a cross (†) in the logo. "Maria" is the Japanese rendition of "Mary" (the anime takes place in a Catholic Girl's School).

Originally I wanted to create a new journal to document my stay in Atlanta, GA as a participant in the Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering/Science (SURE) Program (May 26 - July 31) but I decided to use it for everything technology related. It would fit in my general LJ, but I like the idea of a dedicated journal. I even plan to include pictures. :)

Table of Contents:

These are the keywords I'm using for the entries.

• travelogue - My Atlanta experience posts.
• webdev - Web development posts.
• general - Miscellaneous posts.

More info on my tech projects can be found here.

To read older entries, click on the month of the calendar or click the "archive" tab.

Last Update: July 31, 2009.

Coppermine image gallery

Coppermine isn't behaving like I want it to. I finally bridged it with eFiction, but the only user able to log into Coppermine is me because I'm an admin. I e-mailed Calic0cat to ask if it's supposed to behave that way. She's the person who originally paid someone to create the bridge. I've been asking questions on the Coppermine forum and no one can help me with the user problem. I guess I won't feel too annoyed if I have to add everyone's fanart myself as long as I can get the fanart to show up on my eFiction sites like I want it to. The gallery also won't show member portfolios anymore and, since a regular user can't log into Coppermine, no one can help me. I'll have to see if a guest user has the same problem.

Suto-ri Denkaku

I'm creating a script to automate my fanfic display. It's based on the PHP template script I found in a PHP 3 book that I'm already using on Anime Etc. I plan to use an SQL database to store all of the fanfiction data (title, rating, summary, etc.). It uses the template code for the main pages and the fanfic pages. As I'm a PHP and SQL newbie, this is a slow process. Right now, it's a hassle to change my design and add a new story.

This is what I want it to do when I'm finished:

1. Use a template to control the layout.
2. Dynamically create navigation for multipart fanfics based upon existing directory structure (i.e. I don't want to change my file names).
3. Provide different ways to view available fanfics, such as "by title", "by series", "by genre", etc.

I have the fanfiction navigation thing working. I'm pretty sure I standardized the way I named my files. Chapters are usually named numerically (story_name1, story_name 2, etc.). They're alphabetical when I name the fanfics according to the series they belong to (story1a, story1b, etc.). I also have to make allowances for the existence of a prologue and/or an epilogue because of the way they're named (story_pro, story_epi). I also have to find out who's linking to my stories because I want to move the folder they're in. Either I'll e-mail them new links or redirect people from the old links. I'll probably do the latter because it's easier. I'm not sure if some of those websites are still being maintained.

I might make it available to the public. For it to be more user-friendly, the fanfic data should be inserted via a form. I'm inserting everything into the database manually. If I make a form available, I'll also have to require a username and password. Can't give just anyone access to the database.

Doing things like this make me realize that I actually like to code. C++ courses cause me to temporarily forget that.

I forgot to add that the fire alarm went off at 1 o'clock a.m. on August 1st. I was asleep so the entire experience seems dreamlike. Since it sounded tolerable to me, I considered ignoring it. We stood outside for about 20 minutes before the alarm stopped. Once again, Yesenia slept through it. I'm not sure if Naquasia and Tyra were aware that she hadn't heard it.

It's cold in Michigan. I went outside in shorts on Sunday and felt like I needed to put on pants. It was warm as long as you stood in the sun. I'm still used to Atlanta, where it it's hot even in the shade. This morning the heat actually came on. Both my mother and a man on the plane said that Michigan hasn't really had a summer this year. I can definitely believe it.

I'm going to upgrade the memory in my mother's computer. Since she has the 32-bit version of Windows XP Pro, the maximum memory the OS will recognize is 3GB or 3.5GB. It has four slots (two pairs of two) so a total of 4GB should, theoretically, be available. When I purchased the full version of XP Pro from UMF's ITS (to get rid of Vista), I decided not to install the 64-bit version even though the processor is AMD Athlon 64. There aren't many programs available yet that fully utilize 64-bit architecture. Right now, the computer has two 512MB modules. I think I'm going to buy four new modules, a pair of 1GB and replacement 512MB. It's better if you replace all the memory at once. In addition to that, the 512MB modules are DDR2 667 when they could be DDR2 800 (for optimal performance). Newegg, as usual, has the best deal. Crucial's website didn't even have a DDR2 800 in a 1GB pair when I ran the memory advisor. Their advisor also told me that my laptop couldn't handle memory above 1GB and I have a stable 1.5GB now. I might try for 2GB one day but I'd have to disassemble it partially to reach the second slot.

I'm also going to do a lot with my website. I have fanfics from the old site from 2004 and 2005 that I still haven't added. Yes, I'm that lazy. I also need to finally get the image gallery to work with eFiction, upgrade two of my archives, and redesign a mini-site. School doesn't start until September 8th for some odd reason so I have plenty of time. It's roughly a 14 week semester. Ann Arbor and Dearborn also have shorter semesters now.

