Quasi-Geek

BLOG MOVING

2005-11-02T07:17:00.000-08:00

This blog is moving to a personal server and will be hosted on blogspot for only a few more days to redirect traffic.

I'm moving to wirelessmike.bluekeep.net

I hope my readers will follow me to the new location. I still have lots to blog about!

Blue Citadel Computing

2005-10-17T05:52:00.000-07:00

Well... Just a couple weeks more until I'm able to finish my machine. The experience, along with the fun a friend and I have had with site construction, has convinced me that the little side business my friends r2 and speed kicked off months ago (with an AWFUL client) is something that might be both fun and profitable for me to join in on. As it is, my friend, the pcrepairdr, has made a very profitable private business out of hardware/software install/repair and pc networking (I've even contracted for him once for some nice mad money). Thing is-- All this (even wireless networks) are much MUCH easier to set up than the general public realizes, so the opportunities are limitless. We'll most likely work with r2's shingle (not "Blue Citadel Computing"-- I just made that up), since there is already contract experience there, and speed's contract networking experience is invaluable. I bring a unique ability to construct a powerful, upgradeable machine at a remarkably low cost and a flair for graphics, as well as site construction and maintenance experience.

I would prefer to personally stay in the background of the venture. Contributing when asked, but remaining a silent partner and satisfied to participate for supplemental, not primary, income. I suppose the whole thing will really come together when we get online with a site. Will update as things progress.

Finland-- No More Ripping CDs for MP3s

2005-10-06T08:01:00.000-07:00

An interesting move in copyright legislation. I don't know what effect this decision will have on the US (it may have none at all), but Finland has just passed a law making it technically illegal to rip cds into mp3 files-- even for personal use only (as in to burn on a cd to play in your mp3 player, etc.).

More Killer Skype Phones

2005-09-26T08:28:00.000-07:00

As of February 10th, Skype and iMate are offering preferred VoIP connectivity on the latest iMate PDA2K and Pocket PC phones. These PDAs have EVERYTHING in the book (and some stuff not yet in the book)!

At around $850.00 (usd), they're a bit expensive, but what can't you do with this pda phone? They make blackberry look like a calculator!

Ubuntu Firefox Fits

2005-09-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

The only consistent/persistent gripe I've ever heard regarding stable releases of Linux distros is keeping applications current. The most common method of accomplishing this is updating with "backports." Backports are the most recent version of applications compiled for a previous release of a given Linux distro. Since the latest versions of applications are typically compiled for testing on the very latest version of a Linux distro (usually the "testing" or "unstable" release), they have to be re-compiled, or "backported" to work on the preceding stable release.

Ubuntu makes updating with backports particularly easy by providing a central repository dedicated exclusively to backports. The repository is:

deb http://ubuntu-backports.mirrormax.net hoary-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://ubuntu-backports.mirrormax.net hoary-extras main restricted universe multiverse

There are additional repositories to get the bleeding edge stuff that is staged to move to the main backports repositories, but I don't like using those, so I won't go into any detail about them.

The repository is excellent and keeps users up-to-date on pretty much any oss app imaginable that doesn't make it to the standard update repositories.

One such app that I wish I hadn't updated from the backports repository is Firefox. At 1.0.6, the backports repository put up the latest version with transitional files to move from a "mozilla-firefox" directory to a simple "firefox" directory. I liked the idea and the backport was considered by Synaptic to be an "upgrade," so I upgraded. Now 1.0.7 is out, and it's in the update repositories as "mozilla-firefox." Thanks to my previous little upgrade, I have conflicts and errors upgrading. Ubuntu insisted on trying to remove Firefox and upgrade with Mozilla-Firefox simultaneously. Dependencies and support files made it error out.

I finally came up with a very simple solution: I blocked the standard update repositories so that synaptic saw nothing to upgrade firefox with. This allowed for the uninstall of Firefox, along with some supported apps (only 3-- I wrote them down so I could reinstall them later). After a successful uninstall, I unblocked the update repositories and updated the apps list. Then I installed Mozilla-Firefox 1.0.7 from the standard update repositories and reinstalled the supported apps.

Yet another way to solve this problem is to force the removal of firefox using dpkg instead of apt:

sudo dpkg -r --force-all firefox
sudo dpkg -r --force-all firefox-gnome-support

Everything went fine and I'm now on 1.0.7 with all my previous settings. I like the little challenges, and it provided me with a feeling of confidence about the upgrade. ANOTHER OS might have allowed me to get away with it, but then it would most likely be working with redundant depencies on files I neither wanted nor needed, and I'd never be confident about the stability of the application, or any applications dependent upon it.

The lesson-- Challenges are good, and backports must be used cautiously, but what may appear to be problematic or difficult to some may, upon further inspection, lend confidence in stability that an "easier" OS can't offer.

The New Computer

2005-09-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

I'm like THIS close to finishing my computer.

Up to this point, I've hunted and gathered basic affordable components. My creation is a value-based 64-bit mid-range gaming rig that will dual-boot Ubuntu and XP-Pro.

I've managed so far to acquire the case (pictured), DFI motherboard, 500W power supply, Amigo modem (backup connectivity), NEC floppy drive, multi-card reader, Kingwin heatsink/fan and cooling accessories.

After we've moved (which is the PRIMARY ordeal I'm concerned with), I'll be purchasing all the rest. This is quite a haul that includes, of course, the processor (Athlon 64 3700+), 1G ram (probably OCZ), 256M ATI 9600xt graphics, 160G Hitachi SATA HDD, ASUS combo drive, NEC DVD-dual burner, Acer 17" LCD and some sweet 802.11b/g 125mbps wireless networking hardware (USR). This router is so sweet, it comes with WPA2, 128-bit WEP, and MAC Address restriction security, a built-in SPI firewall, and even includes a usb 2.0 port so that ANY usb printer can be turned into a network printer.

