I've Been to New York...?

Firstly, my mom likes to hoard my mail. I don't know why she can't just give it to me, but it somehow ends up in her room and I don't see it for years.

Case in point, I didn't receive my acceptance letter to Eastern Washington University until just before I left for Linfield College.

Well, last week, she found another piece of mail for me. Check out this postmark date:

 Yeah, that's right, April 06, 2009. Nice job, Mom. Course, that means I was still at college, so I don't know why it was coming to my house...but still.

The fun doesn't end there. I'm not quire sure why, but apparently I was sent a card from:

I'm not even sure I received any information from them when I was applying to colleges.

But now it gets really weird...

Dear Victoria,
I'm so happy you decided to join us last weekend for scholar's weekend. I hope you had a good time. It was a pleasure meeting you during our walking tour of the lower East Side. I'm sure you are receiving many offers, but I hope you decide to join us this fall and be an MLK Scholar.
Hope to see you again,
Christina

On the left side of the card was this picture:

As you can probably see, I am not in this picture (though, you can click to see it larger). I was at school all through March and April of last year. In fact, I have never been to New York State, let alone New York City.

Wait a moment...is that me?

No, no I don't think so. The hair might be similar, but I'm still pretty sure I wouldn't go to NYC for an MLK Scholar's weekend. Yet, they sent me a card (with my name and address).

Now, this leaves me one of three options...

1. I have an evil twin.
2. Someone I know decided to go on this trip and give them my information instead of their own.
3. Another 'Victoria S.' attended this MLK Scholarship weekend, and didn't give any of her own information. So, when trying to contact her, the school Googled her, or Facebooked her or whatever, found me, and inserted my address.

I think I can rule out #1 if only because our house isn't big enough for me not to notice another me running around.

#2 could be plausible...except that I can't recognize anyone in the photo. So, either it is that girl above trying to play a prank on me, or she had to take a potty break and wasn't in the picture, or was the one TAKING the picture!

...Or it could just be #3. Which I find pretty funny anyway.

 So, now I'm thinking about contacting the admissions office and having some fun... So, if you were in my situation, what would you do?

Or, if you're the one who posed as me...let me know and I will be happy to sue you for identity theft.

That is all. ^_^

For Every Step Forward, Remember To Backup (at least) Twice

Okay, that title probably doesn't make much sense...unless you have a slightly geeky mind. That's right, once again I come to you with computer advice. And, of course, the best entertainment advice comes at the expense of others...mainly myself.

The Setup

• a laptop with Windows XP -- 5 years old
• 35 GB hard drive -- 4 years old
• a USB splitter (2 ports become 5) -- 5 years old
• a SimpleTech 160GB external hard drive -- 4 years old
• which holds:
• the majority of my Word Documents (including 116pg Senior Thesis)
• all my Excel, Powerpoint, and Adobe Documents
• all my Pictures
• all my Music

The Problem

Now, flash back to last Wednesday, the 19th.

There I was, listening to my music, surfing the net, goofing off, when I decide it's time to update my profile picture. I take the pic then unplug my printer to hook up my phone. I get the pic off alright, then start cropping it and resizing it. Once I finally get it how I want, I go to save...and I get an error message.

E:/ is not accessible.

The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable.

E:/ is my external hard drive, where I keep all my larger files--pictures included.

Now, as I have music playing, I'm thinking there must be a mistake. Maybe one of the USB ports has finally broken down. I close iTunes, unplug my hard drive from the splitter, as well as my phone cord, and try switching ports.

I think I should also take this time to interject that you should always select the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon in the bottom bar when disconnecting important hardware. I usually ignore it in regards to my printer, but it's always a good idea to use the tools available to you.

Once plugged in, the computer acknowledges that something is there, but when I go to access the drive, I once again get that pesky message:

E:/ is not accessible.

The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable.

Now I'm getting worried.

I rush back to my browser and start Googling my error message. I get some advice about reestablishing drivers, checking for driver updates, etc. I try it out...

E:/ is not accessible.

The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable.

Okay... Let's try "free file recovery"? I get a lot of links. Phew.

I download one and, lo and behold, it can read my E:/ drive! I tell it to start recovering my files...and it starts copying them onto my C:/ drive. Well...that's all well and good, I suppose, except for a couple things...

1. I have right around 100GB of files on E:/ and only 11GB open on C:/...
2. The free/demo version only copies files under 64KB in size... which doesn't include my aforementioned 116 page Senior Thesis

The full version costs $40. Well, that was a bust. To the recycle bin with you.

