Burning ISO Images

The default CD and DVD-R burning application for Debian is called "wodim" (Write Optical Disc IMage). It's a fork of Jörg Schilling's cdrecord, which changed its license to the GPL-incompatible CDDL after... well, we won't go there.

To burn a CD or DVD image I usually do something like the following:

$ /usr/bin/wodim -v -data -eject -dao speed=10 dev=/dev/cdrom file.iso

The options are -v for verbose, -data for CD-ROM mode 1 (Yellow Book, the usual data format), -eject for ejecting the disc after burning, -dao for Disc-At-Once mode, speed=10 indicates a data transfer rate of 10 (replace with something sensible for your drive) and dev=/dev/cdrom should point to your CD device. The file you want to burn is file.iso. This apparently works as well for DVD ISO images as well as CDs. The wodim manual page recommends doing this as root.

To create an ISO image quickly from a directory, you can do this:

$ genisoimage -r -J -V CDLabel -o image.iso /path/to/files

The options are -r for generating the SUSP and RR records (it's a necessary step), -J for Joliet, -V CDLabel for the 32-character volume label and -o image.iso specifies the output file (replace as needed). The /path/to/files will contain the root directory of your CD.

You can test mount the ISO image as follows:

$ mount -t iso9660 -o ro,loop=/dev/loop0 image.iso /path/to/mountpoint


If you want to verify that the data was written correctly, see the guide I wrote here.

I put this post up here because I keep forgetting how to burn ISO images :).

Farms

After leaving the hotel, my mom and I took a trip round Penang, visiting some fun places. Our first stop was the Butterfly Farm, which I hadn't visited in ages. They have some interesting critters there, which I took pictures of.

There are displays like this set up all over the place, with hibiscus flowers arranged in the shape of a butterfly to attract the bugs.

This is a butterfly close-up on the red hibiscus display.

Here's a blue one on a leaf.

In this tank you can see a large pig-nosed turtle.

There's an iguana!

Another one!

This praying mantis perches on a twig, waiting for hapless little insects to chew up.

A butterfly flaps its wings in Penang, and it rains in New York. If it rained in New York recently, it's this guy's fault.

A giant brown gecko in a glass display crawls on the wall.

This is an interesting lizard, but I forgot to note the name of the species.

After a trip around the Butterfly Farm, we headed off to the Tropical Fruit Farm. We didn't actually explore the place, but I did have a glass of overpriced guava juice.

Here I am having a drink.

The view here is breathtaking.

At The Beach

We had a 3-day seminar at a hotel near Feringgi Beach in Penang from Friday till Sunday morning. I managed to take a few shots which I am quite happy with.

This looks fun.

A hut which nobody lives in. I bet it's just there for tourists to take photos of.

Two penguins who know where their towel is. Thanks to Moosey for editing this photo to make it look spiffier (no, the penguins were not pasted in, they are actually there).

10 Things To Remember When Your Doctor Is House

1. Don't lie to your doctor, he hates that.
2. It's not lupus. It's never lupus.
3. Beware the MRI machine of doom! Something bad always happens in there.
   
4. You will get a seizure at least once.
   
5. You may go into cardiac arrest at least once, but they'll zap you back to life, no worries.
6. You may bleed like crazy from your orifices too, watch out for that.
   
7. Leave the key to your home somewhere easy to find. Your doctors need to break in to save your life.
   
8. If you're taking drugs it means you have a serious problem. However, it's perfectly ok for your doctor to be an addict.
9. If you need a transplant, you'll probably get it. Your doctor always gets his way with such things.
10. If you're getting worse, it just means you're going to get better soon! Or maybe you'll die, which is a bummer.
    

Ninja Macro Photography

I recently got myself some Ninja Turtle action figures to use in macro photography. I was inspired to do so by this article I stumbled upon on the web. I've been taking these photos for the past few weeks, and I'm putting up my favourites here. Some have been digitally edited slightly so that they look better.

The ninja turtles on a rocky outcropping.

Donatello doing ninja things, jumping on balconies near rooftops.

Raphael is doing his emo thing by not joining the rest of his brothers. He's over there on another rocky peak, sulking. Or he could be waving, it's hard to tell.

Mikey on a rock. Behind him is a waterfront condo that ripped off the Petronas towers' design and is blocking the view of the Penang bridge.

Leonardo posing in front of geodesic dome thingy that the architecture students built.

Leonardo gesturing Donatello to follow him.

Now Donatello is doing the leading with Leonardo behind.

Donatello and Raphael hanging out on a shiny shiny surface near some trees. Shiny!

The Ninja Turtles invade the city!