NSLog();

I looked quickly and could not find an AppleScript command to mute the sound on my Mac. Instead, I've had to get by with tell appplication "System Events" to set volume 0. I do this via cron at 10pm. At 7am, I reset the volume to 3.5 (half volume). Being able to mute and unmute via AppleScript (i.e. osascript in my cron file) is desired simply because the previous volume setting is preserved and restored when you unmute.

Has anyone seen a mute command in AppleScript? Have I simply missed it?

Yesterday Carey and I spent most of the day shoveling, wheelbarrowing, dumping, and spreading woodchips on the beautifully landscaped yard we now call our own. My parents put wood chips around everything in their yard, and they get by with two cubic yards. Carey and I need ten. Ten cubic yards.

Unfortunately, we only had seven. The first two were trucked out by my parents in their tow-behind. The last five were delivered by dump truck. The back yard facing the neighbors in the funny house (the back/north side of the house) remain unmulched.

NSLog(@"Finish Reading %d Words", 272); »

Question: How much pirated software do you have on your computer right now?

My Answer: One piece, but it's on a .dmg and I have not used it in months (Adobe Illustrator - I own version 8, but this is CS).

Incidentally, Freshly Squeezed Software's approach to piracy mirrors that of Wil Shipley, who has somehow managed to post two interesting entries in a row. That stance is, basically, to ignore piracy. We always tried, at FSS, to make sure honest people paid up, but nothing more. None of our software even blocked pirated codes - it wasn't worth the effort to maintain such a list. The pirates would simply generate a new code, and we'd add that to the list, and it'd become a vicious cycle that took development time away from actual features - the things that sell software to honest folks.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Question: Physically, what's the hardest work you've done?

My Answer: I once worked for a company called American Turned Products. I was responsible for building about 200 valves per night. They were metal, and heavy, and had sharp edges. The machines took some effort to use, and you spent your evenings walking around in a circle, going from machine to machine, to build the parts.

I worked with two other people, the names of whom escape me right now, and with a quota of 200 apiece, we struggled to get 600 pieces per night in our 10-hour shifts (4pm to 2:30am). Then - I think the slow guy's name was Dave - left, and the remaining guy and I banged out 740 pieces in our first evening - more than we'd ever done with Dave there. The next night we had 350 done by our lunch break, so we spent three hours at Taco Bell. The boss noticed that we took increasingly long breaks, and said to us "as long as you get your 400 pieces per night, I don't care how long you're here." Turns out we could do 400 pieces in about four hours, and we'd spend the other six playing Nintendo.

But those two weeks when Dave was there, that was a struggle.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

I have a little bit of experience in starting my own business, and much of what I'd say is contained nicely in a little PDF from a talk Wil Shipley (who too has a little experience). Grab the PDF here.

I watched The Aviator last night. Always one to look on the bright side, I enjoyed quite a few scenes in the 170-minute flick. Of course, they all involved Kate Beckinsale…

Unlike some people, I watched the whole darn thing. The story was badly told. I didn't identify with any of the characters, nor did I care about any of them. DiCaprio is a much better actor than (What's Eating Gilbert Grape?) than the script allowed him to be, and my opinion of Martin Scorcese took a major hit with this film, not that I particularly cared for him to begin with.

NSLog(@"Finish Reading %d Words", 265); »

Question: Do you go to church? How frequently?

My Answer: Yes. Twice a month, and only so I can play on the church league softball team. Call it sacrilegious if you'd like, but I consider myself a spiritual person, or one who believes in "more than just life here on Earth," but I have some disagreements with the "Church Way" of looking at religion. By going, at least I'm exposing myself to differing viewpoints.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Question: Have you ever bought songs from the iTunes Music Store and been given the wrong song?

My Answer: Yes, though it was some time ago. I did notice that these songs are not properly labeled, and I assume that if you bought one or two you'd get the improper one. Where can you file iTMS bugs? 🙂

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Question: POP or IMAP?

My Answer: POP all the way. Actually, POP3S. IMAP has always been tricky to set up, tricky to move, slower, and a few other things I don't particularly care for. POP has always worked, whether it's partially retrieving messages, leaving them on the server for x days, or just grabbing messages directly. I know IMAP has a bunch of nice features; I've just never been able to get past the crap IMAP throws my way to use them hassle-free.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Question: How many hours per day do you spend reading? How many of those hours are spent reading something without electricity running through it (i.e. on paper)?

My Answer: About five to six. I typically try to read a book or a magazine for about an hour per day. Sometimes it's job related, and other times it's just for fun.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

There's an update to the Canon Digital Rebel XT's firmware. The update (1.0.2):

1. Fixes the phenomenon of extreme underexposure when using some lenses.
2. Fixes the phenomenon of auto power off function failure when auto power off is set more than 2 minutes.
3. Fixes the phenomenon of incorrect white balance when using an external flash.

Can't say I've ever had any of those problems, but, there you have it.

I have a smart playlist in iTunes that shows any song that's unplayed and/or unrated. When I import new music from a CD or buy new tunes from the music store, it reminds me to rate the songs. Every one of my 10,067 songs is rated.

Still, this playlist shows one item and I can't get rid of it. It's a digital booklet. I've rated it, but there doesn't seem to be any way to adjust the play count. I'd like to bump it to 1 to get it out of the darn list.

I've tried adjusting the play count via AppleScript, but I've only come up with errors. Any ideas?

Before I could even post this, I had one final idea, and it's worked. So, here's the script:

NSLog(@"Finish Reading %d Words", 166); »

Question: What's in your garage?

My Answer: My car! This is the first time I've ever had a garage. Carey's side of the garage still has junk in it - we're not quite moved in. By this coming Sunday we should be set, though.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Question: How many people do you know without cell phones?

My Answer: Two: Carey's parents. In five or ten minutes of thought, those are the only two people I know without cell phones. Wow.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Question: Have you ever been to an adult "toy" party?

My Answer: No. But someone I'm married to has. 😛

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.