I think I downloaded 10 other programs that day:

• 4 were "Recover DELETED Files" only (mine aren't deleted, just inaccessible)
• 3 were "Demo" versions which let you see the files you wanted to save, but required you to purchase the product in order to save/copy them
• 2 were "Free Download" then "Purchase the Product Code" before you even got to use the product (usually around $40 or $50)
• 1 actually did what I wanted AND was free.

Luckily, that's all it takes! Well, for me, at least.

The Solution

TestDisk, Data Recovery is an Opensource software - which means that it gets all its coding from volunteer programmers, and all the coding is viewable. If you're a DIY-tech person, always look for Opensource programs.

Anyway, I'm not a tech-person, I just play one on TV my blog. If you're really interested in the specifics of the program, click that link up there and it'll take you through all the partition tables and Master Boot Records and that gobbledegook. If you're wanting my (possibly incorrect) spin on things, read on!

What TestDisk allowed me to do was go in through DOS mode and access the E:/ drive. There I was able to try repairing the Master File Table...but I don't think it worked. See, how I understand things is...

The hard drive works sorta like a tree.* There's a single point of origin, and then all the folders and files and such flow out from there. When the computer tries to access a specific file, it has to first check with the point of origin, in order to figure out what is there and how to get to it. Like a city map, or a library filing system.

Now, this One Point is known as the Master File Table. If something goes wrong with this MFT, if it somehow gets corrupted or deleted...well, then the computer can't access that drive anymore. All the information is still there, all the files and folders, the tree just isn't there to tell you where the roots are. Or the map got ink spilled all over it. Or the library system is down for extended maintenance.

*This may or may not only apply to NTFS file system. That's what I have, and that's what I know.

Now, if we're done with all these analogies, I'll get back to what I was able to do.

Though the 'repairing' of the MFT hasn't seemed to work, I was able to recover all my Adobe, Excel, Powerpoint, and Word Documents (including my Senior Thesis!!!) and save them on my C:/ drive. I also managed to fit all My Pictures in there (though, I really should start deleting some that are no longer relevant).

The Plan

Now, as for my 99GB of music sitting on there... There's nothing I can do at the moment. I don't have enough space to transfer everything onto my C:/ drive (I only have 10 GB still open). Even my sister's desktop only has 65GB open (Yeah...I definitely need to delete some of my music).

So, next step is to purchase another hard drive.

Okay, I know what you're thinking - WHAT? Pay out $65+ for ANOTHER hard drive that'll fail on you too?!

I'll answer that in the next section. In the meantime, can I please continue with my plan?


Next I'll purchase another hard drive, giving me the 35GB in my laptop, the 160GB that is having some issues, and a new one (probably 500GB, though I could go for 1000GB (1TB) for $10 more...but really, that's getting a bit ridiculous--I mean, why would I ever need that much space?! My video card isn't good enough for video games. Maybe some movies...nah.).


I'll use TestDisk to copy everything (music and all) to the new hard drive. Then, sure that everything is safe in two places, I'll reformat my current one, then copy everything back over to it, giving me 3 copies of all my important documents and 2 copies of my less important ones...

The Moral

BACKUP YOUR FILES!!!

Yes, the title finally makes sense! For every great document you create, be sure to make at least one, possibly two (or three or four) backups!

Whether this means having 2 or 3 hard drives handy, saving your documents in e-mail attachments, or paying for an online backup service, don't take technology for granted. I've been told multiple times that it's a miracle my computer is still running. Okay, not a miracle, per say, but it's certainly impressive. That my external hard drive ran into some problems is not a surprise. When you're dealing with tiny computer chips and information that relies on 011010101 being in the right place...well, a lot can go wrong.

I thought my little portable guy was my backup, but really I just used him as my main pack mule. And when that pack mule decided to get lost (lose his map), I thought I was bum outta luck. Thankfully, my problem isn't as serious. The mule got a sprained ankle, but after I unload him and give him some time to reboot (reformat), he'll be up and going again.

But, backing out of the metaphors again, what if I had dropped it down the toilet? Or dropped a bowling ball on it? Or had it stolen out of my bag at the airport? Those documents would be lost forever.

With two hard drives (well, 3 really), I'm reducing the chances of things being lost forever. I mean, unless you're dealing with Apollo 13, having a quadruple failure is less likely than, say, having a single failure (on that note, maybe it's best to stick with 12 instead of 13 backups? Or chip in that extra effort and go to 14).

So, again, if you have important documents, pictures, music, anything that is irreplaceable, send it to yourself in an e-mail. Save it to a few dozen zip drives. Copy it to a CD or two. Look in to getting a couple external hard drives. Cause you just don't know what could happen.

