I usually figure most of the stuff I learn, figure out or find useful would be rather boring to most people. And then I remember that I am my target audience. I spend innumerable hours troubleshooting or tweaking something JUST SO, wishing there was some easy documentation I could have followed.

So why not write the documentation I wanted?

Awesome bike

It’s such an awesome ride. And I couldn’t have it without the awesome people at Camrose Cycle. I’m pretty happy about this purchase and their service. I came in and wanted something hard to get that they didn’t have and they made sure I walked away with EXACTLY what I wanted at pretty reasonable price. I don’t feel screwed, which is how I felt buying my car and how I’ve felt at the other dealerships in town.

It’s a Candy Red 2009 Yamaha V-Star 950. Compared to my last bike, it goes like snot! And I’m excited to go back to Camrose Cycle and get it equipped with touring stuff. I put 75 miles on it over the weekend, sticking close to home in case it fell apart (not that I don’t trust them, I’m just paranoid about my own well being).

Time to change the oil, wash, wax and remove the bilingual idiot stickers (the ones that say “Don’t attempt to operate this machine if you’re too drunk to stand or see… and always wear a helmet” as if that French sticker will effectively deter a drunk Albertan from operating the bike without a helmet, har har!).

I think I’m going to go for another ride; it hasn’t snowed yet

I bought Fallout 3 for my Playstation3. And it was FUCKING AWESOME!!!!!1 So I blew some more money purchasing a couple addons and they were approximately if not equally as awesome as the vanilla game. So I figured I would buy the other expansions, one of them being Point Lookout. Now I immagine other PS3ers with F3 know where this is going…

I can’t play Point Lookout. It doesn’t work. I spent the money, it installed and now I can’t play the game at all. It crashes, freezes, hangs, locks up, fails. I figured surely if it’s been published and available for a few months it has to at least work, right? FUCK NO! What a ridiculous assumption! Clearly I’ve done something horribly wrong, something so clearly amateur. The disk must be fatally scratched (nope), maybe I accidentally peed all over the PS3 (nope) or dropped it out of a moving vehicle during installation (nope again).

So I deleted everything; DLC data, Vanilla data, saves, porn, EVERYTHING. Start from scratch – This is what years of using Microsoft products have taught me. AND re-install in published order. Surely, somebody play-tested this product before releasing it into the paying customer base. Well apparently not; I’m only the latest customer to be fooled by Sony and/or Bethesda Softworks.

It still crashes. After spending the maximal amount of money on this product it will not work. Like getting that final light-bulb in your house and now the electricity just won’t turn on. Like getting that final touch of salt and pepper on a fine filet mignon and the entire meal turns to stone. Like winning a backstage pass to your favorite band and being kicked out of the stadium.

Except in those cases I could probably get my money back, or in the case of the restaurant just refuse to pay for stone when I ordered Mignon.

In this society, we exchange credits or money for goods and services. I gave Sony money, and not only have they failed to deliver the promised entertainment, but taken it away. And I’m not the only one! The forums are rife with complaints! And not a word from Sony or Bethesda.

All I want is to play some Fallout3, shoot some swamplurks and make some moonshine. What do I have to do, who do I have to give money to? You know what – I don’t have to part with money. I’ve already downloaded a cracked Game of the Year edition and installed it on my trusty Mac.

That’s right, piracy just works. If the product offered by pirates is a BETTER and more complete product than the one I can pay for, then the pirates win. The only way to fight piracy is to offer a better product.

I recently bought a pen from France. Why France? Because Waterman doesn’t offer that product line in North America, let alone Canada. And just now I bought a music CD (Moving On by Myleene Klass) from Amazon UK. Before I dive into this diatribe I’d like to note Amazon’s cultural acknowledgment; The Canadian site will “Ship to this address”, the UK site will “Dispatch to this address” (how cute!), and the American one will “Drops mah shit off hear plz”. Now on to the rant.