I'm modding in a toggle switch for those LEDs on the front-- They'll light up a room (not always a good thing)!

At any rate, it should fit the bill nicely for a while and make for a pleasant online experience for the wife and me (I often work from home over vpn), as well as provide an excellent educational tool for my little girl (she's going to get the old computer). It should also make for a flashy LAN party rig. I have a couple of buddies building similar rigs of their own. It's a wonderful (though slightly expensive) distraction.

You see, I spend most of my time at my Ubuntu Linux admin machine in ssh terminals correcting errors in our LSMS, updating for new NPA-NXXs, backing up data to redundant sql databases and tweaking shell scripts I created to try to automate as much of it as possible over a flaky internal network of DS3s to 8 DSM cards at 4 STPs fed by MPS translators directly connected to a central database in a small town 25 minutes from my office (making me have to use VNC to access the remote admin console to perform some specific gui-centric functions). The internal central database (a.k.a. "LSMS") updates in auto-magically over 2 DS1s through a gateway router to the NPAC in Virginia and North Carolina in "real-time." At least everything's directly connected, so I'm not takin' up space on valuable DACS ports.

At the same time I secure assigned numbers in pool block contributions only days before the blocks are actually released and troubleshoot everyday woes such as manually loading missing records or modifying corrupt or incorrect records, participating in Mass SPID Updates, attending Industry meetings on all things LNP to represent my employer, and researching new technologies such as VoIP and ENUM that will aid, complement, or eventually replace the current method. I stay abreast of all changes to the SS7 network, monitoring traffic on our network and working with switch translations to test turnup of services in new offices or restructure of host-remote relationships that can effect routing, and report on the amount of numbers ported contrasted with the amount of customers ported per month and space to exhaust on the network elements (which translates into making a business case for spending another $500 grand to "make it bigger").

Outside of that, I don't do much except blog, surf the net and drink lots of Dr. Pepper. You can see how a distraction is definitely a GOOD thing.

Here We Go Again...

2005-09-22T04:53:00.000-07:00

Rita takes aim at some New Orleans evacuees (and anyone else living in SE Texas and Louisiana). My personal opinion is that early statements and predictions regarding New Orleans not flooding again may be overly optimistic, though I pray they are true.

The Hurricane Aftermath Blogs

2005-08-31T13:14:00.000-07:00

Read this incredible account of one evacuee's first-hand perspective and what he had to go through to get out.

An interesting blog to visit for on-site real time updates on what's going on in New Orleans.

The blog is complimented by a related photo gallery. There was a live webcam, as well.

Another excellent gallery here.

If you are anywhere among New Orleans evacuees, please have them visit the Slidell Hurricane Blog. There may be someone looking for them. There may also be someone offering shelter.

Experiencing Technical Difficulties

2005-08-26T12:46:00.000-07:00

Yes-- The blog looks kinda broken or something, but that's just because it's kinda broken or something. This is just a temporary thing. I host many of the images on my blog from a server that is moving from NJ to NC. I may try to upload the images to another server and update all my links accordingly-- That would mean the blog would look normal again over the weekend or at least by Monday or Tuesday. However, I may simply wait until the server is moved and back online. Of course, I'll probably have to update all my hosted image links, regardless, since the actual domain name will most likely change.

Regardless-- Those few who view my blog regularly, please forgive this short-term mess. It will soon be fixed. Those of you seeing my blog for the first time or who have only recently started visiting regularly, please know that this is a very unique situation that will be fixed very soon and not likely happen again for a long, long time. Whoever you are-- I really appreciate you coming to see my blog and want to give you plenty of reasons to come back. Everything will be back to normal soon.

FCC Chairman Martin "Levels the Playing Field" for DSL

2005-08-19T06:22:00.000-07:00

How about a new twist in the Cable vs. DSL debate?

Kevin Martin wants a level playing field for broadband internet access. For too long now, Cable providers have enjoyed extending their networks to new markets without having to share those networks with competitors while phone companies that provide DSL are forced to share their networks with any ISP that asks. We have an old saying in LEC telephony: "Welcome to the World of Regulatory."

Well, that might've flown under former chairman Powell, but Martin says times have changed and regulation must change to embrace them, and as of August 5th, that change is official:

The Order that we adopt today is a momentous one. It ends the regulatory inequities that currently exist between cable and telephone companies in their provision of broadband Internet services. As I have said on numerous occasions, leveling the playing field between these providers has been one of my highest priorities. With this Order, wireline broadband Internet access providers, like cable modem service providers, will be considered information service providers and will no longer be compelled by regulation to unbundle and separately tariff the underlying transmission component of their Internet access service.

Most importantly, however, the actions we take in this Order are an explicit recognition that the telecommunications marketplace that exists today is vastly different from the one governed by regulators over 30 years ago. The Computer Inquiry requirements that were adopted several decades ago were based on the assumption that, without the imposition of strict regulation, telephone companies would be able to exert considerable market power over unaffiliated entities in the provision of information services. To the extent that this assumption was true at the time, it is no longer true in today’s broadband market.

Summarized, Martin is recognizing that there was a time when the regulation was in the best interest of competition, but now the same regulation is stifling the ILEC's ability to compete, so the FCC is deregulating broadband internet access.

I imagine you must be wondering, "How does this effect me and why would I care if the FCC gives some big money phone company a break on dsl?"

It will take some time, of course, but I believe this will free up the bandwidth for new services and higher data speeds that will be passed on to the customer at lower prices. Very soon, everyone will be able to see the TRUE potential of DSL and I predict that the improvement will benefit us all, Cable and DSL customers, alike, in bottom-line value AND affordability.

