LifeDrive Notes: The Kobayashi Maru Solution (Part Three)

To continue that excerpt from the script of Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan:

Kirk looks at Bones, who smiles –

BONES: Lieutenant, you are looking at the only Starfleet cadet who ever beat the no-win scenario –

SAAVIK: How?

KIRK: I reprogrammed the simulation so it was possible to rescue the ship.

SAAVIK: WHAT?

DAVID (laughs): He cheated!

KIRK: I changed the conditions of the test. I got a commendation for original thinking. (pause) I don’t like to lose.

Well, Kirk, neither do I!

That’s why I said the hell with all that dicking around with Linux and trying to coax an obviously dead MicroDrive back to life.

So I found someone who’d do it for me!

That’s right. Like Kirk, I cheated!

Found a guy who repairs Palms and he put the OS on a 4GB CF for me for a small fee.

I now have a just-about brand-new near-mint condition Palm LifeDrive for just about US$100!

Yep, it works! It’s alive!

When it got sufficient juice in its battery, on its own it went into a Secure Erase mode while I wasn’t looking! I caught it near the finish of that. After it went through all that, then the Palm logo appeared and then the screen calibration. After another soft reset and setting up Date & Time, I got the Home screen!

Hahahahaha! Palm, I beat you! I never had to pay $500 or suffer through MicroDrive lag or MicroDrive failure!

I’m going to let the battery charge over night. Then I have to open it up again. The stylus silo is too tight. I have to adjust the innards a bit to fix that.

Then I’ll review all my past LifeDrive Notes here and start getting the latest versions of all the software I want to test.

I just cheated again. On all of you! Instead of posting this right after the success, I did some testing. Popped in an SD I had all prepared with some MP3s, videos, and TCPMP.

Damn, it all worked great! What shocked me is that TCPMP and the LifeDrive could play an XvID AVI file that was encoded at HD resolution! It skipped a wee bit, but this is still better than my prior desktop PC which could only show such files more or less as a slideshow!

Headphone sound was fantastic too!

All seems to work as it should. Even the screen rotation button!

More to come later on…

Previously in this blog:
LifeDrive Notes: The Kobayashi Maru Solution (Part Two)
LifeDrive Notes: The Kobayashi Maru Solution (Part One)
LifeDrive category

LifeDrive Notes: The Kobayashi Maru Solution (Part Two)

The LifeDrive is put back together.

It’s been plugged into AC.

The charging LED is on.

I will give it at least 15-30 minutes to get some juice in the battery before I see if it will turn on and boot up.

By the way, that battery might have suffered a deep discharge from being unplugged for so long. It might not hold much of a charge at all. I’ll have to see.

If my Kobyashi Maru solution is a success, I’ll just buy a new battery. I’ve wanted to get a higher-capacity one anyway.

While you’re waiting, here’s another excerpt from Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan:

152 EXT./INT. GENESIS CAVERN PLATFORM 152

Past waterfall at Kirk, Saavik, McCoy, David, and Carol sitting and standing on grass at mouth of tunnel steps. Saavik paces stopping beside Kirk sitting on a rock next to Carol.

SAAVIK: Sir? May I ask you a question.

KIRK: What’s on your mind, Lieutenant?

SAAVIK: The Kobayashi Maru, sir.

KIRK: Are you asking me if we’re playing out that scenario now, Lieutenant?

SAAVIK: On the test, sir. Will you tell me what you did? I would really like to know.

Kirk looks at Bones, who smiles –

Previously in this blog:
LifeDrive Notes: The Kobayashi Maru Solution (Part One)
LifeDrive category

LifeDrive Notes: The Kobayashi Maru Solution (Part One)

Ah, grasshopper. It is time for you to learn a lesson today.

Having failed in my first attempt and second attempt to get my bought-dead-on-ebay LifeDrive working, I was presented with a Kobayashi Maru situation.

First, you will view this YouTube clip: Kobayashi Maru

Second, you will read this; it is the follow-up scene from the above:

INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE THE SIMULATION ROOM – DAY 4

Kirk rounds the corner and sees Spock, leaning against the wall.

KIRK (dry): Aren’t you dead?

Spock almost smiles.

KIRK (continuing): I assume you’re loitering around here to learn what efficiency rating I plan to give to your cadets.

SPOCK: I am considerably curious.

They walk together.

KIRK: They destroyed the simulator room and you with it.

