Help!

I’m looking for an easy method to make a reverse-ordered RSS feed from the existing PC Weenies RSS feed. I’m using Mailchimp for the PC Weenies Toon Mailer, but unfortunately, it always displays my RSS feed from most recent post to least recent post. Which can be kind of a bummer when you’re following the storyline.

The only workaround I have is to publish the mailing list on a daily basis. Unfortunately, MailChimp does not offer a M-W-F option for their RSS mailing list option.

I have tried Yahoo’s Pipes approach, but it seems to error out every time I supply the original RSS feed. I’m looking to my fellow geeks for a solution. Help?

-Krishna

Seth Godin nails it on the head with his latest blog post, entitled “Is everyone entitled to their opinion?”

Artists are a sensitive bunch; it’s pretty much how we’re wired. But the fact of the matter is, while people are entitled to their negative (emphasis: mine) opinions – if they don’t buy stuff from you, or if they don’t have significant clout in spreading the word about your work, you’re better off ignoring them.

As artists, we must weigh the source of the opinion before deciding to take it to heart.

Which is exactly what I plan on doing.

-Krishna

This morning’s blog post was prompted by a cartoonist from India who has tried (at least twice) to shamelessly promote his website URL in the comments section of my blog. Both times, no attempt was made to engage with what I had written. Instead, the person submitted a brief paragraph with URL directing readers to visit his website. Worse yet, this cartoonist attempted to conceal his identity by using different email addresses, both of which were trace routed to the same location.

Needless to say, both comments were promptly deleted and I didn’t even bother to check out the person’s URL. It could have been an amazing comic, but thanks to this individual’s blatant attempt to spam my site, I’ll never give it a chance.

Why?

Because this guy thinks posting a self-promotional blurb in the comments section of an established blog is all it takes to promote his work. And he could never be more wrong. In fact, what he did was insure the opposite response.

Imagine going to a networking event for the sole purpose of handing out business cards advertising your product or service. Guess how many of your business cards will go in the trash when you leave? Chances are: all of them.

To promote yourself, one needs to engage with other people first. Take time to learn about their interests, what they like to do, etc. Be a good listener.

With blogs, take a few moments to learn about the writer of the blog. Read the blog posts and engage with the writer by sharing your thoughts in an intelligent, informed manner.

People are more receptive to hearing what you have to say when you take a moment to understand and engage with what they are trying to say.

Don’t be a rude spamhole.

-Krishna

I’ve dealt with back pain on and off ever since my early 20′s, but this past Sunday I was rendered immobile thanks to the excruciating pain of a pinched sciatic nerve on my left leg. That, coupled with lower back pain, left me on the floor in a debilitated state. It was a scary feeling, to be so helpless like that.

Thankfully I’m feeling a bit better now, because:

• I’m starting to incorporate daily stretching exercises into my morning routine
• I’ve been sleeping on the floor for the past few days
• I’m incorporating a daily vitamin intake consisting of multi-vitamins and an extra dose of Vitamin C and D

The stretching exercises have certainly helped. While I still have traces of sciatic and back pain, I do feel a bit of a relief from doing a few yoga poses (Down Dog and Up Dog). Sleeping on the floor wasn’t as uncomfortable as I thought it would be; my back tends to prefer the firm surface. The vitamins seem to be working, but I’m not sure how much they’re contributing to my overall recovery.

In a nutshell, today was the day I realized I’m getting older – that I’m no longer as resilient from injury as I was 20 years ago.
I need to take better care of myself if I’m going to be around for the long haul.

-Krishna

I kept receiving the following:

“An error occurred while backing up this iPhone (-50). Would you like to continue to update this iPhone?
Continuing will result in the loss of all contents on this iPhone.”

Looks like I’m stuck. The same thing happened when I tried to upgrade my iPad. Any suggestions on how to make this work?

Fortunately, I was able to upgrade both laptop and desktop Macs to Mac OS X 10.7.2. Let’s hope Apple finally fixed the File Sharing / Wake from Sleep bug when attempting to access a remote machine.