Interestingly, however, many rural LECs (not RBOCs) will be hesitant to opt in. At the outset, only RBOCs are REQUIRED to comply. Reason being-- This is actually a loss of revenue. The government compensates ILECs for sharing bandwidth according to the old rules. While I can't mention how big this revenue is (it varies according to size and number of ISPs involved), it is enough that most rural LECs would prefer to keep sharing the bandwidth as they have all along. Oh well... Sorry to suck all the air out of the conspiracy theorists and their ridiculous notions that "big brother bell" is out to rule the world with the government's support... HELLO-- Can you say "REGULATORY?"

Skype and Skype Phones

2005-08-18T11:23:00.000-07:00

Look out telcos-- At less than $100 for the phone, Skype is almost on your customer's coffee table!

Skype is the free internet VoIP IM/phone service that is catching on like wildfire worldwide. Many have heard of Vonage, and Skype is similar (at least in protocols and codecs used to make voice/data connections between customers), but Skype doesn't charge customers for the basic service and offers the software necessary to use the service for free. There are versions for practically every OS, too!

This in itself has helped Skype grow at an incredible pace, but imagine how fast folks are going to jump on when a cordless phone for less than $100 allows them to dial out and receive calls with absolutely no kind of LD charges or even fees, monthly access rates, taxes, etc. for local or LD service to any other skype user in the world (sorta*)?

Some cool features of the Linksys CIT200 Skype phone include that it operates according to DECT standards between the 1.92Ghz and 1.93Ghz range, well outside the ever-popular 2.4Ghz range most wifi routers broadcast on (no risk of interference). It doesn't connect to an ordinary RJ11 (typical phone line) or RJ45 (cat5 patch/data), but by usb interface. What's even more cool is that the VoIP-voice base station not only gets connectivity, but power from the usb, too! Unfortunately, at less than $100, this phone is not compatible with the PSTN (public switched telephone network)-- It is Skype-ONLY (and there's the catch-- at least with THIS phone).

*Admittedly, the plugins necessary to dial non-skype numbers or to have a 10-digit number non-skype users can dial are not free...

SkypeOut allows users to dial ordinary telephone numbers around the world at local rates.

SkypeIn allows you to buy a 10-digit telephone number for non-skypers to dial and talk to you.

At this time I consider Skype to be complimentary to my current service-- an occasional alternative, but a very cool one with some interesting features. Definitely worth your time to check out, but I'm not sure what telcos are so afraid of. It's really little more than a fancy voice IM service. It still requires the PSTN (public switched telephone network) to connect calls to/from a 10-digit telephone number.

If you're interested in paying a bit more, the $140 Olympia cordless dualphone DOES connect to the PSTN as well as Skype with access to all features. It utilizes the same frequency range as the CIT200 mentioned above and doesn't interfere with WIFI networks. It will soon be available in the US, but as "DUALphone," not "Olympia DUALphone." It is currently available in Europe from the Denmark-based RTX Telecom as an OEM phone.

Support Big Brother-- Buy Windows!

2005-08-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

From the article:

The amount of information Microsoft collects has raised eyebrows and has been sharply criticized. For example, Carmi Levy, an analyst with Info-Tech Research, believes that Microsoft is sneaking out much more information from a user's computer than the company needs to. He said that Microsoft collects data on how data moves between the operating system and peripherals such as a printer and potentially could access confidential data. "I am just wondering they really would want to know what moves to the printer," Levy said. We did not go into much detail in our conversation with Lazar, but he said Microsoft would "not be interested in such information" and that he had "never heard" of such data collection mechanisms before.

Can you say "I paid $200 to $400 for my spyware so that I won't be called a 'pirate' when I use update to make sure my spyware is nice and secure?"

Hey-- I don't advocate piracy... I advocate wholesale alternatives.

Crimson Room

2005-08-12T06:23:00.000-07:00

A little something fun to tease the brain...

There are 13 items in the room. Collect all 13 and you have what you need, but what do you do with them to make them work together and get out? By the way-- There are red herrings. A couple items don't do anything at all, so don't waste hours trying to make them help you.

2 Hints-- (1) Watch the whole movie and wait till it's over to try anything, and (2) Once you find the safe, don't try the key in it until you enter the correct code.

For more hints, you'll have to comment or something and I'll reply with another hint or 2.

If you finish the game and simply MUST have more, check here for the other 2 games-- Viridian Room and Blue Chamber.

Which Harry Potter Character Are You?

2005-08-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

Harmonicas

2005-08-09T20:05:00.000-07:00

Since I'm really single-minded lately and am waiting for something pretty specific to write about (if it turns out to be "blogworthy"), I figured this blog was overdue some entertaining minutiae or trivial subject matter which may be unrelated or irrelevant concerning anything going on with your life or mine right now... but still pretty interesting.

Here's some interesting harmonica trivia I read lately in "Uncle John's Unstoppable Bathroom Reader"

* Nicknames for the harmonica include the "harp," the "tin sandwich" (cowboy dialect), the "Mississippi Sandwich" (blues lingo), and the "mouth organ" (from the German mundharmonika or mundorgan).

* Presidents Lincoln, Wilson, Coolidge and Reagan were all harp players of varying ability. Lincoln reportedly wrote a letter to Hohner, telling how he enjoyed playing harmonica to relax.

* The best-selling record of 1947 was "Peg O' My Heart" by a harmonica trio called The Harmonicats. After the Harmonicats' success, the musicians union decided to classify the harmonica as an instrument. Before that they called it a toy.

* On December 16, 1965, Wally Schirra played Jingle Bells on the harmonica-- from Gemini Six, at an altitude of 160 miles above Earth.

* In 1986, the M. Hohner Company sold their one billionth harmonica.

*Currently, the most expensive harmonica in the Hohner catalog is a "Chord 48" (the size of a baseball bat, with hundreds of reeds). Cost: $1,500.00

* More expensive, but not in the catalog: the solid gold, gem-encrusted model that Hohner presented to Pope Pius XI in the 1930s.

Just some interesting tidbits from the BRI (Bathroom Readers Institute).

One more fun thing-- And this makes a really neat sig, too...
"The following statement is true. The preceding statement is false."

