Music. And proof-of-concept is achieved.

So far, not happy with the CD burning from that service I mentioned yesterday. As in, it failed partway through the first track. No, I don't really want just 1/3 of 1 track, thanx, 'k, drive on. But, it notified me there was an error, told me to check the CD, and to contact their customer support. So, I contacted their customer support (after dutifully checking the CD, but it's pretty well a no-brainer that a minute or so of recording time won't record 15 tracks). And, darnit, that was one of my 80-minute CD-R's, too. *sulks* Oh, well, we'll see what they say.

In the meanwhile, I went back to the fountain and played around with it some more. Using that many of the pipe pieces seemed horribly wasteful, even though that's how the instructions I got said to do it. "But," thinks I, "the plastic screening is relatively rigid - in fact, I selected it based on that attribute, figuring it had better be. So...."

Well, long story short: The bowl I'm using goes out at the edges and back in. The plastic is shaped to fit within that (incidentally, snapping that into place when water was already present was somewhat damp - and rather stupid). So, since I had bought elbows (because they were cheap), I tied 3 of them to the plastic (on the sides that wouldn't have the pump) and shoved it in. Then started dumping rocks on willy-nilly to increase the weight. Yes, supported by the bowl at the edges and the three (THREE, instead of like TEN) elbows and the pump, it will hold the weight of the rocks.

Took it back out. I need to find a better way to attach those three bits of pipe. Very glad I got elbows. I don't think glue will work well, because there's not going to be a lot of contact points - plus, not wanting to glue plastic canvas, that whole 'has holes' thing making it sound like a pain. So, probably need to find some sort of waterproof way to tie it on. I don't think the embroidery floss I used for the experiment is going to last, somehow, in actual use. But it did do nicely for a 5-minute trial run. :)

This will not only save on the cost of parts (net cost: under $1 for the plastic canvas in this case, 48 cents for the pipe parts), it also means yet more room for water, even if the other pieces weren't displacing much.

Color me mostly pleased. Now to figure out something that's waterproof but can be used as a relatively-rigid tie, and will fit through fairly narrow plastic mesh without cutting the mesh. If possible. If I have to, I'll use the securing ties used for computer cords and cut the mesh, but that sounds like a massive pain. There has to be a better answer.

I feel good. That was stupid, but it worked.

Yes, I was very dumb. We'll start with that statement.

It didn't start off dumb. I was going to go for a nice walk. It was cool, not yet raining, but they'd forecast rain for today; still, I wanted my walk. I decided I'd head up Boeckman, since I wanted to see it on foot before they finished building up the one side (which is becoming, sadly, quite developed - most of it has work going on if it's not already built-up). Then I'd turn around and come back. Depending on my stamina, it would be a half mile or a mile of walking, and I'd push myself on the last part of it if I still felt up to it (since obviously I could get more exercise in that case).

So, I get part way up Boeckman, and there's work going on. It's Saturday, with rain forecast, but they're working on digging out what will be the beds adjacent to the sidewalk (which is itself incomplete and ribboned off, still).

And this is where I got into 'stupid'. For some reason, my pride would not encompass turning around and walking back past these construction workers. Don't ask me why. I don't know. But I figured it wasn't much further up toward where Mentor Graphics is, at Boeckman and Parkway. I was feeling fine, so I'd go that far; heading left woudl take me toward several places I knew would be open today, as well as the Smart Park line. I could just ride home.

Okay, so far, still semi-sane, though pushing it. Reached Parkway, turned left. Still feeling decent, but thirsty and cold. See, I had not brought my hat, gloves, or anything to drink. (I also hadn't brought my umbrella, but it wasn't raining, so....) I hadn't expected to be out that long and, once more, hadn't thought about the hat, which was what I really felt dumb about as I should have had it, even for my originally-intended walk (although I didn't start missing it until almost to the shopping center). I'm just glad my coat is long and very warm, as I did pretty well with that.

Stopped into the hardware/"grocery" (read: mini-mart) that has sprung up on the corner there and got a Sprite. Debated that versus water, but I was feeling pretty good and wanted the sugar. Observed they had a store dog, very gentle, very nice, slightly aged, golden, very pretty. Made mental note not to buy anything food-related that didn't come out of a compartment with a door, just in case.

Debated, then headed for the park down by the shopping center. It's got a county welcome center, that I figured would be open and a good place to warm up. It was, and I did. The only problem I had was, after I was warm through, feeling good, and had acquired a Smart schedule, the nice lady who had been talking with me still wanted to talk. Quite a bit. Once I shoved the "I want to go home" out of my brain, however, it was fairly fun to talk with her.

(Mostly, I heard about how she liked trees, and her efforts to deal with them, both at her current residence, and trying to get them to grow at her last place, in Texas.)

Then I got out the door again. Now I regretted the umbrella: it was raining. I'd already determined from the Smart schedule that I'd missed the most recent bus by about 10 minutes when I went in the door of the visitor's center. I'd also determined that I wasn't going to wait for the next one. So I went down through the shopping center, and headed up the Wilsonville Road.

When I got to the Boulder Creek apartments that is the last stop for the Smart service out toward our place, I was glad I'd skipped waiting: it was 12:45, and I was four blocks from home. Had I wanted to take Smart, I would still have been waiting. On weekdays, that line runs every half hour from 6-10, then every hour until 2, then every half hour until 7. Very nice for a commuter line. On Saturdays, when there's a lot fewer riders, it runs every hour from 8:43 (time at the park where I originally was) through 3:43, except 12:43 at which time there is no ride (that is, go at 11:43 or 1:43, have your pick).

Now you know why I walked. Just very bad timing on my part.

I'm feeling pretty good, though. My ankle started to protest about the time I passed the end of the bus line, so I shifted my walk to favor it for a block or so and it stopped. My feet are only mildly sore; I had a nice stretch when I got home, and I feel fine. We'll see if I still do tomorrow when I've had a chance to stiffen up; I walked three miles doing this, which is more than I usually do by a fair amount. But I didn't push myself at the end, either, so....

We'll see. So, I'm stupid, but I feel good. ;)

Copyright musings.

Lawrence Lessig has written an article on copyright and how it should be used that I wish more businesses would read. It is exactly the line defined in this article that I use in my feeling of whether a use is 'moral' or not. And ultimately, if businesses were smart, they would not pursue the "copyright violations" that are to their benefit.

I had a conversation with a friend recently, actually, about that sort of thing. It was a very awkward conversation because he had, it transpired, bought a copy of a Windows version and installed it - permanently - on two computers. And that, to my eyes, is unalloyed theft, and utterly wrong. I'm sorry, but not liking Microsoft, thinking that they have enough money, or thinking they enforce their legal rights too much are none of them cause for stealing.

On the other hand, I have friends who swap mp3 files now and then. And to the best of my knowledge, they do in a way that I believe is a technical violation of the law - but not a moral one. And that is, they get it, they listen to it, and they then either delete it or acquire a legal copy. It saves shipping the original (if there was an original, as some of the songs are bought in digital format) across the country, after all. It's true that, for a period of time, they both have copies from the same legal source, and that is illegal - but not to the detriment of the companies involved.

Yay for someone writing an article to that effect. I understand some of why the recording industry is so upset (it is so very easy for thieves to acquire for free content they could and should buy if they wanted it, and keep it), but I think they're misisng the fact that a great many people would be willing to use it within moral bounds if not legal ones - and that that use would be to their benefit, assuming they don't shut it down and shoot themselves in the foot even more.