Update: I was able to get my iPhone4 to update to iOS5 by following the steps below:

1. Manually back up all data from the iPhone using iTunes
2. Erase the iPhone
3. Install iOS5
4. Restore data from the iPhone backup

That seemed to work for the iPhone. I’ll repeat the same procedure with the iPad.

-Krishna
Similar Posts:

• How to Keep Your Toddler from Deleting Your iPhone apps

Every day I use the tools that this man designed. His stamp on computing is indelible. He will be missed.

Thank you, Steve.

-Krishna

Our AC died (again) and we are left engulfed in 90+ degree heat in our house. We live in Florida, and the extra heat inside does not make for a pleasant atmosphere for creating new comics.

An AC repairman is supposed to be on his way. The toon will be late. I hope you understand.

Thanks,

me.

Lion users: Have you encountered weird CPU spikes that cause your Mac to slow to a crawl?

Do you have a Canon scanner?

If you said “yes” to both, chances are pretty strong that your Canon scanner is causing the CPU spike, by continuously throttling Lion’s SystemUIServer and TWAINBridge processes.

The problem manifests itself after your Mac has been on for a day or two, and is temporarily resolved by rebooting your Mac. After an exhaustive amount of troubleshooting, Googling, and other assorted voodoo, I came across a very helpful thread in Apple’s Discussion forums that solved my problem. No word as of yet if an update to fix the issue is on its way.

Pretty annoying, but the workaround to the problem (for now) is unplugging the scanner when it’s not being used.

CPU usage before unplugging the Canon scanner:

CPU usage after unplugging the scanner:

(The CPU meters shown in the screenshots above come from iStat 3 which I reviewed last year.)

-Krishna

Update: Later this afternoon, I plugged the Canon scanner directly into the Mac Pro’s front USB ports and the CPU spikes did not return. I’ll keep an eye on this over the next few days. My suspicions have shifted towards my Kensington 7-port USB hub, which was initially connecting the scanner to the computer.Similar Posts:

• Raven Takes Flight: The Web Browser for the Rest of Us.
• Going Vertical
• Not So Meticulous: My Thoughts on Dual Display Setups

I have to admit that I felt a twinge of hope for the company when HP announced its acquisition of Palm and WebOS. Alas, those hopes are forever dashed.

This week, Hewlett Packard unceremoniously pulled the plug on its TouchPad and related WebOS products. The news didn’t really come as a surprise to anyone following tech, given how lackluster the underlying hardware was.
HP had an opportunity with WebOS and blew it by launching the tablet prematurely. The ramifications of the decision to bury WebOS, I feel, will haunt HP well into the future.

But there were happier days – when HP was a flagship company known for its quality products and innovation. At one point in time, they made the best printers and calculators on the market. Above is one of two HP products I’ve ever owned – an HP48G scientific calculator. (The other was an HP4M, which sits abandoned in my parents’ garage.) I bought the calculator 18 years ago and it still works beautifully, just as it did when I first purchased it for my sophomore Circuits course.

The HP48G wasn’t cheap – it retailed for around $240, making it a significant purchase for a poor college student. The calculator came in a hefty box with a carrying case, and very thorough (but imminently useful) users manual (remember those?). Moving to the HP48G was a definite step up from my trusty TI-68. Unlike most scientific calculators, the HP48G used Reverse Polish Notation (RPN). RPN took some practice to get used to, but once I learned to love the “Stack”, I could truly appreciate its power for heavy-duty calculations.

I carried my HP48G everywhere – it was my trusted companion throughout my undergrad and grad engineering courses. Engineering students would carry theirs around like a badge of honor. We would use the built-in IR port to trade programs and (shock!) even games.

The HP48G was well-built, well documented, and an example of what HP could produce during its heyday. It reminds me of the company that HP once was.

But, alas, it seems those days are long past now. Here’s to the old HP, where ever you are now.

-Krishna

So I received the above e-mail this afternoon. Pro-tip for idiots who post these phishing notices – learn to spell and use proper grammar.

-Krishna