What's up with PETA?!

2005-07-22T13:18:00.000-07:00

7 Things You Didn't Know About PETA

Edubuntu!

2005-07-14T14:20:00.000-07:00

"Linux For Human Beings"

It's not just a slogan or tagline-- It's what Ubuntu's really about. Now there's a linux distro designed specifically for the classroom. It comes equipped with the tools necessary to easily create an interactive computer lab environment with centralized management tools and more open-source software and feature-rich apps than you can throw a keyboard at. All at the low low price of... well, free, actually.

Check it out. Do you know a school that needs a computer lab, but can't afford the software or IT expertise?

London Attacked

2005-07-07T08:24:00.000-07:00

"This was not a terrorist attack against the mighty and the powerful; it is not aimed at presidents or prime ministers; it was aimed at ordinary working class Londoners, black and white, Muslim and Christians, Hindu and Jew, young and old, indiscriminate attempt at slaughter irrespective of any considerations, of age, of class, of religion, whatever, that isn't an ideology, it isn't even a perverted faith, it's just indiscriminate attempt at mass murder, and we know what the objective is, they seek to divide London. They seek to turn Londoners against each other and Londoners will not be divided by this cowardly attack,"

"I wish to speak through you directly, to those who came to London to claim lives, nothing you do, how many of us you kill will stop that flight to our cities where freedom is strong and where people can live in harmony with one another, whatever you do, how many you kill, you will fail."

- Ken Livingstone, Mayor, London UK

Quoted by the Singapore Press while at the IOC Session in Singapore

Remember Us

2005-07-01T09:16:00.000-07:00

Intel-- Play Fair!

2005-06-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

I love AMD. They make powerful, affordable processors with low power consumption and set the standard in the industry for stability and innovation. First to market with stable 64-bit architectures, they continue to outperform Intel at every turn. Motherboards that support AMD processors consistently offer cutting-edge features, scalability and style.

Somehow, though, Intel has managed to maintain a vast majority of market share. How?

The link associated with the title of this post takes you to details of AMD's case against Intel pointing out monopolistic deals and threats against retailers who buy from AMD.

When did competition cease to be a driver for innovation?

Once upon a time in America, competition drove business to redesign products and services (improve) or redefine them (innovate). Now, it appears the trend is to find ways to lockout competition instead of nurturing the mother of innovation.

It seems our generation is doomed to be hailed as a generation of both innovators and businessmen to supress that innovation. I'd like to blame Intel alone for this-- They have far surpassed anything Microsoft ever got blamed for, but the fact is, retailers are as much to blame as Intel for not diversifying their vendors in the first place to protect themselves from giving one vendor the leverage necessary for such tactics to work.

I wonder now how Apple's decision will effect the future of AMD... Apple, of all companies-- Possibly the most visible of all innovators in the industry.

Apple Goes Intel

2005-06-09T11:33:00.000-07:00

Well... High power consumption and heat, combined with IBM's failure to match supply to demand have opened the door to Intel, and Apple appears more than happy to greet them. I do hope, however, that the powerpc chip will not go the way of the dinosaur. Perhaps IBM will use this minor setback to redesign the chips-- Any Mac afficionado will tell you that if they are inferior to Intel chips, it is only by the narrowest of margins and the last powerpc macs will still be dependable long after you're replacing the harddrive on your Compaq.

Hey-- This may even open up a brand new genre of modding! Although that is probably a LONG ways off. Even Jobs says the transition will be slow and a little painful. I also doubt it will reduce the price, since there will be no reduction in quality. You're still getting state-of-the-art technology with an OS and architecture that is unmatched in dependablity and security. At least there will be no more whining when comparing Macs to other consumer-grade rigs about some undefinable difference in MHz or clock speed.

Check out some extreme polar views of Mac enthusiasts, both PRO and CON

***UPDATE***

For those of you wondering if Jobs has come out of his now-infamous state of paranoia-- The answer is a resounding NO! Apple has already announced the first step it is taking towards making certain OSX never makes it to a Dell machine, and perhaps making certain that Winblows never makes it onto a MAC... Check THIS out!

Which Star Wars Character Are You?

2005-06-01T06:45:00.000-07:00

As I anxiously await an opportunity to see the new movie, I thought it might be fun to take a Star Wars quiz. Be warned: The quiz has just a little vulgarity in it, but very light and only on a couple questions. Overall, a very fun quiz.

Here's my results:

Oh yeah-- If you have speakers, you might want to mute this or you'll be VERY sick of the Star Wars theme by the end of the quiz.

Yet Another Fun Quiz

2005-05-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

I feel just awful. Only 65%! Who would guess I graduated high school in 1988?

You Scored 65% Correct

You are a solid child of the 80s
You'd never confuse Tiffany from Debbie
And while you may not know Prince's first #1 hit
You know every word to Little Red Corvette

How Much Do You Know About 80s Music?

Interesting Quiz...

2005-05-05T11:53:00.000-07:00

You Are a Seeker Soul

You are on a quest for knowledge and life challenges.
You love to be curious and ask a ton of questions.
Since you know so much, you make for an interesting conversationalist.
Mentally alert, you can outwit almost anyone (and have fun doing it!).

Very introspective, you can be silently critical of others.
And your quiet nature makes it difficult for people to get to know you.
You see yourself as a philosopher, and you take everything philosophically.
Your main talent is expressing and communicating ideas.

Souls you are most compatible with: Hunter Soul and Visionary Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

I Have Been Counted-- Here Is My Tux!

2005-05-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

Beware the Badger

2005-04-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

Now that Hoary Hedgehog final release is out, many folks (myself included) are tempted to test Breezy Badger and stay on the cutting edge of Ubuntu. After all, How many Debian people happily test Sid and never consider moving to the last stable deb release? And Hoary has always been pretty darn stable...

