Lifehacker has a list of Essential Windows Downloads and they are pretty good.

You can download them in an all-in-one installer here: http://ninite.com/lifehacker

I'm tired of not remembering exactly what photography equipment I have, so I typed out a wiki page with links to my gear. Check out http://nielsenhome.net/drupal/node/61

I am incredibly sick of 100+ line build.xml files. For this reason, here is a short, simple build.xml that I (and others) can reference:

<project name="eyes-ip" default="jar" basedir=".">
  
  <property name="src" location="src"/>
  <property name="build" location="build"/>
  <property name="jar" location="eyes-ip.jar"/>
  
  <target name="init">
    <mkdir dir="${build}"/>
  </target>

  <target name="compile" depends="init">
    <javac srcdir="${src}" destdir="${build}"/>
  </target>

  <target name="jar" depends="compile">
    <jar jarfile="${jar}" basedir="${build}">
      <fileset dir="${build}"/>
      <manifest>
        <attribute name="Main-Class" value="org.cablelabs.eyesip.EyesIPClient"/>
      </manifest>
    </jar>
  </target>

  <target name="clean">
    <delete dir="${build}"/>
    <delete file="${jar}"/>
  </target>
    
</project>    

Here is a site that has some small barrels for aging ports or whiskeys at home: http://www.oakbarrelsltd.com

I was looking for a "cozy" warmer for my french press, and I found a bunch here: http://devotea.com

Pretty cool site, if you like "tea" stuff.

These guys have some great looking swords: http://www.coldsteel.com

Their videos are awesome. In particular, check this one out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hfLZozBVpM&feature=player_embedded

I found a great source of information for troubleshooting problems with PT Cruisers.

http://www.ptcruizer.com/repairs-pt-cruiser.html

I also found out that you can query the car for troubleshooting error codes by turning the key from off to on (without actually starting the car) rapidly three times. If it displays "done" there are no codes.

Here are the code definitions: http://www.ptcruizer.com/computer-codes.html

There is also a section on spark plugs, which is right here: http://www.ptcruizer.com/pt-cruiser/spark-plugs.html I think this is my current problem.

For people that use Cygwin and xterms, I found a good configuration adjustment. When using "ssh" to log into remote Linux machines, I need to set the "Meta Sends Escape" option for Emacs-style command line shortcuts as well as running within Emacs, because the "meta" (alt) keystroke seems not to be sent through ssh correctly.

I discovered that to make this behavior the default, you need to edit:

/etc/X11/app-defaults/XTerm

and add the following line:

*metaSendsEscape: true

I'm in Omaha with Jim and Tony! We had a great time last night with the MacDissis. :)

There was an interesting article on Slashdot yesterday about Hacking Our Five Senses and Building New Ones that contained some interesting links about new types of input to our brains.

One interesting thing that was brought up was having an innate sense of direction, and how this could be accomplished using technology. A research team made a belt that had several vibrating motors on it, that would always vibrate toward North. After worn for a while, apparently the brain began to process the information implicitly and the information becomes incorporated into your awareness. Sounds pretty cool to me! Here's a link to information on the compass belt.

I started looking for more information, and found a smaller design for an anklet. It looks a little less conspicuous - I'd consider building one of these just to try it out. :)

I've posted a brewing calendar that I'm reproducing from Northern Brewer magazine (until they put an online version to which I can link), as well a complete brewing calendar from a post by wild on Home Brew Talk.

Brewers enjoy!

I really just can't shut up about Emacs these days...

So I found the best thing ever, for Emacs dorks - xkeymacs! It allows you to use Emacs keystrokes to navigate Windows, Email, Word, etc. It really makes my life easier!

http://www.cam.hi-ho.ne.jp/oishi/indexen.html

I've really been loving GNU Emacs lately. I finally made the switch from XEmacs because of too many little flaky problems, and I have no regrets. If you are into Emacs, you can check out my .emacs file at:

http://www.nielsenhome.net/emacs/dotemacs

I've also written a bash script that downloads my .emacs (backing it up automatically), as well as a bunch of other packages like gtags, highlight-80+.el, php-mode.el, etc. You can safely run this script, as it backs up your old .emacs file (with a timestamp, so you can run it multiple times). If you're interested, check out:

http://www.nielsenhome.net/emacs/getEmacsSettings.sh

On a Linux command-line system, I use wget to grab it and then run it to completely set up my editor on a new system in less than a minute.