Oh, I have a web dev article published online. It's at http://www.killersites.com/magazine/2009/table-to-tableless

I accidentally fell asleep at the desk a few times throughout the night. I eventually got up completely around 7 o'clock. Makeda requested my help with cleaning the bathroom so I did so and ended up trying to maneuver my stuff into my suitcases for roughly an hour afterward. She left around 8:30. I eventually got everything together around 9 o'clock and the RA checked me out roughly 20 minutes later. She was actually going by the sign up sheet that had been on the wall next to her room for a week. All of the instructions that conference services sent to Ashley were wrong.

I asked Andrew if I could have a ride to the airport and he said "no problem." We went to a café near campus because he had made arrangements to have breakfast with David, Juan, Baldin, and their grad student mentor before they left. It turns out Juan and Baldin had gotten a flight time wrong and had to leave immediately for the airport but they dropped by to say goodbye. I only had a bagel with cream cheese because I wasn't really hungry. Andrew thought I'd said my flight was at 12:30 instead of 12:05 so I didn't actually end up at the airport until 11 o'clock. Luckily, Andrew used to work at the ATL airport so he knew about the lower level drop off point. The main point had about a 15 minute wait just to reach the curb while the lower one didn't have a wait at all. They had curbside check-in so I was able to drop off my suitcases right away. I had to ask for directions to the security checkpoint and barely got in line before a lot of people showed up. I felt like I was a pro at the checkpoint because I'd read the info online so many times and I knew what to expect because of the trip down. There were about four people checking IDs and boarding passes and six people scanning things because the ATL airport is so big. I hopped on the airport train around 11:20. It was pretty crowded but most people got off at the B concourse. Just after I got on, a elderly Chinese woman was separated from her companion because the doors closed. She asked where she was supposed to get off (in Chinese) but I knew what she was talking about because she was gesturing with her boarding pass. I told her the next one and she understood. I got lost trying to find the gates (I forgot that I had to go up) and another guy was lost, too. I directed him to D21 once we got off the elevator and I went in the same direction (D28). In the end, I really didn't have to rush at all because the flight boarded about 15 minutes late. We actually had to go down a flight of steps and outside to board the plane. There was a little ramp leading up to it. It was the epitome of a "puddle jumper." The one I took down to Atlanta had been larger.

I read for most of the flight though I'd had a conversation with the man sitting beside me for part of it. There was a girl sitting behind me that was a Freshman on her way to Michigan State. She grew up in Atlanta. Her grandparents live in East Lansing so she was going to stay with them. Only one of my suitcases came to the airport with me. The smaller one ended up on a later flight. I figured that happened because the plane I was on was so small. It was delivered shortly after 6:30. Then next flight from Atlanta left around 4 o'clock.

My cats looked a lot different from before, probably because I've been looking at them in photos for over two months. They sniffed me for a long, long time, but they didn't run or act wary. Yuki was right in my lap and, later, sleeping on top of me like before.

I thought it would feel weird to be home but it doesn't. I'm used to the place.

Thus concludes my Atlanta experience. Now I get to add the SURE program to my résumé.

Well, tomorrow I get to go home and resume my life as a recluse until school starts again in September. I learned many things over the course of my experience, one of them being that I made the right choice by not going away to school. The very thought of being forced into extended close contact with someone like KaLaun is truly frightening. There is no way I would have been able to afford to stay in a private room or an apartment (where I could lock myself away).

The presentation was okay. I'm never nervous about PowerPoint presentations for some reason. After today's presentations there was a end-of-program cookout at Dr. May's house (he's the co-coordinator of the SURE program and the chair of the School of Engineering). I didn't go because I was forgotten (as usual). I had already figured that this was going to happen as soon as we were informed that we would have to arrange our own transportation. When Ashley had asked those who didn't have a ride to raise their hands yesterday, I did so and Prescott said that I (and Jessica and Tyra) could ride with him. When I went down to leave he was there but we had to wait on another group who were supposed to be following him to Dr. May's house. He went back up to his room to wait on them and I did as well. I told him that my room was directly across from Naquasia's and he said that he would knock on the door. Well, that didn't happen.

I'm going to pack everything I won't need to use tomorrow and spend quality time with my computer until it's time to check out. I don't plan to sleep because I don't want to oversleep. I bought the first two seasons of Avatar from Barnes and Noble with my Buzz Card so I'm going to watch some of it. Normally, I don't pay retail for anything but the money was going to be wasted if I didn't use it. Dr. Conrad even encouraged us this morning to use the rest of our funds at the bookstore. Both sets were $55.99 when I could have gotten them for about $35 each on half.com. Jessica asked me, "Isn't there supposed to be a fourth season?" I told her I didn't know because I didn't know there was a third season. I knew there was supposed to be one but it took a very long time to appear. I think there has to be because the concept of the four basic Earth elements is very important to the story. Book 1 is Water, Book 2 is Fire, Book 3 is Earth, so Book 4 has to be Air. I figure that Air is last because Aang is "The Last Airbender." All of the "extra" writing is in Chinese but I recognized the character for fire (火) as Japanese uses the same one. However, none of the others look identical (which is strange because Japanese Kanji is based on Chinese characters). Some of the Korean characters also match the Chinese ones.