Not so with Breezy. My advice is, if Ubuntu is your primary OS-- That is, if you use it for your basic daily activity at work-- STICK WITH HOARY! There are already bugs in Breezy that confuse, confound and just plain aggravate! Right now, for example, if you upgrade all apps, you'll upgrade yourself right out of Evolution. Upgrade of Libaspell libraries kills Bluefish. Not only does it not work with some of the latest lib updates, but there's no re-installing it without major surgery to your config.

Luckily, I never used Evolution much. The latest version of it's Exchange plugin does not have enough config to properly connect to my Exchange server, so it's been useless to me for quite some time now.

There are a couple other bugs, too, but none with quite the potential for aggravation as Evolution. It's been broken for 2 weeks now.

Anyways-- Consider this fair warning. I use my Ubuntu box for a limited number of specific tasks and it still performs that duty nicely as Breezy Badger. The same may not be true for you, so use at your own risk and with extreme caution-- In other words, if you upgrade, pay attention to what apt-get or synaptic tells you when you upgrade apps. It will warn you if something important will be removed before-hand.

And of course, Get involved with the forums!

My NYC Photo Tour

2005-04-24T23:08:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, I've recently returned from a family trip to NYC to visit some friends there. This is my first time to the "Big Apple" and obviously, in the true spirit of tourism, I took a plethora of photos.

Now I'm not about to start publishing a photo blog here, but I thought some of you might find it interesting what a southern boy like myself finds interesting enough to shoot in NYC. Sure-- I'm a cheesy tourist... So what?

My wife found that JetBlue offered EXTREMELY competitive rates on flights to NYC. JetBlue flies out of New Orleans, which is only about 5 hours or so south of where we live in Louisiana. That kinda gives us a day to have some fun in the "Big Easy"-- Home of riverboats, mardi gras, beignets, and street-performers...

We had a great day. The next morning, it's off to the airport.

Our NYC sister met us at JFK and we took a "memorable" cab ride to Ground Zero

At basement-level of "Ground Zero" is the PATH train (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) that runs under the Hudson between NYC and Jersey City, where our friends live high in the "Liberty Towers" aparments overlooking NYC (an especially nice view of both the Empire State building and the Chrysler building)

Times Square is an incredible testament to capitalism!


Grand Central Station is awe-inspiring. One really must see it to truly appreciate it

And when in NYC, one MUST have dessert at Serendipity. It is SOOOO worth it!

Of course, there are several typical stops any tourist must make that are worth seeing first-hand. These include The Eternal Flame in Battery Park, which is lit directly in front of the bronze sculpture rescued from the wreckage of the Towers-- It stood in the mall area on the ground floor. Some more sites include, of course, the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge and Central Park



The Bronx Zoo is awesome. You'll need the whole day, so get an early start and plan on eating there. They have everything from the butt-ugliest California Condors to the most beautifully majestic Bengal Tigers.


I, of course, was NOT leaving NYC without seeing CBGB's-- Home of Underground Rock and Memorial of Joey Ramone (and yes, I got the t-shirt)

NYC truly is a melting pot. Sights, smells and sounds of every culture can be found all over...

Don't forget to check out FAO Swartz-- It's worth the visit. Be sure to get there early in the morning to catch them opening. They open the store each day by rolling out the red carpet and sending out a bugler to herald the opening. The first customers are greeted inside by applause from the employees lining the main walkway. Oh yeah-- And the big piano is still there, it still works, and they still let you dance on it!


A couple more architectural "must-sees" include St. Patrick's Cathedral (captured here soon after the Pope's death with mourning drapery) and the NYC Public Library (even more awesome inside than outside).


I have this strange fear of heights (not a problem if I am "enclosed") so there was no way I was going up to peak over the edge of the Empire State building, but my wife was kind enough to go up with my daughter and take a couple shots, including the parade route in front of Macy's (you should be able to see the green section where dancing and acting is always featured) and the Flatiron building.


At week's end, it was time to take the "A" train back out to JFK where we caught a flight back to New Orleans, then drove back home. It's funny... No matter how much fun you have on vacation, no matter how exotic the location, no matter what kind of worries and problems are waiting for you at home, it ALWAYS feels great to come home, even if it is a little bittersweet.

NYC is truly a sight to behold. I'm glad I went. I miss my friends, but I will always look forward to visiting them again since taking a small bite of the Big Apple.

Official-- Ubuntu Hoary Stable

2005-04-11T13:07:00.000-07:00

Download Hoary Hedgehog- the latest stable release of Ubuntu!

The next release is Breezy Badger. Now I'm wondering what happened to "Grumpy Groundhog." Also-- Don't be alarmed that there are few updates for Hoary in the Ubuntu Repositories. This is typical when an unstable version goes stable. You'll get a few app updates and occasional security updates, but not much else, I imagine. After all-- How stable is a release that still requires updates on core apps? Kinda challenges the "stable" title.

A couple changes you'll want to be prepared to make though regarding your Ubuntu Repositories--

If you wish to stick with the stable release, Hoary Hedgehog, you'll need to update some of your etc/apt/sources.list.

You may want to include a repository of backports. Ubuntu Backports are recently introduced or updated apps that are configured for the previous version of Ubuntu. This way, you can still get the "latest and greatest" in Linux apps for Ubuntu without having to commit your machine to the latest unstable version.

To add this repository, include in your apt/sources.list file accordingly:

deb http://backports.ubuntuforums.org/backports hoary-backports main universe multiverse restricted
deb http://backports.ubuntuforums.org/backports hoary-extras main universe multiverse restricted

Just include that anywhere in the sources.list file and save. then use command-line to "apt-get update" then "apt-get upgrade" There are a few apps already available, including a Gaim update.

Also-- You'll probably want to keep the following repositories for easy java installation or update:

deb http://jrfonseca.dyndns.org/debian/ ./
deb http://ubuntu.tower-net.de/ubuntu warty java

They're still good.