Feel free to write if you like it, or have suggestions. nick at nielsenhome.net

I've been posting pictures pretty regularly on my Picasa site (check there for updates often).

http://picasaweb.google.com/nicholas.nielsen

In the latest batch up updates, I have Eric's Brew Jam birthday party, Christie's birthday hat party, Alex' basketball season, Alex' Pinewood Derby, and some pictures from France toward the end of last year.

I've also been compiling old Nielsen pictures in an album on Picasa - from many different sources, including some from Denmark (thanks Finn!).

James sent me this awesome article on Emacs - w00t!

http://steve.yegge.googlepages.com/effective-emacs

I'm showing Phillip how Drupal works! :)

We went to the Nielsen ranch out in Ogallala this past weekend to help with branding and join in on the revelry. :) Branding went quickly, and we had lunch and played our guitars. It was a really fun trip! I have pictures here.

Ok, had to put this on here so I remember it. I found an AWESOME linux tool that I wish I knew about before now: lshw. Basically it gives a list of very detailed information about the hardware on your Linux system. It wasn't installed by default in my Fedora installation, but I used "yum install lshw" to grab it and it worked great. This will definitely help with development and administration using a Linux machine...

I know, a weird post for the Nielsenhome.net blog, but it got me excited.

(I should also add that I saw this on the Moving Pieces blog. Here's the original article).

I just posted new pictures! I had a backlog building up... First there was Alex' Birthday, which was great fun. And then right after was Spring Break and then Arianna's Birthday. Good times were had by all!

Then, Alex graduated from being a Tiger Cub Scout to the next rank of Wolf Cub. He did a very good job, and now has several belt loops including Swimming, Astronomy, and Art.

Alex is also in soccer these days, and I took some pictures at his game. It was FREEZING. Well, actually it was 40 degrees, but the wind was blowing about 50 mph. The kids all had little coats on (and thank goodness Alex brought his mittens!). Alex' team, the Green Dragons, won the game 2-0. I have some funny pictures of Alex happily dancing around after the second goal - hilarious. :-P Make sure to check them out!

I have recently resigned from Solekai Systems, to work at a company called Atrato Inc. It was a very hard decision, but because of the industry and several other factors I decided it was time to move on. I'm excited to work at Atrato - I start there on April 7th. Until then, I'm finishing up a contract with Solekai.

It has been a while, so I thought I'd write something. There's a few new pictures at my Picasa site (Click on Pictures in the menu at the top), if you want to check them out.

I just found a new site, http://www.stage6.com that is great for downloading music (not just streaming like YouTube). I went there to find footage from the recent London Led Zeppelin concert. They didn't have any (I think every site has pulled that footage at the request of the band, since they're going to release a DVD of the concert at some point), but they had a BUNCH of great old footage of Led Zeppelin songs.

So i recently ripped the guts out of my 1996 Gibson Les Paul Standard.

!!!

Say what??

The story begins with me reading an article in Guitar World magazine about Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin. It was the issue before their big concert in London recently (which apparently went fantastically!). They talked about Gibson's recent reissue Jimmy Page Signature Les Paul, and mentioned that it had "Jimmy Page's coil tap push/pull setup." ??? What the heck, and why haven't I ever heard of it?

After some research, I knew I HAD to duplicate his setup. Basically, your volume and tone controls become extra switches on your guitar. In Jimmy Page's setup, the volume knobs ground out half the humbucker to which they're attached, turning the humbuckers into single-coil pickups. In addition, the tone knobs, when pulled out, will either flip the pickup connections so they're out of phase with each other, or wire them in series (to make a giant pickup).

We decided to take some portraits of the kids since it has been a while. We have many more than these, but we just posted the good ones. And the really bad ones (they're funny!).