I love Avatar. It's shown on Nickelodeon, so it's supposed to be for "kids," but it's the only show I've ever seen that was invented by Westerners that captures the style of anime so well. They even have a super deformed (SD) bonus feature in one of the sets.

I asked Dr. Howard for permission to post my paper and PowerPoint online. I'm not sure about the video we made. Naquasia didn't show it because she failed to download and install QuickTime during lunch when all our presentations were supposed to be loaded onto the PC that was attached to the projector. She also failed to convert the video into a "Windows-friendly" format even though Doug told her how. I also think that her presentation was slapped together at the last minute because there were typos and it didn't look very professional.

Unconsumables that I bought since arriving here: a GT neckchain for my keys, a Batman t-shirt at Six Flags, a Mastering Kanji workbook, a GRE math workbook, a 50% off Chinese origami kit (because they didn't have Japanese (and it's not called origami in China)), a 75% off book of word search Sudoku puzzles (it should really be called "Word Search Wordoku"), a gift key chain, a gift mug, a gift Buzz plushie, a gift package of pens that will end up being reverse imported into Michigan, a gift GT water bottle, seasons 1 of Avatar, the complete collection of the Azumanga Daioh manga (the book is six inches thick), and the first volume of the +Anima manga.

I later returned Azumanga Daioh and +Anima to purchase season 2 of Avatar. This left me with $1.05 and I spent most of it at the vending machine in the student center today.

Reverse importing is an interesting concept. I learned about it in the Junjou Romantica manga. Nowaki went to the U.S. to study medicine and brought Hiro back a penguin plushie wearing an "Uncle Sam" top hat and holding a tiny American flag (it was an apology for not sending any letters). When Hiro was examining it for flaws (because he was angry at Nowaki for leaving), he discovered a sticker on the bottom of the plushie that read "Made in Japan" in English.

I can't wait to go home. I miss my cats, I miss the quiet, and the campus is becoming too crowded because of various reasons (camps, orientation, tours). I could never attend GTech because there are too many students. I'm bothered by the number of students at UMF and there are only about 7,000. According to Odille, during the fall semester there are "so many Asian people it looks like Korea." Remove Korea and insert the name of any Asian country primarily populated by those of Mongoloid descent (east and southeast Asia). I've never noticed anyone speaking Japanese (beyond one American guy during a phone conversation), but there's little reason for Japanese people to attend school in the U.S. because they have good schools and really interesting technology research. A lot of the people here want to go there.

I'm starting to hate my paper. I didn't talk about the larger project because my name will be on Terrence and Naquasia's paper. I have to include it in my presentation, though. I only have to complete the conclusion and then send it to people for comment. I have to spend time in the lab tomorrow after we film the project to fix my PowerPoint slides because Open Office changes my formatting after I close and reopen my file. I never have a problem when I use the word processor or the spreadsheet program. No, I don't have MS Office.

Other things to do tomorrow: spend more Buzz Cash at Barnes & Noble, mail some of my stuff home, buy lunch from the St. Charles Deli (I had no idea that it was in Tech Square before last Saturday).

I had to return my books to the library today because the only drop box I've ever seen is in front of the library, which is in East Campus. I walked and walked and walked, past the student center where the food is and up two flights of stairs. About every 500 feet I had to pause until my legs stopped cramping. The past few weeks, my legs have been constantly protesting my use of them. It was like that when I first arrived but it had stopped. I look like I'm completely out of shape, but I never feel out of breath. People in flip-flops and women in high heels pass me without a care in the world. At UMF, there's a drop box in the building next to the library. You could traverse our entire campus in about ten minutes. Are UMF students/staff really, really lazy?

I found out last week that the financial aid office canceled my work study award. I called them today and it was explained that so much scholarship/grant money that I didn't need it. I feel like I'm breaking my word to the Philosophy and Sociology/Anthropology/Criminal Justice departments, though. And I now have large gaps of free time in my schedule. I'm probably going to spend the time at the library. I would bring my computer but it weighs 12 pounds.

Today I'm going to pack up some of my stuff. I plan to take the train to the airport since it only costs $1.75. Unfortunately, I've never written on a train before and I'm wondering if the doors have sensors in them so you won't be caught while trying to load your stuff. I have to check out before 9:30am and then sit at the airport, bored, for a few hours. We can't leave until everyone in the apartment is ready to leave because the staff locks the door behind us after taking our keys. I have a feeling that Ka'Laun is going to hold us up simply because she doesn't care about anyone but herself.

I'm worried that I'm going to forced to pay for damage that they did to the hallway because you can't prove that a particular person, or group of persons, did it. They have a "collective liability" policy which covers everyone on this floor in this case. Last Friday they were being loud and acting very immature in the hallway. When I left to buy something to eat on Saturday, I noticed that one of the exit signs was nonfunctional and another had almost been pulled out of the ceiling. This kind of behavior is part of the reason why I never had the desire to live in a dorm. I hate being surrounded by people in my age group.