One last thing-- Remember that hoary repository source you wanted to notate so that it didn't update since there was nothing there? Well, there's going to be something there real soon, so denotate it so that it reads like this in your /etc/apt/sources.list file:

## Uncomment after release to continue getting updates:
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hoary-updates main restricted

Try the good ol' apt-get update command. There was nothing there the last time I checked. Give it a couple days.

Now you're stable and STILL edgy!

THEN AGAIN...

If you're wanting to move to the next cutting-edge unstable release, Breezy Badger, you'll need to update your repository completely.

This is actually very simple. Just update your etc/apt/sources.list file to read "Breezy" in place of "Hoary"

That's it. New updates are available now in the Breezy repositories.

In the meantime, don't forget how much easier it is to do this in Synaptic:

Simply click on "Settings" then "Repositories" and you get this:

Edit accordingly.

More support for backports can be found at BreakMyUbuntu, as always.

Support for Breezy Badger will soon appear at the Official Ubuntu Wiki.

And of course, support is ALWAYS available at UbuntuForums.org.

Not Just Cool... Aerocool!

2005-04-03T20:08:00.000-07:00

My buddy and I had a GREAT time this weekend working on his hardware project. Like me, he's building a 64-bit dual-boot server-class rig from scratch, though he has many more of the components on his list than I do of mine. The case is an Aerocool Aeroengine puchased, of course, from Newegg.

He brought over all the components he has so far (which is really just a cpu away from a complete machine) including a Gigabyte K8VNXP dual-LAN mobo, a very nice ATI 9600 256M graphics card, linux-compatible modem, 512M of Corsair RAM, LiteOn Dual-Layer DVD burner and a nice little Enermax multi-format card reader with USB, firewire, SATA, and temp gage with 2 fan controls among other things. The whole thing's powered by a Powmax Demon 480.

The whole thing came together remarkably easy and powered up great the first time. We're looking forward to hooking up a monitor to check out the bios. If you're in the market, I highly recommend building your own. It's fun and the end result is extremely unique, as well as specifically designed to your needs. Here's how it looked after we finished:

Ever fan, and I mean EVERY fan in this computer (even the little fan on the north bridge chip) glows blue. With this jet (and yes, that huge fan in the front does work), you can save a lot of money on lamps. It WILL light up your whole living room!

The wiring's a bit of mess right now, but we're waiting until we get the cpu in to really trim things up. We have some great ideas on hiding cables, including replacing that ribbon cable with round. I'll post more on this after the cpu comes in and as we get the other box assembled.

And The Wind Cries... INCOMING!!

2005-04-01T06:54:00.000-08:00

Here's a neat little poetic phrase for you...

The wind blows tree boughs through my windows

Anyways-- Looks like I get to make my insurance work for me. It's been a while... I guess it's about time we got re-acquainted.

And on my wife's birthday, too! Good time to put things in perspective, actually. Wind was blowin' really hard last night and we have a LOT of very large trees. No damage to the house, no damage to the family, and the wife will still have a good birthday thanx to good insurance. It's just a truck, after all.

And I have to concentrate on more important things... Like coming up with some great April Fool's Day Zingers!

My Assistants

2005-03-31T13:15:00.000-08:00

You know-- No one can be expected to admin an LNP LSMS and SOA, as well as keep up with the latest SS7 tricks, AND engineer SS7 to VoIP migration without some assistance...

Here are mine:

I call them "Anakin" and "Luke" (they're actual names are c000XXXXX and metropolis)

Anakin, the black sheep, can be a serious scream-inducer. He crashes at least once every other week, sometimes more. He goes to the "Winblows 2000" school, so he needs constant close care and supervision. You must watch what he eats or he can choke, puke and die. He has a low tolerance for pain and tends to catch whatever is goin' around (and stuff is ALWAYS goin' around), so you have to innoculate him and give him boosters CONSTANTLY. Thing is-- He does exactly what the company wants him to do and dresses the way the company wants him to dress, but he's still a trouble-maker at heart and tends to keep you on your toes. Oh well... At least the company likes him alot and when he behaves, he's a very hard worker with a lot of skill and tons of tools and toys.

Now the big tan one is Luke... He's a "go-getter." He gives me very little stress and is immune to almost everything that infects Anakin. He's of the "ubuntu linux" school and is always learning something new and useful. He can do alot more than people give him credit for, including spreadsheets and artwork. He even tries to play with Anakin, even though Anakin doesn't like playing with him. He gives me a little trouble every now and then, but it's never anything serious and it's usually pretty easy to fix. He doesn't dress the way the company would like him too, but he's a VERY good dresser... exceptionally stylish. All the same, the company doesn't like him much. Oh, they like the work he does and how quickly and accurately he does it, but they'll never support him. Still... I dote on him because he tries so hard to be good and get along.

Both these "boys" are very ethical in all their dealings, so neither of them is in any danger of being fired. I wish they'd get along a little better, but they do get along. Overall, they've both been a huge help and I take good care of them. Most of the time, they return the favor.

Mandrake-- Prepare to be Unseated!

2005-03-27T20:42:00.000-08:00

For at least 2 years now, probably longer (that's as long as I've kept up with it), Mandrake Linux has reigned as the most popular distribution of Linux on Distrowatch (the single major source of news/updates/links for all the most popular distributions of Linux) based on info page visits. Being regarded as one of the most "user-friendly" distros of all-time, It has enjoyed this #1 spot for so long because it generates tons of page hits by easily attracting new users while retaining a club of existing users paying membership fees using distrowatch to keep up with news and updates.

Fedora retained the #2 spot for quite some time, and Red Hat (arguably the most recognizable of all Linux distros) has enjoyed a #1 spot in the past, and various top 10 spots since, though it has dropped quite a bit since moving to server-intensive status. You can expect to consistently see Suse (a Novell flavor), Debian (mother of Ubuntu) and Slackware (an old favorite in the Linux community for many years) in the top 10.