A Change Of Location

I don't think this will have any adverse effects for those of you who are subscribed to me, but I did want to point out that I've changed my blog's address to:

http://the-wolfs-den-147.blogspot.com

Now, I did this for a couple reasons.

Firstly, as much as I want to share my stuff and put myself out there, 

there are some places I don't think I need to be plastering my full name.

Secondly, I think having the address match the blog's title adds a little authenticity to it. 

A little professionalism, perhaps?

And lastly, I was bored, and this seemed like a good idea.

 

Please adjust any links you may have, accordingly.

Vampires vs Werewolves vs...Little Women?

Yes, the age-old battle of the monster titans has found common ground once more. You thought Twilight was a big deal? Try an all-or-nothing brawl as they both sink their equally destructive teeth into the same American Classic!

Now, unless you've been hiding under a rock, or haven't been to a bookstore in the last, oh, 6 months, you should have noticed the surge of, what I call, Monster Adaptations. What happens in most cases is, rather than paraphrasing the story, the co-writing author takes the original text, cuts out pieces and adds in that extra flair of...well, monsters. What started out as a novelty idea in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has resulted in a prequel and even more adaptations, such as Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and even Jane Slayer!

What some see as a degradation of classic literature, others see as a new way to get kids interested in literature. Remember how it used to be adapting classic works into comic books? But, be you for or against it this trend is picking up speed.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the bookstore...here come more literary monster mashups! You can drive a stake into its heart, shoot it full of silver bullets and bury it under six feet of dirt, but this publishing trend Just. Won’t. Die. Now it’s Little Women, Louisa May Alcott’s classic tale, that’s getting monsterized. And not just once, but twice. Available now, Little Women and Werewolves by Porter Grand and Little Vampire Women by Lynn Messina take the well-known tale of Jo, Beth, Meg and Amy and add in a healthy serving of the unknown. Last week, Grand and Messina held a discussion with Alcott scholar and Pulitzer Prize-winner John Matteson about the book, the supernatural and mash-ups in general.

Both authors said they were impressed with how much the original text stood up to their fiddling. “When writing it, the biggest thing was realizing how strong the book was on its own,” said Messina. “I thought that adding vampires to it was going to change everything, but I was amazed at how little it actually changed.”

Grand spoke at length about Alcott’s own supernatural and blood-and-guts proclivities. Writing under the nom de plume A.M. Barnard, the otherwise demure author published a number of adventurous and murder-filled novels and stories, although these weren’t discovered until years after her death. “My goal when I was writing Little Women and Werewolves was to stay true to Alcott,” Grand said. “I really wanted to write it the way I think she would have written it if she had decided to insert werewolves into it.” While she admits that some rabid fans may take umbrage at their work (Matteson recounted a story of his own in which a certain Little Crazywoman sent him an 11-page letter calling him a heretic and threatening to burn him at the stake), Grand thinks Alcott herself would be “flattered, amused and delighted” at these tweakings of her most famous tome.

Messina admitted that she knows the mash-up craze won’t last forever, but she’s happy to get while the getting’s good. “It’s going to run its course,” she said. “I thought it was going to eventually tap out with Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter, but I Googled it and it was already a movie!”

~ Keith Staskiewicz of EW

Adaptations? Mash-ups? Degradations? What do you think? Below are the summaries of this latest target and its two adaptations. Read through and give your opinion.

Little Women
Louisa May Alcott
Amazon
  ~ Powell's

Alcott's original work explores the overcoming of character flaws. Many of the chapter titles in this first part are allusions to the allegorical concepts and places in Pilgrim's Progress. When young, the girls played Pilgrim's Progress by taking an imaginary journey through their home. As young women, they agree to continue the figurative journey, using the "guidebooks" — copies of the New Testament, described as "that beautiful old story of the best life ever lived"; they receive on Christmas morning. Each of the March girls must struggle to overcome a character flaw: Meg, vanity; Jo, a hot temper; Beth, shyness; and Amy, selfishness.

In the course of the novel, the girls become friends with their next-door neighbor, the teenage boy Laurie. The book depicts the light hearted, often humorous activities of the sisters and their friend, such as creating a newspaper and picnicking, and the various "scrapes" that Jo and Laurie get into. Jo consistently struggles with the boundaries 19th century society placed on females, including not being able to fight in a war, not being able to attend college, and being pressured by her Aunt March to find a suitable husband to take care of her.

~ Wikipedia

Little Vampire Women
Louisa May Alcott and Lynn Messina
Amazon
  ~ Powell's

"Christmas wont be Christmas without any corpses."

