mattpettengill.net

Recently I purchased an inexpensive IDE to SATA adapter / converter on eBay so I could use a large IDE hard drive from my old computer in my new computer, which had no open IDE connectors.

The unit was only about $5. The only problem is that the unit came with *no* instructions at all. The only information about it was a part number printed on the board - HXSP-2008. After about an hour of trial-and-error, spread out over several days, I finally got it to work.

Here is what I did to get it working in my computer:
- Set the jumper(s) on the IDE drive to “slave”.
- Plug the adapter into the IDE socket on the back of the hard drive. Make sure the pins are properly aligned. It’s easy to to plug this unit in too far to the left or right and miss a couple pins
- Make sure you are using to proper type of SATA cable for your motherboard:
- If you have a SATA 1.0 interface (1.5gb/sec), use a cable meeting this specification.
- If you have a SATA 2.0 interface (3gb/sec), use a cable meeting this specification
- Firmly connect the SATA cable and power connector to the adapter
- Connect the power cable to your IDE drive.
- Turn on your computer and the drive should be recognized.

I bought this unit on eBay because it was about 1/4 the cost of similar units from traditional computer parts vendors. I figured that even if it didn’t work, I would only be out $5 instead of $20. The adapter I bought on eBay also came with a SATA cable, which was a nice touch, though I had to replace it with a SATA 2.0 cable to get it to work in my computer.

I’m providing this information so that others don’t have the same troubles as I did. These instructions may work on units with similar part numbers (such as HXSP-2007, HXSP-2009, etc). It’s likely that they will be helpful in getting other generic / no-name IDE to SATA adapters to work as well.

As always, take all the usual precautions when installing hardware in your system. This is information only; please do your homework and make sure you know what your doing before trying to install this. I’m not responsible if anything goes wrong

Reading through one of my favorite blogs, Boing Boing I found a link to the Penguin books digital fiction series We Tell Stories.

The concept here is that Penguin enlisted 6 contemporary authors to create stories enhanced with web-technologies, graphic design concepts, and / or other multimedia tools and techniques. There stories were released one a week, for 6 weeks. (note: All have now been released).

I spent a couple lunch breaks going through a few of the stories. Hard Times is a quick read, which presents some interesting, concrete facts about the changing nature of how people consume media and information. The 21 Steps is a thriller-type store, which follows the protagonist’s physical location through the story using Google maps. I started in on Fairy Tales, which asks the reader for direction in selecting character traits and plot elements, among many other things. I can’t tell if these choices direct the plot of the story or not, or just set the tone of various scenes, but I’ve only spent a little time with the story. Figuring these things out is half the fun in a way. there are 3 other stories I’ve not read through yet: Your Place and Mine, Slice, and The (Former) General in his Labrinth.

This series is a commercial as opposed to academic venture; All the authors a presumable under contract with Penguin. All 6 stories released also appear to be tied to a “classic” novel, which can be purchased through the website. The website is also hosting a weekly drawing for readers of the stories for a collection of 1300 Penguin Classics titles. Unfortunately for those of us in the States, the drawing appears to be limited to UK residents :-(.

Commercial motivations aside, the stories I’ve had time to review so far seem like a lot of fun, and I look forward to reading (if it can be called that) the rest. I recommend that everyone spend some free time playing around with some of these stores. They all present interesting new concepts in how to present a story, how interaction from the reader, and media that appeals to multiple sense can all enhance the experience.

I was in NYC last weekend for a few days and spent a lot of time wandering around the city, seeing quite a few of the typical tourist type attractions.

Click on over to my flickr set to see more photographs.

Highlights:
- Plenty of free street parking in Redhook.
- Excellent food everywhere we went.
- View of Lower Manhattan from the Mexican restaurant.
- An empty financial district on Sunday afternoon.
- Cheap happy-hour drinks at the Bait & Tackle.

- 70 degree weather on Saturday!

Low-lights:
- $6.00 beer in many places.
- Chewy stuff in the soup at the Vietnamese restaurant.

I’ll be going back in May, so I’m looking forward to spending some more time there. Note quite sure what I’ll do the next time, but the museums are looking good, as is the New York Photogrpahy Festival

Thanks to Larry and Genelle for being excellent guides around the city on Saturday.

Thanks to Kusi and Nick for their hospitality.

And Beth, for being an excellent navigator into and out of the city.