At long last, though, It appears a challenger finally poses a genuine threat to the french king of distrowatch pageloads. You'll wanna keep an eye on this popularity chart. I predict Ubuntu, with its vast community of supporters spreading the Ubuntu dedication to open-source ideals and commitment to good, stable releases (not to mention its promise to remain FREE) will not only unseat Mandrake, but enjoy the same long term as #1 on the list!

Kubuntu has Come

2005-03-23T16:46:00.000-08:00

Looks like Ubuntu has made it's way into KDE now. There's already isos available for a live cd and an install cd. The first final release is scheduled for April 6th. I've been keeping up with it at the ubuntu forums and so far, it has a very devoted following. I'll be watching this new version closely over the next year. Who knows-- It may prove to revive my interest in KDE...

New Camera!

2005-03-22T07:25:00.000-08:00

Well, It's finally arrived (after all this ranting about national backorders and alternatives research). The Pentax Optio S50 is, so far as I can tell after having it for less than 24 hours, all that it's hyped to be and more.

It's remarkably easy to operate, even with so many features. The manual reads easy, too (not the typical rocket blueprints we've become so used to). It's extremely compact-- I REALLY like that.

Look at this picture quality:

My only complaint is that it arrived just a minute too late to get a pic of all my favorite people all together. All my extended family from NYC and Little Rock, AR were here, albeit under somber circumstances. They mean so much to me and my family-- Heck, they ARE family! I just wish I had nice little pic to post here for ya.

Oh well... Won't be the last time we're all together. Next time, it will be for more festive reasons.

Like I was saying-- The camera is excellent and arrived a day early. I got a 512M SD card from newegg for about $40. Camera says that even at 5 megapixels with good quality, it will hold over 300 still pictures. I highly recommend the card-- It's well worth the $40. The one I got is a dane-elec, and it worked with the camera immediately (no formatting required).

The camera came from buydig.com. As it turns out, this online retailer not only gets a rave review from me, but no shipping AND the lowest price for this camera online? What MORE do you want?

Summary: A feature-PACKED camera for the same price as cameras twice this size with half the features and more than enough photo storage for a couple vacations! WirelessMike is satisfied (for now).

Sound in Firefox on Ubuntu

2005-03-22T06:45:00.000-08:00

For a month or so now, I've been wrestling with finding a solution to the absence of sound in flash on Firefox in Ubuntu. Who knew it would be as easy as...

sudo ln -s /usr/lib/libesd.so.0 /usr/lib/libesd.so.1

I mean-- If it's that easy, why isn't it already there?

Oh well-- What was really fun was testing it. I used this little site to test and sound works just great (and I can't get that stupid song outta my head!). Any animation in which badgers, bananas and phones meet is a "must-share."

Anyways-- I'm discovering that it's the little details that make Ubuntu so much fun!

Nation-wide Backorder

2005-03-16T13:19:00.000-08:00

That's the phrase of the week. Try to buy a Pentax S40 digital camera and hear it for yourself. As you know, the NYC trip is very close now. According to the 3 vendors we tried to order this camera from, a backorder takes a minimum 2-3 weeks just to restock (minimum, because you are really at the mercy of the manufacturer).

After running into one brick wall after another, it becomes obvious that I must now find an alternative. My choices are a bit limited, too, since I took the liberty of buying a 512M SD card for the camera I THOUGHT we were gonna get.

I did extensive research to come up with that camera as the best value ("bang-for-the-buck") on the net. I cannot find an alternative in the same price range. The only comparable cameras are an average $30 higher.

This is basically a simple case of "a dollar short and a day late." This means that either I (1) order the camera anyway and hope it somehow comes in before I leave on vacation, borrowing someone else's or taking traditional 35mm if it does not, or (2) pay around the same price for a camera that has almost as many features, a smaller viewing window and a larger, plastic shell.

OR... There's option (3):

The Pentax Optio S50 is basically the same camera with higher resolution (and with MUCH wider availability). Price is, as mentioned, about $30 more than the planned purchase, but is 5 megapixel resolution instead of 4 and sports a slightly larger 1.8" LCD display with what amounts to all the same features (which is a ton more than anything else in this price category).

So this is what we're going to get, instead, and in the process, we've helped a friend get a great value on what is now an extremely rare camera. This camera better last at least as long as our last 35mm did, which would be about 5+ years. I won't start the clock, though, until the illusive beast is actually "in-hand."

Directron.com

2005-03-11T07:37:00.000-08:00

Well-- Treated myself to about $50 worth of geeky stuff for my birthday. It should all come in next Monday and Tuesday. Here's a rundown of the shopping list:

From Newegg:
1 LiteOn 16x DVD-Rom Drive

And from Directron:
Several fan grills and filters to mod my case and protect from dust...

Let me tell you something about Directron--
This company is so dedicated to good customer service that not 6 hours after I finalized my order, they actually call my mobile to tell me that the colored grill I ordered (yellow) was out-of-stock, but they had it right there in red, red-orange and green. He asked me if I'd settle for a different color. I said the red-orange would be fine, which is the color I almost chose, anyways, so he said that if it was fine with me, he'd put it in my package and complete my order right then with me on the phone.

I was EXTREMELY impressed. What other online vendor gives you that kind of customer service? He didn't try to up-sell me on the delivery, or insurance, or anything like that. Just made sure I got what I wanted without any surprises to receive my shipment on time. I will endorse them with confidence every time I'm asked about case modding supplies. That's how it's SUPPOSED to be done.

All that being said-- My wife bought her camera today, too. I know she'll love it, and I know she's relieved to have finally got a new one.

Also-- I got emails, calls, and even "snail-mail" from all kinds of folks, including family, friends, in-laws... you name it! I got good wishes from Louisiana to Arkansas to New York! You've heard of those folks who can get by a year without anyone noticing when a birthday passed by? Well I AIN'T one of those folks, and I THANK GOD that I have been so blessed.