Amazon Canada has the album, Amazon Amerikuh haz teh albem and the lowest price I can get is from the same damn company across the Atlantic… about seven thousand kilometers (4,300 stat. miles, 3,800 nautical miles) away. WTF?Here’s a fancy table to compare prices, which have all been converted to Canadian beaver skins (our national currency, FYI)…

Another giant piss-off here; Canada and USA supposedly have a “North American Free Trade Agreement”, which obviously means “about as free as Iranian diplomacy”. Free trade my ass, USA is even more expensive than shipping from Toronto! And it’s closer! I wonder if our politicians ever even read the title page: “North American Fuck Canada Agreement”.

What I want to know is; how is it that shipping overseas is cheaper than the local post office?

I guess it’s a bit premature to go on a diatribe; I haven’t taken ownership of the CD yet… Maybe it won’t ever arrive, the funds being funneled into buying more equipment to spy on UK citizens terrorists. Or maybe it’s so cheap because it comes with a camera… Lower prices if you agree to surveillance, for “your own protection”. I can’t wait!

I don’t actually know if this solves the problem; just assuming Er’s code does the right stuff in RAM. I’m really only interested in making ANY code run and playing with memory.

As for benchmarks, it takes 15,910 miliseconds to solve for 25 disks.

/*
  Tower of Hanoi 
 Demonstrates using the AVR to solve a computational problem. Kinda slow...
*/

#define _disks 25;    // How many disks to use in the puzzle

void setup()
{
  // Make this 115200 baud to test how long printing takes.
  Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop()
{
  int i, dir, *D, *s, n, j, howlong;

  n = _disks;
  // Making sure there is enough RAM
  if((D = (int *)malloc((n+2) * sizeof(int))) == NULL) hang();
  if((s = (int *)malloc((n+2) * sizeof(int))) == NULL) hang();
  j = n+1;

  Serial.print("Solving Hanoi for ");
  Serial.print(n, DEC);
  Serial.println(" disks.");

  // Use this value later to compute time
  howlong = millis();

/*
  Serial.print("D starts at ");
  Serial.println(long(D), DEC);
  Serial.print("s starts at ");
  Serial.println(long(s), DEC);
  // I love it when commands line up.
*/

  for (i=0; i<=j; i++) {
    D[i] = 1;
    s[i] = i+1;
    //Serial.println(long(&D[i]), DEC);
  }

  dir = n&1;
  for(;;) {
    i = s[0];
    if(i>n) break;
    j=D[i];
    D[i]=(i&1)==dir ? ~j>>(j&1)&3 : ++j>>(j>>2<<1);
    s[0] = 1;
    s[i-1] = s[i];
    s[i] = i+1;
  }

  /*
  // Commented out the free() statements to test the hang() function
  // causes the array to be allocated out of bounds (eventually).  
  free(D);
  free(s);  
  */

  // I want to find out how long it took
  Serial.print(int((millis() - howlong)), DEC);
  Serial.println(" millis to compute.");
  Serial.println("Done!");
  delay(1000);

}

void hang()
{
  long *memscroller = 0;
  int i; // Used for formatting

  Serial.println("malloc() failed, dropping pants and dumping...");
  delay(1000);

  // This just loops through memory addresses and prints the values stored therein.
  while(true)
  {
    Serial.print(byte(*memscroller++), HEX); // Print byte value

    // Do some really bad formatting
    if(i++%8 == 0) Serial.print("\t"); // Tab after 8 bytes  
    if(i++%32 == 0)
    {
      Serial.print("\n"); //Newline after 32 bytes
      i=0; //Reset variable
    }

    delay(100);
  }
}

And there you have it. One of my first forays into C and micro-controllers! Hello world!

I have read some of these and they are quite simply some of the better pieces of literature out there. Can’t wait to read the rest! And now with the article.

As long as there have been books, there have been people opposed to what is said in some of those books. Authors who challenge the accepted norms in their literature are often the target of angry people who do not understand or appreciate their literature. The following books are excellent examples of great literature that has become banned or challenged in an attempt to shield the public from what some see as inappropriate.

Protect the Children

These books have all been at the heart of controversy over their appropriateness for children and youth to read.

1. Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. Frequently a target of censorship, this classic coming-of-age story of a teenage boy in New York is often banned due to the language and sexuality–particularly a scene with a prostitute.
2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Offensive language, in particular, one very racially-charged word, is the usual reason given for banning this book, which has been controversial since it was published in 1884. Twain’s famous story highlights the friendship between a white boy and a black man in a book that attempted to challenge the racism Twain saw around him.
3. Forever by Judy Blume. Blume is frequently the target of censorship as many of her books deal with teen issues revolving around becoming a sexual being. Forever documents a high school girl’s loss of virginity and delves into the emotional aspects of her choice.
4. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. This fantasy novel says much about friendship and loyalty, but it also says plenty about not following a religion blindly. Many have seen the book as anti-religion and have banned the book.
5. Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Most who oppose this book claim the violence, language, and the implication that man is little more than an animal as the reasons. The book depicts a microcosm of society played out on an island populated by young boys stranded there and trying to survive. The struggle between good and evil and the exploration of human nature can force readers to examine themselves in ways that may not feel comfortable.
6. The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling. Some parents object to the magic and wizardry that is at the heart of the Harry Potter books. Because of their objections, many schools and libraries have banned these books.
7. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. A powerful book that explores friendship, life, and death, this book is often banned due to what some feel is offensive language and scenes of witchcraft which some believe promotes disobeying authority as well as anti-religious sentiments. Oddly, the theme of death, which is a major element in the novel, is also used as a reason to ban this book.
8. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. This book depicts a child who lives under the oppression of mean caretakers and relies on his creativity and an alternate world in order to survive. Those opposed to the book dislike the violence, language, and disobedience towards adults.
9. And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson. This children’s story tells of two male penguins at a zoo who care for an egg together. Despite the reality that male penguins bond together to care for their eggs in nature and that the two characters in the book are based on actual penguins from the Central Park Zoo, the idea of two males creating a family has forced many to ban the book due to reasons of homosexuality and anti-family issues.
10. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. The bonds of family and friendship are at the heart of this novel, but it also highlights the battle of good and evil and brings in supernatural spirits, therefore making it a target for those worried about the religious implications they feel the novel makes.
11. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier. Selling chocolates as a fundraiser at school not only sets off fictional turmoil in this book, but it also prompts parents to challenge the book. Reasons given include language, violence, resisting authority, and sexuality.
12. The Giver by Lois Lowery. The award-winning book that depicts a society driven to maintain an amazing amount of control over its members, including euthanasia and suicide. Some parents have reacted strongly to these themes in the book and have taken the book as an endorsement for killing.

Religion and Politics

Banned by governments, taken off shelves at libraries, and removed from schools, these books have been contested because of the way they portray religion or politics.

1. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. This book of magical realism describes a battle between God and the devil through the depiction of two men who go through fantastical journeys. This book was so reviled by several governments and religious leaders in Asia and the Middle East that a fatwa was issued against Rushdie, who had to live in hiding for many years in order to avoid being killed.
2. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. Irving’s book is a powerful one that highlights the loyalty and bonds of friendship and family in a poignant and humorous manner. Some feel that the stance Irving takes on religion and opposition to US in Vietnam are reason enough to ban this incredible book.
3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. When this book was originally banned in California for obscenity. However, there is evidence that shows the censorship was lead by wealthy landowners who did not want their treatment of their workers to become highlighted from the very realistic accounts in Steinbeck’s novel.
4. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriett Beecher Stowe. When this book was published in1851, it was criticized by slavery supporters and described as a false depiction of slavery. The importance and relevance of this novel has survived the censorship it has experienced to allow current generations to learn from their ancestors’ mistakes.
5. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. On the surface this book seems it should be included in the Protect the Children section, but the reason this Dr. Seuss book is banned has more to do with adult issues. The book is an allegorical story describing the effects of poor stewardship on the Earth. Those opposed to the book, specifically some in California, feel it shows an unfair portrayal of those in the logging industry.
6. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. This popular thriller is a work of fiction, but that doesn’t mean any less to those opposed to it. Catholic leaders have banned The Da Vinci Code for what it sees as its anti-Christian sentiment and for the portrayal of Christ in a physical relationship with Mary Magdalene–even having children together.
7. 1984 by George Orwell. Perhaps one of the most famous dystopian novels written, 1984 was published in the early part of the 20th century with a warning to society that has become eerily true. The book has been banned in the past due to pro-communist sentiment and sexuality.
8. Animal Farm by George Orwell. This satirical allegory was initially banned in the Soviet Union because of its anti-Stalinism, but has also been challenged in America by parents fearful that their children will be exposed to the communist sentiment expressed in the introduction and the text.
9. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift. Underlying themes in this famous work include political corruption, anti-war sentiments, and the injustices of colonization. It’s no wonder this book has been banned in several countries and Swift had to publish it anonymously.
10. Candide by Voltaire. Politics, war, colonialism, and religion are all sharply skewered with the satire in Candide. Since it’s publication in 1759 through the 20th century, this book was banned by several countries.

