Have you ever wondered exactly what the “light, sweet crude” was referring to when you hear a commodity price quote? Well, it refers to partially refined crude oil. Crude oil (out of the ground) is made up of various components, which can be separated by boiling point (related to the density of a component) – “fractionated”. Lighter fractions are more desireable (such as gasoline and diesel), while heavier fractions contain more sulfur (“sour”). For use, this sulfur needs to be removed, i.e., the oil needs to be made “sweet”). The goal is to go from a “heavy, sour” crude oil to a “light, sweet” crude – i.e. partially fractionated with a higher percent of light components, like diesel, with most of the sulfur gone.
Posts by boz
Tracks
The boys and I recently went camping, and we decided to take a hike along the Patapsco River. A bit of the trail parallels the local train tracks. I had my wife’s little Canon A80 with me (left my larger Nikon back in the car for this hike), and took this shot on the tracks. It wasn’t planned; just noticed the reflection while walking along. Actually, from a standing angle, I didn’t realize it was such a total reflection of Brandon. I put the camera down on the track and took a shot while Brandon walked away. Just goes to show that any camera is better than no camera!
The Da Vinci Code – First Edition Points
Do you have a hardcover version of The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown? If so, check your copy for the following “points” to see if it is the true first edition, first printing, first state. Such a copy in Fine condition is worth somewhere in the range (as of today) of: $1,000-5,000.00 – especially if signed.
Points:
- “skitoma” is misspelled on p.243 (later printings correct it to “scotoma”)
- Reference to “Lyon” on pg. 152 (later printings changed to “Lille”)
- Jacket price of $24.95.
- Stated First Edition, with full number line, 10 thru 1 in the front pages of book.
The prices being realized for The Da Vinci Code are amazing, considering that it came out only 3 years ago. The book is in its 104th printing, and there are something like 60 million copies of the Da Vinci Code in print, but only this true first edition, first printing, first state is worth the $$$. You would think prices wouldn’t be so high since the first print run was 260,000 copies – so there should be a lot around!
Getting a books database on a PalmOS PDA
Ok, so this might sound like a bit much, but the following are the steps I have to take to get my book collection database onto my Palm T|X:
- Export from Booxster (on my Mac) to an XML file
- Prepend a dummy record that has all fields to top of XML file (see end of this entry for xml)
- Import XML into online (MySQL) version of DB (for use on this blog, for instance), using Navicat software
- Delete the dummy record via [delete from books where keyword = ‘deleteme’]
- Export the db again, this time from the newly created online version, to XML again via Navicat
- This is because the FMP import (see next step) barfs on the XML file created in the Booxster export (step 1). But this is not so bad, because I want to update the online version anyway…
- Import this second XML file into a FileMaker Pro (FMP) database
- Sync the Palm T|X, using FMSync software to sync FMP with JFile on the Palm.
Seems like a lot of work, but the whole process takes about 5 minutes, with about 30 seconds of user interaction (biggest wait is the import of Booxster XML into online version via Navicat). At the end, I have my 3 database versions synced up. The PalmOS version is especially useful when I go into a bookstore – no more duplicate purchases, or the converse of passing up a purchase because I thought I had a copy.
Read the rest →
A Scanner Darkly
Went to see the film “A Scanner Darkly” today. It’s based on the novel of the same name by Philip K. Dick. Whoa. Great movie. I knew the movie was coming out this week, so I recently re-read the book; I found the movie to be really faithful to the book. 
The movie uses a neat type of animation, “rotoscoping”; it is shot live-action, and then “animated” over that. The effect is really neat – you can definitely tell the “live” actors underneath. It’s especially appropriate for this movie because the plot revolves around a set of people addicted to a (new) drug, called Substance D.
Keanu Reaves plays Bob Arctor in the film; Arctor is an undercover cop, living with a couple of stoners. His girlfriend (Winona Ryder) is his dealer, and he’s basically trying to find out who her supplier is. The problem is Arctor is also taking Substance D (hey, he’s undercover and has to fit in), and it starts to affect his brain.
It’s not an “action” movie – it’s got great dialog, and I found the pace just right. Robert Downey Jr. is over the top as Barris the pseudo-intellectual, and Woody Harrelson is hysterical as Luckman. The scenes involving conversations and interactions between Barris and Luckman are hilarious. But the movie is quite serious. Dick based a number of the characters in the book on the people/friends made during his own drug-experimentation phase.