Today we're heading over to Mom and Dad's house for a BBQ - it should be great fun. I've spent the morning digitizing songs that I should have recorded months ago. I'll post them, too, when I get a chance. I've digitized Monica's Wedding, as well as my Dad and my performance at Lake MacConaughy this summer at Junie Mae's. Some of the Lake Gig songs turned out great (and some of them didn't). Stay tuned for mp3s coming up soon!

Christie got a new haircut! :) It is pretty short, but we like it.

In other news, Alex lost his first tooth - check out these pictures. Also in these pictures are a couple from Solekai's last "winedown" and Eric and Tammi's new baby Dayla.

We went to the Butterfly pavilion today, and had a great time. :) I had a field day taking a billion pictures, and got a lot of really good ones... Check it out!

My band, Let's Eat Mikey, played last night at Jack Brown's block party - it was a blast! The band had a little bit of a rough start but we finished with a bang (in my opinion)... I was too focused on playing to take any pictures, but I noticed that Mikey had a camera so I'll see if I can get copies of them to post on the site.

Well, I finally posted the rest of the pictures from our trip to North Carolina. On the last day, we went to "Nauticus" in Norfolk, where they have the U.S.S. Wisconsin docked. It was a fun time, and we were especially glad to see Abe and Amelia again! We looked and the ship, and then went to eat (and race cars!) at Jillian's. And then we bolted for the airport for a flight home. :)

Last night I went to see an all-female Led Zeppelin tribute band, called Lez Zeppelin - it was a blast. I went with Joe and Aaron, and it was at the Bluebird Theater in Denver. They are playing at the Fox in Boulder on Friday (I almost want to go again!!). Their guitarist is really good, and they sound just like Led Zeppelin.

We're heading home from the Outer Banks tomorrow, on a flight to Pittsburgh at 3:30. There was a lot of traffic on the way here last Saturday, so we're going to trek out early in hopes of missing it. We hope to go to a Nautical Museum called "Nauticus" tomorrow with Abe and Amelia before we fly out (unless they have a baby tonight!).

I posted some more pictures - from our fishing trip yesterday, a trip to the Corolla lighthouse today, and some pictures of the sunset tonight.

We're on vacation in the Outer Banks (Corolla, in North Carolina, if you want to look it up), and loving it! Christie rented a house pretty close to the beach and a bunch of her family came to stay for a week. The beach is pretty nice - it is hot, but the water is cool.

We got to see our friends Abe and Amelia a couple days ago, and that was great cause we haven't seen them for about three years (since Zach's wedding). We had some lunch, a couple beers, and then went on a nature walk. Amelia is about to have a baby (her due date was a few days ago), so that's exciting!

We took some pictures with Abe and Amelia here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/nicholas.nielsen/20070812AbeAmeliaNorthCarolina

And here are some pictures of us at the beach, and some family pictures with Christie's family:

http://picasaweb.google.com/nicholas.nielsen/20070813NorthCarolinaBeach

That's all for now. Except more, since there's internet up at the beach house, and I have a lot of free time to write entries. :)

Christie's favorite holiday of the year is upon us... We're trucking out to Nebraska for the next five days or so to see a bunch of family and hang out. We're leaving tonight (Tuesday) for Ogallala to stay at the ranch over the 4th, and then continuing on to Ord on the 5th. Grandma Quinn rented a house in Ord and we'll all get to hang out with the Quinn side of the family for a few days, as well as play in the annual 4th of July golf tournament.

Very much looking forward to it - I'm sure we'll have some pictures when we get back! (We'll be driving all the way from Ord on Sunday.)

We went camping two weekends ago with our friends Zach and Nancy up in Glacier Basic (near Morraine Park in the Rocky Mountain National Forest up near Estes Park), and it was great fun. :) Lots of campfires, guitar playing, hiking, cooking, and the inevitable "wee dram" of scotch.

The kids were troopers for the most part - they had fun hiking and loved roasting marshmellows. All in all a good camping weekend! We have some pictures here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nicholas.nielsen/20070622CampingZachAndNancy

We'd love to go camping again sometime soon, but I think our weekends are full until September! Maybe a fall trip will be in order...