Sex

Perhaps the most popular reason a book is banned or challenged, the following books all portray sexuality in a way that has made some uncomfortable.

1. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by DH Lawrence. Lawrence’s book tells the story of an adulterous love affair and includes explicit sexual language. It was banned in the UK and Lawrence eventually published in Italy, where the first edition sold out immediately.
2. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller. Miller’s novel was banned in Great Britain and the US due to the sexuality described in the book. Miller eventually had his autobiographical account of living in Paris published in France.
3. Fanny Hill by John Cleland. Considered the first erotic novel published in English, Fanny Hill describes the sexual exploits of a woman who begins with selling her virginity and eventually ends up a prostitute by trade. Besides the typical sexuality described in the book, there are also instances of homosexuality (both with men and women), masturbation, and sadomasochism.
4. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. Whitman published several versions of this book filled with his poetry that often celebrates sexuality, both homosexual and heterosexual. From the late 1800’s to the present day, these poems have faced challenges to be read.
5. The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald. New wealth, old relationships, and a society trying to find itself are at the center of this novel. Opponents of this work cite sexual references and profanity in the book.
6. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Huxley’s dystopian view of society depicts adults dulling their senses with pacifying drugs and casual sex. What Huxley uses as a tool to illustrate what he felt was wrong with society is exactly what those opposed to the book latch on to when challenging it.
7. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Hosseini’s beautiful book of friendship and loyalty examines the life of two boys in Afghanistan who come from two widely differing classes. Besides the Afghanistan government’s upset over the content of the book, others around the world have challenged the book due to claims of offensive language and a sexually explicit scene in which a young boy is raped.
8. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. This touching story of Charlie, a mentally challenged young man who participates in a scientific experiment to raise his intelligence, portrays the awakening both intellectually and emotionally of the man. A part of this awakening includes exploration of his sexuality, which has prompted many to want the book banned.
9. The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Chopin’s short novel tells the tale of a married woman who discovers herself and explores her newfound freedom through bucking societal expectations, having an adulterous affair, and eventually opting for suicide as a way to preserve her freedom and not become a slave to a life she detested. Opponents object to the sexuality.
10. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. Trapped in a loveless and unfulfilling marriage, Madame Bovary engages in adulterous affairs in an attempt to find happiness. The sexuality in the book prompted many countries to ban the book on the basis of its being immoral.
11. Rabbit, Run by John Updike. The main character, 20-something Rabbit, runs to escape the constraints of family life and becomes involved with a prostitute, an ex-girlfriend, and others as he deals with the issues surrounding his marriage. A direct result of the oppressive social atmosphere of the 1950’s, Rabbit, Run includes many sexual depictions that offended quite a few people.
12. Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. This classic autobiography is taught in almost every school in America, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t faced its challenges. Parents have protested against this book as being too sexually charged, pornographic, and even claiming it was too depressing to be taught.
13. Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov. First published by a pornographic press in France, Nabokov explores the life of Humbert Humbert, a pedophile who runs away with the 12 year-old daughter of his landlady. The book was banned from many countries and still experiences challenges today.