SPOCK: The Kobayashi Maru scenario frequently wreaks havoc with students and equipment. (dry) As I recall you took the test three times yourself. Your final solution was, shall we say, unique?

KIRK (solemn): It had the virtue of never having been tried.

I think the same could be said of my LifeDrive solution too. At the very least, I’ve never seen anyone else do it. Had they done so, it would have been blared all over the Internet.

Now — yes, this is being blogged live! — it is time for me to see if my solution has been a success.

Be back soon.

YouTube: V

Oh my God.

The first V and the sequel series V: The Final Battle!

Note: V itself might be incomplete; it’s hard to tell right off. It’s been sliced into sixty sections and the number goes awry in the 40s. And the sequel series only has six clips from it. Either this guy gave up or his YouTube account was wiped, leaving behind this digital artifact.

This is the user index.

Note the theme to the original mini-series. It sounds suspiciously close to Bernard Herrmann‘s theme to Hitchcock‘s classic North By Northwest! In fact, go to this Hitchcock tribute video to compare the two! (Oh, you don’t know how many years I’ve wanted to be able to make a comparison like this!! How I love the Internet!!!)

Several years ago, Kenneth Johnson said he wanted to remake the series. Nothing ever came of it. Let’s see those aliens try to pull that shit today. We have the Internet!

I think both series are available on DVD. If you like what you see here, go buy it. You’ll have a complete story, a better picture, plus all those nifty DVD Extras.

YouTube: Space Precinct

A behind-the-scenes clip that is just too brief!

John Barrowman on Live and Kicking in 1995

John Barrowman reports from the set of “Space Precinct” in this clip from the “Electric Circus” strand

Look at that: Gerry used animatronics in the series! What a lost opportunity. If he had thought, “Why don’t I remake Thunderbirds with animatronic puppets?” he might have had something that latest more than one season.

(Then again, had he used Phil Ford as writer, not!)

Previously in this blog:
Gerry Anderson category

YouTube: Cop Rock

What do you get when Steven Bochco rips off Dennis Potter by way of Rock Follies?

The worst fucking American TV series like 4 evah: Cop Rock!

Here’s the first episode intro.

YouTube: The Champions 1960s Classic British TV

I loved this series so much that when the only way to see it was on a Spanish UHF TV station — dubbed in Spanish! — I tuned into watch! (And, no, I don’t understand any Spanish!)

The Champions: Titles + Clip

A classic title sequence followed by Craig, Sharron and Richard trying to explore the limits of their powers. From the 60s classic The Champions

The Champions – Introduction

The opening narration to the 60s show The Champions. From the episode “The Interrogation”

The Champions: Happening

From the 60s classic, The Champions. Richard remembers how to use his powers at a vital moment

Stuart Damon – Champions Reunited

Long before ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ there were ‘The Champions’.
Stuart has a reunion with his old Champion buddies at the General Hospital Studios in 2006.
Short extract.

That ends too soon!

An entire episode is also available! It begins with The Champions – The Invisible Man (part 1 of 5)

2nd Episode of the Classic 1968 cult TV series. Guest appearance by Peter Wyngarde (AKA Jason Mudguard) as the evil doctor

The Champions is available on DVD! If you like what you see here, go buy it!

YouTube: Batman OnStar TV Ads

Batman Onstar Movie

Combines all 6 Onstar Batman commercials that aired in 2001 to make a movie trailer for a nonexistent film.

My God! You can get everything on the Net!

YouTube: Cupid

I neglected to put this in my The Greatest TV. Ever. post, and it probably belongs there too.

The ABC-TV series that was killed before it had a chance, starring the extraordinary talents of Paula Marshall and Jeremy Piven: Cupid.

While all 15 episodes are up, the first part of episode one is missing!

Still, grab them while you can! This is the user index.

Yet another TV series that has yet to make its way to DVD. Hey you stupid Suits, release it so I can give you my money!

YouTube: The Scarlet Avenger!

The Scarlet Avenger : Chapter 1
The Scarlet Avenger : Chapter 2
The Scarlet Avenger : Chapter 3

World War II … The Scarlet Avenger battles the Nazis and his evil arch nemesis, ‘The Skull’ to rescue his lady friend and save the world.

Oh this is so much fun! The opening dialogue by the Nazi interrogator in Chapter Two is priceless! So is the lying Nazi and The Skull laughing! Go see!

Afterwards:
Voxinabox: Review of The Scarlet Avenger (Spoiler)