The dear, sweet March sisters are back, and Marmee has told them to be good little women. Good little vampire women, that is. That's right: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy have grown up since you last read their tale, and now they have (much) longer lives and (much) more ravenous appetites.

Marmee has taught them well, and so they live by an unprecedented moral code of abstinence . . . from human blood. Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy must learn to get along with one another, help make society a better place, and avoid the vampire hunters who pose a constant threat to their existence. Plus, Laurie is dying to become a part of the March family, at any cost. Some things never change.

This horrifying—and hilarious—retelling of a timeless American classic will leave readers craving the bloodthirsty drama on each and every page.

~ Amazon

Little Women and Werewolves
Louisa May Alcott and Porter Grand
Amazon ~ Powell's

A literary landmark—the original, suppressed draft of the classic novel!

Little Women is a timeless classic. But Louisa May Alcott’s first draft—before her editor sunk his teeth into it—was even better. Now the original text has at last been exhumed. In this uncensored version, the March girls learn some biting lessons, transforming from wild girls into little women—just as their friends and neighbors transform into vicious, bloodthirsty werewolves!

Here are tomboy Jo, quiet Beth, ladylike Amy, and good-hearted Meg, plus lovable neighbor Laurie Laurence, now doomed to prowl the night on all fours, maiming and devouring the locals. As the Civil War rages, the girls learn the value of being kind, the merits of patience and grace, and the benefits of knowing a werewolf who can disembowel your teacher.

By turns heartwarming and blood-curdling, this rejuvenated classic will be cherished and treasured by those who love a lesson in virtue almost as much as they enjoy a good old-fashioned dismemberment.

Includes the original letter from Alcott’s editor, telling her not to even think about it!

~ Amazon

So? Gonna bite? Which would you rather read? Vampires? Werewolves? Or are you more of a traditionalist?

And what about the trend in general? Are you ready to see it stop? Or are you ready for more?

Continue Not To Panic!

Phew, there's one more series down the hatch. Took me a little longer than I had originally expected, but here it is.

~And Another Thing...~
Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
Part Six of Three
By Eoin Colfer
Amazon ~ Powell's

As you may remember in my review of the whole series written by Douglas Adams, don't ask me to explain how there are now six parts in a trilogy. Inquiries on that matter should be addressed to Adams himself, though you shouldn't expect a reply any time soon. Baring, of course, the approaching Zombie Apocalypse (Do YOU have your Zombie Plan?).

But back to business.

A New Book By A New Author

Before I really dig in to the nitty-gritty, I want to take a moment or two to remind/inform people exactly why Eoin Colfer wrote this book.

At the end of Mostly Harmless, you have what is undeniably the worst ending that could ever happen. You've spent time with these characters, laughed with them, cried with them, invested a good portion of your day/week with them, and what do you get?

Don't Panic!

Well, I've gone and done it. I've finished all five books of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. Yes, 5 books in a 3-part series. I didn't design it, I just read it.

I'd been meaning to read this series for some time now. I inherited the first two books from my father (well, glommed onto them after discovering them in a box or something) and have had them sitting on my bookshelves for around 5 years.

It wasn't until Eoin Colfer gave a speech at our local bookstore about the Hitchhiker books (leading into the fact that he'd just finished a 6th one, and oh, would you like your copy signed?) that I decided I had waited long enough. Surely, I had waited long enough to fully realize the significance of 42, and I shouldn't wait another minute!

I ordered the remaining 3 paperbacks (since I am a paperback snob, I declined from purchasing Colfer's hardbound publication and am awaiting its proper format to be released) and got the audiobook for Hitchhiker from the library.

The books all sat on my shelf for another few months.

When Hitchhiker was nominated for our book club in...March, I decided the time had finally come. I dusted it off, pulled up the audiobook on my laptop, and started in...and got as far as the first 3 chapters.

Some of you may remember my posting a couple weeks ago about trying to figure out which book(s) to read next. I posted a poll here, and to my Facebook friends, and also my DeviantArt buddies, all asking for advice. I even got a reply from Diane Duane, author of one of the choices I had to choose from. Though I decided against her advice (she sided with her own books, and was outvoted), I was still thrilled at the post.

The Hitchhiker's series won the most votes, so I plugged in my headphones, cleared my nightly schedule, and was whisked across the galaxy.

~The Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy~
Book 1
By Douglas Adams
Amazon ~ Powell's

This book is possibly the most random, hilarious, and delightful book I've ever read. If you're looking for something chronological, that follows a straight and completely unwavering line, you should drop this book immediately. If you completely dislike humor or wit of any kind, you should try Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. And, lastly, if you are a Vogon, I'd like to know why you seem to be showing any interest in what my opinion is.