Race and Gender Issues

Racism or the treatment of women are the driving forces behind having these books removed from the public eye.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Racism, language, and a rape scene are the usual culprits when banning this book. In reality, Lee was highlighting the rampant racism of her time in this much beloved book in an attempt to change the wrongs she saw in society.
2. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Steinbeck’s portrayal of an unusual friendship between two men, one of whom is developmentally challenged, has prompted many to oppose the book due to the language, social and racial implications, and violence in the book.
3. The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Some of the reasons this book is challenged include the violence, profanity, and sexuality in the book, including a rape scene, but most importantly are the race relations that Walker depict. Racism is difficult to face for many and the reaction to ban literature that depicts it is a strong one.
4. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. Sexual content, racism, offensive language, violence are the most popular reasons this book is challenged and continues to be today. Angelou’s autobiographical book is both shocking and beautiful as she recounts the experiences of her early life as she endured racism, abuse, and other challenges she eventually overcame.
5. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Perhaps one of the most surprising books on banned book lists, Little Women is a very wholesome depiction of a family of four sisters who struggle in poverty but are rich in love and familial ties. The reason the book is challenged may be based on what some view as punishment of the one character who has a strong feminist approach by her marriage to a boring and much older man.
6. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. This anti-war satire is surprisingly not challenged due to that theme, but because of the depiction of women in the novel. The word “whore” is used frequently and there have been claims that the book promotes misogyny.

Multiple Reasons

Sometimes a book is so controversial or so powerfully written that it hits people on several different levels. These books have been banned for many different reasons, usually including profanity, violence, and sexuality.

1. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Perhaps the most ironic banned book situation, Fahrenheit 451 deals with the issue of censorship in a dystopian society that sends firefighters out to burn down houses discovered to have books inside. Those opposed to this book claim various reasons for banning it including profanity, portrayal of smoking and drinking, and anti-religious and anti-establishment sentiments.
2. Native Son by Richard Wright. Violence, sex, and profanity are the reasons this book is frequently banned. The hard depiction of life in the novel highlights the hopelessness and racism suffered by one man and illustrates what happens to a man caught in a society that marginalizes him.
3. Beloved by Toni Morrison. Morrison’s book about an escaped slave who rears her children in a world of fright and lack of freedom includes instances of violence and sexual abuse. On the surface, the book may appear to contain gratuitous scenes, Morrison ties everything together in a cautionary reminder for society to heed the mistakes of the past.
4. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. This masterpiece of American literature explores the physical and mental journey of those oppressed by a life of poverty. The reasons many feel the need to ban this book include the references Faulkner makes to masturbation, abortion, and questioning the existence of God as well as profanity.
5. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kessey. Telling the story of a group of mentally ill patients in an oppressive hospital, this story explores what happens when someone stands up to that oppression in order to create a more equanimous situation, moral choice everyone must face, and forming friendships despite hardship. Those opposed to Kessey’s novel claim it glorifies criminal activity, is “garbage,” includes bizarre torture, bad language, bestiality, and promotes secular humanism.
6. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. This dystopian story tells of a society run by men that remove all freedom from women and class them according to what purpose they can serve for the men. The story is told from the perspective of a handmaiden, or a women who is used solely for providing babies to wealthy couples. Those opposed to the book claim it is anti-Christian and pornographic.
7. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. This true story details the violent murder of an entire family by two criminals in search of money that they were wrongly informed existed at the family’s farmhouse. This book is considered to be the first true crime book, and upon its publication, many were appalled by the violence depicted in the book for what seemed no good reason.
8. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut’s book about a time-traveling prisoner of war who has no control of where he will end up next has faced challenges against what opponents feel is unnecessary sex, violence, language, anti-religion, torture, ethnic spurs, and misogyny.
9. East of Eden by John Steinbeck. The battle of good and evil in humanity is the major theme in this powerful novel that parallels the book of Genesis in the Bible. The book has been challenged as an obscenity that is ungodly.

