My most recent encounter was with Apple’s OS X Lion on my MacBook Pro. So far it has improved my productivity by giving me more gestures to easily switch between programs. It also gave me a better view for most apps with the ability to keep them in fullscreen mode, while still being able to switch between my apps. What it has also done is given me a few minor headaches after realizing some things weren’t quite right.

Being that I use my computer onstage in my band Ifdakar, I found that the driver for my pedal board was not compatible with Lion or it was overwritten during the update. Either way, after setting everything up for a gig I found this was the case. Something I should have checked out beforehand but as they say hindsight is 20-20.

The second was a bit more troublesome. I found when I closed the lid on my MacBook that it no longer went to sleep. The light didn’t start it’s “heartbeat” like normal and when I opened it up, the screen would flash what I was previously working on, then go black and then became unresponsive. I researched what could be causing this and tried many different solutions (like reseting the SMC and the PRAM) to no avail. Then I found what was causing the trouble with a few little terminal commands.

The first command

pmset -g

Gave me the following output:

This let me see that “sleep” was being (imposed by 42, 288).

So then I put in the following command to see which process was 42.

ps -ef |grep -e 42

I found that Google Chrome was preventing my computer from sleeping.

Then I entered the same command again with the second number

ps -ef |grep -e 288

This time I found that my printer was also preventing my computer from sleeping.

So I uninstalled both my printer and Google Chrome to find out that was in fact the case. My computer slept just fine thus ending it’s insomnia. I went back and reinstalled Chrome and it seems to be fine now. Sometimes a clean install is all you need to fix a problem and yet again 42 was the answer to everything /geek joke.

So now I am working on a new endeavor which isn’t all that new, Artifishall Design. I created this website in 2006 in order to start my own business, but since I always had work coming from somewhere else it really never took off. Now I am dusting off the site, cleaning up the code, and doing what I set out to do all those years ago.

With my talents I can build for you any size site that suits your needs. I have experience setting up blogs, e-commerce sites, band sites, custom content management systems, and even podcasts. Any site I build can have social media tools integrated as needed. I am no stranger to coding for facebook, twitter, digg, and many other social tools.

No matter what size your business is I can cater to your needs by building a site that is just right for you.

Healin is healin no matter what you‘re feeling
You’re gonna have to cope with what you call hope
For if you believe what you see you leave what you be
Behind for your mind will not be blind
For your soul to be whole you got to let go
Of the gold you hold and fold the lies you told
For I got this load feeling like a toad
Waiting for success a kiss from a princess
To be at my best so I do not jest
So what kind of bait do I throw on the string
To find a lovely voice in which we will sing
This song of life while I play my fife
And rhyme all my cares away
Throwing words in the air to stay
Sane from the pressure building
Defined as one mans sin and another’s religion
For what is true under the big blue
For all I know the all knowing could be blowing
A bunch of hot air just to be fair
We got to trust in what we lust
For when we’re all dust we’ll know who was just

It ain’t me it ain’t me rhyming and stealing on you r TV screen
It ain’t me it ain’t me pervading all that bad energy

So I run around acting the clown
With my chains unbound I kick the beat down
With my big ass fiddle I begin to riddle and rhyme
Can you spare a dime?
For a kind brother so I can call my mother
And tell her about the new grooves
I hope to use to help sooth
The world and everyone in it
And what is it about who did this
And who did that
And can’t we just act the chill cat?
Get along and hit our bongs
And give some relief to our stressed motif

What’s really going on?
We can’t all be wrong
That’s why we sing this song
Hoping change will come along

So I take all I know and make it all flow
With a little help from every friend
Who will be with me until the end
Or the beginning whichever is more fitting
For your soul as we are all coal
Burning in the fire of life
Trying to avoid strife
So bend you reality
Try to define the word free
Because in this society
We can’t all be
So wait while I elope me a
Sense of utopia
Wait while I elope me
Little o sense of utopia

What’s really going on?
We can’t all be wrong
That’s why we sing this song
Hoping change will come along

What’s really going on?
We can’t all be wrong
That’s why we sing this song
Hoping change will come along

Oh yeah, feels like new again. Today I downloaded the new firmware for my iPhone and in case you haven’t been following my tweets, pownces, plurks, or friendfeed I am very satisfied. I haven’t felt this good about the device since I originally bought it, of course jail breaking it did feel good too but now these apps are leaps and bounds ahead of the original third party apps. Now I have something to hold me over until the AT&T 3G network stretches to my neck of the woods.

Of course I hit all the free apps first and most of those were to all my social networks. Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and Pownce all have apps and I have a feeling that I may be using most of those more than their actual websites. All of these social apps allow use of the camera or your photo library to upload pics right to their site. They also speed up the delivery and surfing of all the essential data related to those sites i.e. who is eating cheese, who is playing with their new iPhone, and who is in the shower.

