H-Sphere Uncompress Hangs

Problem:  When you try to uncompress or compress a large file (e.g., 8Mb or more) using WebShell3 in the H-Sphere Control Panel, the file is not completely uncompressed and WebShell3 seems to hang.  IXWebHosting is one hosting service that uses H-Sphere.

Solution:  The uncompress or compress function takes a while.  Apparently the Internet browser (e.g., Microsoft Internet Explorer) times out waiting and closes the connection.  WebShell3 probably interprets the loss of connection and aborts the operation.  A work-around is to increase the keep-alive timeout value in IE, which defaults to 1 minute.

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Another Driving Pet Peeve

Another pet peeve I have concerns merging to one lane when a lane of traffic is closed ahead.  Many drivers slow down and merge properly.  Some people take advantage of the open lane and zoom ahead so they can cut in line at the very last moment.  This slows the line down tremendously for those who “do the right thing” and merge early.

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Inferno

Hamburg, Germany was a major port of embarkation for emigrants bound for America during the nineteenth century.  Since the Germans are good record keepers, detailed records were undoubtedly kept about these emigrants, our ancestors.  My grandmother Ida Pohl was a little girl when she emigrated with her mother and siblings from Hamburg in 1893.  As an amateur genealogist, I was frustrated to learn that most of these records were destroyed by British and American bombers during World War II. 

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Sidereus Nuncius

The book Sidereus Nuncius, or Starry Messenger was published by Galileo Galilei in March 1610.  In it he records his first views of the heavens through a telescope.  This is one of the great scientific publications that changed the world.  Galileo’s excitement is palpable as he describes the craters on the moon, a myriad of countless stars and his discovery of the four orbiting moons of Jupiter.

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Smarter than your Average Scientist?

Most people are smarter than the famous scientists of yore.  Look at what the average eighth-grader knows and understands about the world.  Certainly more than Copernicus, Galileo, and perhaps even Newton.

I’m not saying we are more intelligent or have better insight than these famous scientists.  They had a certain intuition and drive for discovery that most people lack.  But in terms of mere facts about the world, we probably know more about more things than they did.  Granted our knowlege is built upon their work.  We’ve had hundreds of years of technoligical improvements upon which to draw.  As the world’s population has grown, more knowledge has accumulated, and the collective knowledge of individuals has increased dramatically.

Block and Tackle

Homemade Block and TackleMy late father, Jack Voisin, made a neat block and tackle pulley assembly.  It is completely homemade of wood and it actually works.  He used a scroll saw, router and sander to construct all pieces.  He crafted the pulleys, nuts, and even the threads on the bolts, all in wood.

The links of chain all appear to be hand-carved out of one piece of wood stock.  However each link was individually cut on the scroll saw and rounded over, probably with a router.  The secret he said, was to break each link in half, join them together and then glue each link back together again.  The hair-line fracture from breaking the link all but disappears after gluing, sanding and staining.

His attention to detail is amazing and it shows his planning and craftsmanship.

Hold That Thought

Have you considered how old your thoughts are?  You might be surprised to realize that some of the feelings and opinions fresh in your mind today were actually formed many years ago.  Perhaps it’s a political view, or something you are planning to do.  Try to remember though when you first had that thought.  Were you in college discussing it with your roommates?  Did it occur to you during your first job?  Perhaps it was during childhood.

Sometimes we don’t realize just how much time has elapsed in our lives.  Our feelings about some things today may have been formed when we were quite young.  It shows that once we form an opinion, we don’t change too much.

Parents are People Too

I think there comes a time in one’s life when you stop seeing your parents as mom and dad, and realize instead they are people too.  It happens when you reach a certain level of maturity.  So I imagine some never realize it and some realize it after it’s too late.  Perhaps for many, as for me, it happens during young adulthood.

What I mean is you no longer think of your parents as simply parents, but as adults.  They are no longer the authority figures, or those who we think have all the answers.  Instead each is a person, like yourself, with hopes and dreams and plans.  They make mistakes.  They have happiness and sorrow.  They try their best.

I think there comes a time when these individuals cease to be your parents and instead become your friends.

Beware of Coincidences

Don’t underestimate the power of coincidence.  Several times I have contemplated taking action to accomplish a certain thing.  On some occasions I took no action, but the intended result happened anyway.  If I had taken action and the result occurred, I would have thought it was because of my action.  This makes me wonder how often we preceive our actions as the cause of a result, when really the result is coincidental to our action.  In other words the result would have happened regardless of our action, but we in our own minds take credit for it.

Stirling Engine

Click for larger viewMy late father, Jack Voisin, designed and constructed a Stirling engine, which is an external combustion engine named after the Scottish engineer, Robert Stirling.  What’s fascinating is my father’s attention to detail.  Virtually every component is handmade.  He did most of the work with a scroll saw and even fabricated the metal parts himself out of aluminum stock, nuts, bolts and washers.  The large flywheels appear to be gears salvaged from another device.

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Driving Pet Peeves

Here are my pet peeves when it comes to driving:

Peeve 1:  Someone comes up behind me at high speed, usually in the passing lane, then hangs in my blind spot for several seconds or minutes.  They eventually speed up again to pass and continue to the next car ahead, where they hang back behind them as well.  Rather than trying to make other drivers paranoid, or to glimpse the occupants of the other cars, I think these drivers simply get mesmerized by a vehicle that is close to them.  Once they realize they’re not making progress, they speed up to move on, but then get mesmerized by the next vehicle ahead.

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Ignorant or Inconsiderate?

There is a fine line between ignorance and inconsideration.  Sometimes it is difficult to classify someone’s behavior as either ignorant or inconsiderate.  The similarity leaves me wondering most often while driving in traffic.  For instance when I pass someone on the expressway, that driver may suddenly pull over into my lane to pass the car in front of him.  Is the other driver ignorant of the situation because he did not check whether the passing lane was clear?  Or is he simply inconsiderate because he wants to pass, no matter if there’s another car already passing him?

By definition, ignorant can mean unaware or uninformed, while inconsiderate can mean heedless or thoughtless.  I guess someone can be unaware of something because he is thoughtless.  Therefore someone can be ignorant because he is inconsiderate.

Appreciation Lessens Loss

Another of life’s little lessons:  Appreciate what you have while you have it.  If you consciously acknowledge someone or something while they are with you, it lessens the pain if you one day lose them.  Taking someone or something for granted often leads to regret.  Your loss can be mitigated somewhat if you can remember when you consciously enjoyed having it in the first place.