Now being a perfectionist I refuse to put up with any defect. This fan issue came back with a vengeance! I was pissed. Now the 90 day warranty is waaay long gone and I didn’t trust Apple to fix the fans even if I paid for it. No, I think they would probably charge the $100 for new fans that have the exact same defect – not being perfectly engineered for continuous flawless operation. Nothing is engineered properly these days.

So I took matters into my own hands. I dismantled the laptop, then the fans. First note, no dust. I blew them out recently so I know it’s not dust collecting unevenly causing harmonic imbalance in two fans. Upon inspection of the shafts and bearings, I noticed that they were too dry. So a big drop of full synthetic 5W-30 motor oil in each axle was delivered and then I closed the fans back up. I spun them with compressed air and noticed that I couldn’t hear or feel them spinning at 10 thousand RPM. Marvelous!

If your MacBook Pro sounds like a lawnmower, use a set of jewelers screw drivers to take the thing apart and oil the fans. It will sound like you broke the fans because you won’t hear anything. Not even acceptable levels of humming or whirring at 5000 RPM. Totally quiet, but the rush of air is proof that they are in fact spinning.

Disclaimer: This is a lesson in overcoming corrupt read-only media.

I wanted to install a piece of software that didn’t like my particular set of software installed. More specifically, I was having trouble installing Oblivion GOTY because the Securom protection doesn’t like that I run Windows virtually within OSX with Parallels. Or maybe it’s the disc emulator software installation. However the case, this post is how I circumvented that difficulty using UNIX WIZARDRY and a patched setup file. Users win every time.

First, when you run setup.exe it throws an error about using the original disc instead of a backup. HAhahhha. Well that’s just a challenge to figure out how to get past Securom. There are many ways to do it; I opted for not using any blank DVDs or extra hard disk space. I usually strive for optimum resource efficiency.

So first, you need a competent operating system. That means you can’t use Microsoft’s various offerings because (Surprise!) they hate it if your computer can be used for anything more than YouTube. It might actually be possible, the developers hid all kinds of cool features in NTFS but the marketing department doesn’t care about power users.

On my mac, I mounted the DVD. (Put in in the drive.) It gets mounted to some folder in /Volumes/

Next, I “obtained the uncorrupted file” somehow. Get it? I downloaded a fixed setup.exe from somewhere.

Next thing I did was create a disk image containing that patched setup file. You should know how to do that (or at least google that part) so I’ll skip the point and clicking. Now comes the UNIX WIZARDRY.

Open up a terminal window and use hdiutil to attach the disk image to a device node. Duh, derrvice node?…

$ hdiutil attach -nomount /Users/Shared/Games/Elder_Scrolls_4\
-GOTY/Disc1/patch.dmg
/dev/disk3              Apple_partition_scheme             
/dev/disk3s1            Apple_partition_map                
/dev/disk3s2            Apple_HFS

And this tells us where the device node is located (/dev/disk3s2) because we can deductively reason that we don’t care about the partitioning. At this point we have a filesystem ready to be mounted. Normally, when you mount the system it’s just going to give you that system. If you mount a system in a folder it will hide whatever was already in that folder and display the currently mounted system. This is a problem because we want to essentially hide only the broken Securom setup.exe and replace it with the fixed setup.exe.

Behold UNIONS! Most flavors of competent OSes now provide the ability to mount a system on top of another system and have the original still be available except for objects of the same name. We will use this magic to put the patch on top of the broken/corrupt files.

We will issue the mount command with the special union argument!

$ mount -t hfs -o union /dev/disk3s2 /Volumes/OblivionGOTYUK1/

Now when you go into the /Volumes/OblivionGOTYUK1/ folder and open setup.exe (notice the filesize is different) the program will actually run as you wished!! YAY.

Now the cleanup is easy. Just do this twice:

$ umount /Volumes/OblivionGOTYUK1/

The first time unmounts the patch, the second unmounts the DVD. It’s because you mounted the patch on top of the DVD that this works the way it does.

And that concludes the lesson in circumventing corrupt files on a read-only filesystem.

This is my new TV; the 42LG70. YAY!