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September 2005 Archive
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
[Comments: 2] 4:57 AM - windows-defenestrate-thyself
It's no so much that I need to complain about Windows. I really would rather not use it, but I can't really escape it most of the time. The fact that it provides the best solution for most people still is not suprising, and it's reality. (But that's a discussion for another time.)
Anyway, I had the (good?) fortune of having my Windows computer fail recently, and since I had removed it from my laptop and also had a working Linux box sitting adjacent on my KVM switch, I just fell back on my Linux-powered computers.
Since the problem with my Windows computer appears to be a video card problem, and newer decent cards are mostly based on a newer port type that my motherboard does not have, I'm looking to replace several components. To make sure this time around that my computer is stable, I want to do more research and pick my components carefully, and since I still have two working computers on my hands, I've had no real rush to get the Windows machine working. I have been periodically wishing to grab some data off it, but never so far has it been urgent enough to power the thing back up with the alternate video card I dug out of the closet. (An SiS PCI card with 4 megabytes of RAM.)
I'd been enjoying the Linux-only experience quite a bit, but then came the desire to play World of Warcraft and all the sudden I needed Windows back. I decided to use the space I had allocated for it on my laptop, but apparently Windows' installer has some trouble with hard drives partitioned by some types of Linux systems. I was unable to boot the installer or simply install Windows. I ended up working up an elaborate hacky workaround to get into DOS mode, and run the installer manually, which took a few hours to accomplish successfully, but ultimately it's on my laptop again, and I cringe everytime I boot it.
The sad thing, of course, is that Windows on my laptop so readily and easily recognizes and supports all the quirky hardware it has to deal with. If only manufacturers would start making hardware that behaves more to specifications so the giant hack that is Windows is no longer required to make it all work properly. That day will bring me much joy. :)
In the meantime, while I work on figuring out what parts to buy for my computer, I will continue to use my Linux-powered computers and boot Windows only for gaming purposes. Hopefully when I do bring my Windows computer back up with new hardware, I can stick to that promise. My goal is to move most of my work over to the Linux machine. Half of it was already half-there, so it's not so much of a reach. Someday, maybe my games will arrive there as well.
I'm still willing to concede that Windows handles multimedia a bit better, and I'm still interested in helping to improve and debug Gaim for Windows, even as ugly as Windows-based programming is. I figured Gaim saved me from subpar IM clients for Windows. I may as well help make sure it saves other people as well. :)
Oh, and I love the word "defenestrate." I don't know why someone invented a verb for throwing things out a window, nor why that particular word ended up being among my high school vocabulary lessons. I guess people throw enough things out windows to make it worthwhile. :)
[Comments: 3] 4:34 AM - inclusive-diet-adjustments
Ray has decided that he would like to lose some weight, so he has initiated a plan by which we begin to avoid eating the types of relatively unhealthy things we typically do. He immediately started by buying some fruit, and since then, we have also elected to buy even more fruit, more vegetables, and plan healthier meals. We also managed to go to the grocery store without buying any soda, cookies, or chips. I think that's all off to a good start.
With this new plan in effect, I'll just end up eating healthier. My mom always took the time to make the small adjustments to make meals back home a little healthier. I've definitely learned that picking ground turkey instead of ground beef in tacos, or reduced fat salad dressing, etc, doesn't necessarily ruin the meal, or even make it taste even all that differently, so I'm not afraid I'll be eating horrible food from now on. Just know, no matter what happens, I will never, ever like light mayonnaise. :)
If all goes well, and everyone stays on track with the buying and eating plan that has now been laid out by Ray and more or less agreed to by me and Karl, we'll probably all end up a bit healthier. I definitely won't mind if I can get rid of a little excess weight, myself.
As far as that goes, I should probably exercise some too. Eventually I'll probably be walking to the datacenter on a daily basis. That's not really all that far, but it's better than I do now. I should do more than just that, but maybe I can make room for that when I have a more uniform schedule.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
[Comments: 0] 7:36 AM - laptop-linux-attempt-4232910487
Okay,
So I got Ubuntu Linux on my laptop a couple weeks ago when I finally got my laptop back from the crazy people at Radio Shack, and I had good success getting all the hardware to work. It was great, but since I was running a 64-bit version of Linux for my Athlon64 processor, and Ubuntu uses prebuilt packages, I ran into a horrible software availability problem. Virtually nothing is prebuilt or easily installable on an Ubuntu AMD64 system besides core packages. I couldn't even find MP3 support.
