Andrew Ferguson dot NET

The release of Countdown Timer v2.2 is just around the corner (May 15th at 18:00 GMT). In preparation, I released the PO files for translation last night and sent out an email to all the wonderful participants who’ve translated in the past. Here’s the basic jist of what’s going on:

I’ve updated the PO files and uploaded them to my website. All you should need to do is find the language that’d you like to translate and click on the link below. The page will load with the existing data filled in that has not changed. The blank fields represent data that has changed and needs to be updated.

Also, there are a couple of special fields you should be aware of: “translator_name” is for your name as you’d like it to appear in the credits within the plugin (if you want it displayed). “translator_url” is for the URL link that will be associated with you name (again, if you would like it included).

There are a handful of fields that go something like: %d years,
The %d is a place holder for an integer (such as 5 days,) and can be moved around if needed depending on the localization requirements.

Similarly, there is a %s ago and in %s. Where %s represents a string (in this case, the countdown). This allows the translation of “in” and “ago” to be put in its proper place depending on the localization.

I really hope all that makes sense. If it doesn’t, I’d be more then happy to answer any questions you have. If you’re unsure of the context of certain strings, you can also download the trunk version version at http://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/countdown-timer.zip

Languages already (mostly) completed:

• Czech (cs_CS)
• German (de_DE)
• Spanish (es_ES)
• French (fr_FR)
• Dutch/Holland (nl_NL)
• Portuguese/Brazil (pt_BR)
• Swedish/Sweden (sv_SE)
• Turkish (tr_TR)

As always, if you’d like to add a new translation, you can start here: http://fergcorp.com/project/phPo/phPo.php?poFileName=afdn_countdownTimer.po

And stay tuned for the pending release on Thursday!

I just had this realization (yes, at 3:20am) that the short video clips taken on cameras are this generations equivalent of 16mm home videos.

This makes me want to take more video clips now.

I blame the lack of updates on A) being sick; B) being done with Spring semester; C) being lazy in general.

However, I promise that I’ll have more interesting things to talk about shortly here. Field session has started, which should provide me with quite a bit of fodder.

Until then, carry on as per normal.

Done…
…with finals.
…with Spring 2008 semester.

Regular classes concluded on Thursday, which means that it’s time for finals. I have four finals and a project to finish up the semester.

And if that wasn’t enough, I picked up the flu. I’m running a temp around 102.4° F, body aches, can’t sleep. Yea, it pretty much sucks.

I’ve been taking acetaminophen and that seems to reduce the fever down to a manageable 99° F.

I just hope this blows over soon.

I’m sure what we’re doing, but when we do…
From www.dkgoodman.com:

Electrical education majors teach it by example.
Electrical engineers are shocked when they do it.
Electrical engineers do it on an impulse.
Electrical engineers do it with faster rise time.
Electrical engineers do it with large capacities.
Electrical engineers do it with more frequency and less resistance.
Electrical engineers do it with more power and at higher frequency.
Electrical engineers do it with super position.
Electrical engineers do it without shorts.
Electrical engineers resonate until it hertz.

via BoingBoing

My friend Ben and Mike took a film studies class this past semester for their final LAIS (Language Arts and International Studies) class. Part of the goal of the class was to make an actual film and Ben and Mike wanted to make one about me.

Being the general good sport that I am and also my somewhat long love affair I have with film (and being creative in general), I was more then happy to have them make a mocumentry about me.

Now, I feel the need to point out that while the film is based on me, it is still very mockumentry in nature. In short, they’ve taken little bits of my life and blown them waaaay out of proportion. Some parts are also made up and don’t have any truth to them at all. I really can’t emphasize this enough.

Also, I’m only an actor (and technical consultant). I didn’t write the script, I didn’t film it, I didn’t edit it. Please, have a good laugh. I certainly did. But remember that it’s still a mockumentry and should be treated as such. (Note: the only reason I bring this point up is that I think people who don’t actually know me will get the wrong impression. I’m more then happy to poke fun at myself, as long as others realize it’s all in good fun.)

Enjoy - Andrew Ferguson: The Final Frontier:

A little while ago, I was wondering to myself how much power the brain uses. Today, BoingBoing helped me answer that question:

The brain consumes 20 percent of your body’s energy, but what for? Turns out a third of the energy is spent on “housekeeping.”

I crossed check this and 20% appears to be dead on (see http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2001/JacquelineLing.shtml). As it turns out, it’s also about 20 Watts of power to run the brain (on a roughly 2000 food calorie diet).

Charles Dickens’ begins A Tale of Two Cities with, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

I think that line adequately reflects my current mood.

After today, I’ll have three more days of class (which is actually just one real day since I have no class tomorrow and Thursday I only have rock climbing). There is no new material to learn, which is great because my brain was full about five weeks ago. This is the final push to get through these last few days and then three days of finals next Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

But I want to be done now.

It’s basically been sixteen weeks of “go, go, go” and it’s worn me out mentally and, to a degree, physically. I’m looking very forward to May 7th after my last final when I can just go home, sit in my chair, and just be “blah”.

The second of my latest batch of Postcrossing postcards arrived in Finland:

Maija wrote back:

Hi Andrew! Thank you for your card!