Another notable free app is the weather bug which far exceeds the included weather app. Now you can see which way the wind is blowing, radar maps, and any weather alerts.

The list of free apps that wouldn’t be complete without Apple’s own remote for iTunes and the Apple TV. Now you can surf and control the media in your library just like you are using an iPod. This will be handy in those party situations when you want to have your iPhone on you but still be in control of the tunes.

There are a few familiar programs in the app store that you may have seen in installer.app. I will look forward to supporting as soon as I have a few extra bucks lying around; Band, Mobile Flickr, and Sketches to name a few. I’m still looking for cameraPro or Snapture as I feel they include many features that are missing from the iPhones camera like a self timer. SummerBoard would also be nice as I like to customize the look of the icons and the dock.

One new app I went out and bought was the new MLB app. This app is a must for anyone who spends as much time refreshing baseball scores. It also has the option to watch video highlights of the games. You still have to use mlb.com to view the play by play, hopefully that comes in the form of an update soon.

I could go on and on about all the new apps but the jist of the situation is that all in all I am happier than ever with my old iPhone. I will someday go out and replace it but as it is I feel now I am in no hurry. Since I don’t have access to 3g I don’t feel like paying an extra $10 a month to have fewer text messages and a useless 3Gcard in my phone. The fact that it has GPS doesn’t sell me on the new one either as I have already noticed a big improvement in the “current location” that is already in google maps.

In the last year I went from being a line cook to a web designer, moved to a new city and found a new apt after 3 yrs in the old, and bought a truck to replace the car that I had for 5-6 years.

The change that I am most proud of is that I found a new group of musicians to play with and have helped bring them out of the basement into a new practice space and out gigging. So not only am I playing with a band again (I had a few years hiatus) but one that I can actually express myself in (I never felt comfortable in any other band)

Life isn’t perfect as I still have financial issues and currently single but I must be on the right track because my sister commented last week that I was finally looking comfortable in my own skin.

This post was inspired and origianlly written as a comment on Carolyn’s Question of the Day on Pownce

So far this season they are 0-2 but it looks like these boys bats are finally starting to heat up.

If it could cut the seven seas

Melt away the glaciers

So you wouldn’t freeze

If it could pull you from the mountains

So you would feel at home with me

We’d rest our heads together

Through this world we’d roam free

I want to take you everywhere

Under the blue sky

Together we can go further

Let our dreams fly

We can let our souls jive

As long as they survive

When I first saw your beauty

I would have raised the soul of Van Gough

To paint you in a masterpiece

But only if you said so

I would have climbed the highest mountain

To bring you an apple from the tallest tree

I would have swam through seaweed

To bring you a shell from the deepest sea

I would have stopped the world revolving

Just so you’d be with me

Tags: Poetry

Driving down the highway on a cold night, the temperature, -21 degrees Fahrenheit. All of a sudden my radio cuts out. “Did I fuck up my iPhone during that last jailbreak?” I check my phone, it is running fine. The stereo on the other hand, not so much. “Great, now I need a new stereo.”

A few miles down the road, I begin to notice the dashboard going a little haywire. The light with a stick figure resting its head on an airbag keeps flashing, “Is my airbag about to deploy?” I begin to look for an exit, for an ill feeling had been resting in the pit of my stomach ever since I left work and if I have learned anything in this crazy life of mine it is to trust your gut. My luck, there are no exits in sight. I am not even half way through my 30 minute drive home from work.

Snow is flying across the road, visibility is low, and I begin to notice that my headlights are fading. The interior lights are fading, the headlights keep getting dimmer and dimmer, and the car is beginning to make funny sounds. The alternator has failed to do its job, my battery is dead, and now I find myself coasting to the side of the road.

Time to bust out the speed dial, I call a few and my landlord Rick is the first to pick up. He immediately jumps in his truck and makes his way to find me. The cold begins to creep in, I pull out my wool blanket from the back of my car and wrap myself. Yesterday I left home in just a fleece thinking that the weather was on an upturn. I normally sleep in Appleton after band practice on Mondays so I was not ready for the weather to make this turn for the worse. I try to keep my mind off things by taking my 365 self portrait, powncing, and looking for a tow truck on my iPhone. That doesn’t stop the cold.

About 40 minutes go by and finally my ride shows, grabbing my bag with laptop and my bass guitar I jump in a start to thaw. Rick calls the cops in New London to find out what I should do. They tell us to call the Outagaime County Sherriff’s department, who transfers me to Winnebago county, in which I lose due to a drop call halfway through the call. I call back and get transfered to Waupaca County (which was my misunderstanding). So I get back to Outagaime, transfered back to Winnebago, to find out that my car is being towed to Menasha, near where I work. Now that I have everything figured out I found myself at the nearest bar for a well deserved cocktail.