I had tried Gentoo Linux back when I first got my laptop. Since most everything in Gentoo is compiled on demand, anything that will run on 64-bit processors will install via the portage respository. When I tried it back at the beginning, hardware support was basically unusable and I ended up giving up. However, times have changed, and the hardware on the laptop is fairly decently supported.
I installed Gentoo a few days ago, and after a fair amount of tweaking, I now have sound, wireless, 3D graphics support, and a completely working touchpad, all of which I previously had major problems with in Gentoo. I still would love to get working power management, and I need to fix the battery status meter, which gets frequently confused, but the system is usable, fast, stable, and I can actually install software I want to use without having to search around for special packages.
I'm probably going to reinstall Windows on some of the leftover space on the hard drive before too long, because I would like the ability to play some games on my laptop, but I will boot Linux as the default. It just makes way more sense for my job and I just love the thought. :)
As a random unrelated thought, the Hitchhiker's Guide movie has been released. I just ordered it from Amazon.com so I'll finally have a DVD movie of my own. I also ordered the complete Sports Night series on DVD, partly because I wanted to save the $3 on shipping, and also because the series is very awesome and I was gonna buy it eventually anyway.
I started myself a wish list of TV Series I want to acquire. It's a decent place for me to keep track of them so I can buy them for myself eventually. Also, if you're in the mood to send me a present, that's one list you can draw from. :P
Sunday, September 11, 2005
[Comments: 4] 8:35 AM - why-am-I-not-sleeping
You might think I'm in a bad mood today based on my postings today, but I'm actually in a pretty good mood. I am just... mad... and the gears in my head are very busy. Bush sucks. So why the hell is he in office again?
I know I didn't vote for him either time. I cannot believe it needs take such a long for the people of this country to realize the things I considered obvious long ago. Are we really as stupid as so many foreigners like to claim? I like to think not, but no one's proving them wrong. It's time to change that. Let's start by demanding Bush act like a president and lead a competent administration or get out of our way.
Now I should go to bed. :)
[Comments: 1] 8:13 AM - buildings-fell-on-this-day
It occurs to me, and will do so constantly for the entire day, that four years ago a bunch of evil men successfully executed a plan to knock down two large buildings in this country and managed to kill a couple thousand people. The date is forever burned in my brain.
I don't really have much more to say about that, other than this:
I think you should keep thinking about what happened four years ago today, and remember what freedom means to you. I'm a social liberal for a reason. My idea of freedom is giving people the ultimate control over their lives, as long as they do not use that control to infringe on the natural and civil rights of others. If that's not your idea of freedom, why not? Maybe it should be. Embrace freedom and respect those who've risked or lost their lives protecting it. Today's as good a day as any.
[Comments: 0] 8:02 AM - might-as-well-use-my-voice-for-something
It's not like me to actually get all that deeply involved in political issues, but maybe that side of me is changing. I think that's a good thing. Perhaps I'll start writing to politicians when I think it's time for something important to be done about something that I believe to be important. Maybe this post will make me some enemies (though I hope not), but my feelings on this issue have already been made very clear on this site, so if you don't like them, you should already have given up on me.
Something remarkable and amazing happened in California recently, but the Katrina coverage has practically masked the story from getting any significant air time. The legislature of the state of California approved official legislation recognizing gay marriage there without any prior court prompting. The legislation passed through both legislative houses in the state, but the governor has vowed to veto this historic legislation, in favor of a court decision. This is incredibly ironic and very sad. It allows the conservatives to continue to complain about "activist" judges if the resolution proceeds this way. Legislation will prove that we, the people of the United States, can popularly support marriage equality, and hopefully create an important precedent.
As I feel strongly that gay marriage should be legalized, I don't feel I or any other supporters can ignore this opportunity for another landmark change to take place. Equality California is urging people to tell the governor to sign this legislation into law, and I believe that if you support marriage equality, even if you don't live in California, you should contact Governor Schwarzenegger and urge him to reconsider his plan to veto this legislation for the good of his state, the country and everyone that wants to be married here.
And well, if you don't support marriage equality, I guess you should let the governor know that as well, but I'd rather you didn't... and don't tell me who you are, because I don't want to have to feel disappointed in you.
