Beautiful footage of Frank Catalfumo, a 91 year old shoemaker and repairer in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
http://vimeo.com/62731783

Update: Frank sadly passed away in 2017.

Upper Hunter councils shunned during Minister's visit

A change of government but it seems the O'Farrell regime is also reluctant to actually engage with local communities over coal mining as the Keneally/Rees/Iemma/Carr governments were.

The story doing the rounds is the Mayor of Muswellbrook expressing disappointment about Resources Minister Chris Hartcher not agreeing to meet with Council during his recent tour of the area.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-19/hartcher-visit/3898332

This is when he's on record saying that he wants to hear early feedback on the government’s draft land use plans

"The government remains committed to continuing a genuine dialogue with all stakeholder and community groups during the two month consultation process".

Perhaps a case of actions speaking louder than words.

Lana Del Rey - Video Games

Beautiful song, beautiful video! It's not Sunday but it kind of feels like it with the rain...

CNET's download.com

Just downloading software from download.com. But what's this? No direct link as normal. Instead, I'm forced to download a separate installer program.

Oh, and the installer is set by default to install a browser toolbar from Babylon? And change the browser's startup page? Yuck! I found out what gives via Wikipedia:

In August 2011, Download.com introduced an installation manager for delivering many of the software titles its catalog. The installation manager will offer to install add-ons like browser toolbars and change default homepages before downloading the software the user wanted. Users registered with Download.com can access files either with the Download.com installer or directly via "Download Direct Links".

There's a good summary on Ghosthacks. Not sure why they'd expect folks to continue to use download.com. The vast majority of the software they make available is also available elsewhere without having to put up with such shenanigans.

SF Signal's flowchart: Navigating NPR's Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books

This is a really nice piece of work, 'made of awesome' as one commenter noted:

Over the summer, NPR solicited the input of its listeners to rank the top science fiction and fantasy books of all time. Over 60,000 people voted for the top picks which were then compiled into a list by their panel of experts. The result? This list of 100 books with a wide range of styles, little context, and absolutely no pithy commentary to help readers actually choose something to read from it.

We at SF Signal have, once again, come to the rescue. This flowchart is designed to help you follow your tastes, provide context, and fulfill (indeed exceed!) any need for pithy commentary you might harbor.

If you like sci-fi or fantasy, be sure to check this chart out on the SF Signal blog. 

Ten simple and easy wireless network troubleshooting solutions - mainly for windows laptops running XP

Here are ten things to try to get your wireless connection going again. Most of the solutions are windows based but a few are generic. Easiest or most likely solutions are listed first.


1. Check if your laptop has a switch on the top, side or front to physically turn the wireless card on and off. Ensure that it's in the 'on' position. Some computers have a keyboard shortcut that enables or disables wireless networking. For example, on some Asus computers, pressing the keys Fn F2 together turns the wireless card on or off. Look for a wireless symbol on the function keys.


2. Check the problem is not just due to signal strength (move around).


3. If possible, switch your wireless router off and back on to reboot it. Also restart the computer, just for the hell of it.


4. In windows, check device manager for any errors.
Edit: these are indicated by a exclamation mark on the list in device manager.


5. Try a TCP/IP stack repair (e.g. on Windows XP).
-Go to start menu, select run, type CMD to open the command prompt.
-Reset winsock entries to defaults by typing 'netsh winsock reset catalog'
-Reset the TCP/IP stack to defaults by typing 'netsh int ip reset reset.log'


6. In Windows XP, check Wireless Zero Configuration is enabled.
-Go to start menu, select run, type 'services.msc', click OK.
-Restart the service Wireless Zero Configuration as follows:

1. On the services list select Wireless Zero Configuration (It is the 3rd last one)
2. Double click on the service
3. Click on Stop and the click on start
4. Click Apply and then OK

Note, you can check if it's running by typing 'sc query wzcsvc' into the command prompt, then hitting ok. If it says 'running' next to 'state', then it's running.


Edit: Note regarding Windows Vista: Vista doesn't have the wireless zero configuration service.  It was replaced by WLAN Autoconfig and this can be activated as follows:

1. Go to Start and right click Computer. Select and click Manage.
2. Computer Management window will appear. Under Services and Applications, select Services. (Start -> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services)
3. Scroll down and select WLAN AutoConfig.
4. Double-click the service and its properties window will appear. If the startup type is not set to automatic, click on the dropdown arrow and change it to Automatic. Click Start to start the service if it’s not started. Click OK.

7. Delete all preferred networks, then try to reconnect.


8. Check your Services are all Started:

• Computer Browser
• DHCP Client
• DNS Client
• Network Location Awareness
• Server
• TCP/IP Netbios helper
• Workstation

9. Check for driver issues and if necessary, update or reinstall drivers. In windows, look for the wireless network adapter in other devices within the device manager. Right click the wireless adapter and click properties to access driver information.




10. Check if it's a firewall issue (try switching your firewall off temporarily to see if connectivity returns).


Other possibilities to investigate:

• Network configuration issues. This may be the cause if you can see the name of the wireless network but can't connect. If you can't see the wireless network in the list of networks, the wireless router might not be configured to broadcast its SSID. You will need to access its settings and ensure SSID is enabled.
• Password/WEP issues. Make sure you've got the right passwords and WEP configurations!
• Hardware issues - wireless network card dead or not fitted correctly. If you've tried everything else, it might be good to physically check the card is inserted properly. If it is, test whether another computer can connect to the wireless network to confirm that the network is working. Alternatively, try connecting your computer to a different network to see if it works elsewhere.

Bike Library - City of Sydney

Here's something which I think is pretty much a brilliant idea. The City of Sydney has a bike library, from which you can borrow bikes specifically designed for transporting larger items, and also a couple of different trailers.

The equipment they currently offer consists of a Gazelle Cabby cargo bike, an Xtracycle Radish cargo bike, a child trailer and a cargo trailer.

This is a really great idea as some of these items would not otherwise be readily accessible to a lot of people. Update: BikeSydney runs this service

Garbage - Milk and Thirteen

Leonard Cohen - Who by Fire

Sunday afternoon chillout.

How many books are there in the whole wide world?

129,864,880