Month: July 2009

py2avi is a python script I wrote to make it easier for me to transcode video files from MKV to AVI while not forgetting to extract the subtitles from the MKV file. On the off chance that somebody out there in Internet-land has a similar need, I’m releasing the script under the GPL 2.0. So if you want/need it, take it and have fun with it!

You know your morning is shot when it takes you half an hour and multiple attempts to drink from an empty coffee mug; before you realize the cup is empty and you need to go get coffee.

Five years, one month and three days ago, I bought myself a Canon PowerShot S500 Digital ELPH digital camera. Around this time last year, I gave the camera up for dead but never got around to chucking it out and now I’m very glad I never did. Then around a month or two back, I heard via SEB that there was a recall on some Canon cameras where they would fix the camera at no cost even if the waranty had expired. I checked the service notice and saw my camera was covered by it.I contacted Canon, followed their instructions, shipped my camera to them and had it back in my hands (and working!) in about 2 weeks. Very nice!

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett

Note: This review is based upon an uncorrected proof which I received via a giveway on GoodReads.

I don’t, as a rule, read True Crime; I do enjoy a good mystery. So when I saw this book being offered in a giveaway over at GoodReads.com; I felt I just had to enter.  Then when I was home sick the other day, the book arrived in the mail. Given I hadn’t yet noticed I’d won a copy it was a very pleasant surprise.

I moved the book to the top of my to-read list and once I started on it was glad I had done so. It’s strange; there’s no quick paced action,  no tense drama yet I couldn’t put it down. Maybe it was the author’s fasincation with Gilkey (the theif)  & Sanders (the “bibliodick”) or maybe it was the author’s own fascination with this private world of rare book dealers. It certainly wasn’t the characters that drew me in. Gilkey was given the most “pagetime” but he wasn’t very interesting. Simply an unrepentant crook (all protestations to the contrary) who choose credit card fraud as his easy method of living the good life, which happens to involve owning rare books. Sanders was slightly better but seemed too angry/bitter for much of the book.

While I’m still not sure why I enjoyed this book, it’s safe to say it was an good read.