Going to see Robots tonight as promised (to daughter). Will report on it later.

What a great birthday! I wish everyone was so blessed...

NYC-- Here I Come!

2005-03-08T14:29:00.000-08:00

Well I'm headed to NYC. Not today, of course, but at least I finally have tickets. The wife, kid and I will be headed down to New Orleans, then up to NYC non-stop to visit our dear friends, G&G. Get this-- tickets are only $500 for the three of us, round-trip!

Anyways-- We'll be getting a nice little Pentax Optio to document our holiday. I'll be sure to post some pix after.

Be sure to check back after a while.

I've also got my sites set on a new cpu now. Won't be long. I don't want to jump right into the high-end 64-bit market without getting my feet wet, so I'm looking at a nice, modest Athlon 64 3000 (newcastle core). I can get it for about $146 from Zipzoomfly (formerly "googlegear"), so the price is definitely right, too.

I'll have to post more info about that later... But suffice it to say that the timing is perfect, what with cpu prices being so affordable on these older athlon 64's and Ubuntu 64-bit improving by leaps and bounds in the last month.

Albatron Comes Through

2005-03-03T21:30:00.000-08:00

Well I couldn't be more pleased at the outcome of my plea to AlbatronUSA's RMA and sales email addys.

Here's the last email:

From: RMA Support [tan@albatronusa.com]
Sent: 2/23/2005 12:19 PM
To: wirelessmike@gmail.com
Subject: RE: Mistakes in packaging on recent purchase of Albatron k8x800 Pro 2 mainboard

Dear Customer,

Thank you for contacting AlbatronUSA Support.
We apologize for the inconvenience. Please reply to this e-mail with your mailing address, model# and serial number# of the product, and things that are missing from it.

Thank You
RMA Support
AlbatronUSA

-----Original Message-----
From: WirelessMike [mailto:wirelessmike@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2005 8:11 PM
To: sales
Subject: Mistakes in packaging on recent purchase of Albatron k8x800 Pro 2 mainboard

I just purchased an Albatron K8X800 Pro II Mainboard from Newegg. At first glance, it appeared that I received everything that was supposed to be in the package. However-- The backplane that goes on the case where the back panel devices go is obviously for a different model mainboard.

How can I get the correct backplane? Everything else appears to be in order. Can you send me the correct backplane, or do I have to RMA the entire mainboard?

Also-- I have 2 friends with this same mainboard. A small "Albatron" case sticker with your logo was included in their package. I have searched all through my package, including the manual, and can't find one. Can I get one of those, too?

Later that week, a package comes in the mail with the correct I/O shield and 2 case stickers! Simple as that.

Needless to say, I'll be proud to stick their logo on my box (already have, actually), and I can't wait to compliment my Albatron mobo with a nice, matching 256M Albatron nVidia 5700 graphics card.

Ubuntu-- It's All About the Repositories!

2005-02-23T21:50:00.000-08:00

Lately I've noticed (due to hits on my blog and recurring posts on Ubuntu Forums) that there simply isn't an easy-to-find guide on Ubuntu Repositories (what's available and how to update them).

This isn't meant to be an official tutorial by any means, but it may help those folks who have already installed Ubuntu and are wanting to try a bigger variety of apps. There are excellent how-to guides on the UbuntuLinux site for detailed info on just about anything Ubuntu. See links embedded throughout this post like this one or this other one.

Here's what I can offer on repositories, though. I'm on Hoary already, so my list of repositories will look a little different from those on Warty. If you're on Warty, and looking to upgrade some apps (like to Firefox 1.0 or Gaim 1.1.0) without upgrading your distro (aka "backports"), simply add this repository to your /etc/apt/sources.list file:

deb http://backports.ubuntuforums.org/backports warty-backports main universe multiverse restricted

Now here's my /etc/apt/sources.list (standard Hoary repositories, mostly):

## The following lines pertain to supported packages:
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hoary main restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hoary main restricted

## The following lines pertain to security updates:
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hoary-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hoary-security main restricted

## Uncomment after release to continue getting updates:
# deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hoary-updates main restricted

## IMPORTANT:
## Software from the following repositories are ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by
## the Ubuntu team, and may not be under a free licence. This means that
## software in these repositories WILL NOT receive any review or updates
## from the Ubuntu security team either. These packages are provided as a
## service to our users and nothing more.

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the 'universe' and
## 'multiverse' repositories:
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hoary universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hoary universe multiverse

## Uncomment the following line to add Java software:
deb http://jrfonseca.dyndns.org/debian/ ./
deb http://ubuntu.tower-net.de/ubuntu warty java

This is taken directly from the Ubuntu wiki, so you can trust it. Warty users will see a very similar list, only it will have "warty" everywhere you see "hoary" here.

You'll find this list under /etc/apt/sources.list
Just vi into the file, or use emacs to open it, modify and save. Then type "apt-get update" to refresh your list of available apps.

I highly suggest uncommenting (taking out the little # symbols) the universe and multiverse repositories. There's a TON of good stuff in there and I haven't installed anything yet that hasn't played well with my config.

A really great java repository is "deb http://ubuntu.tower-net.de/ubuntu warty java"
Yeah-- I know it says warty, but these versions of java work fine on warty or hoary. They are a little harder to find in the list on Synaptic since they are labelled "sun java" instead of just "java." Of course, you'll still have to make a link in the mozilla firefox plugins directory back to the appropriate runtime file in the newly-installed java directory after installation. That will work something like this--

$ cd /usr/lib/mozilla-firefox/plugins/
$ sudo ln -s /usr/lib/j2se/1.4/jre/plugin/i386/mozilla/libjavaplugin_oji.so

I know from experience that finding the easy way to get java on Ubuntu ain't easy. I hope this helped a little for those trying so hard to get the answers from a search engine.

I do highly recommend using Synaptic, as well. There is no easier way of shopping for and installing new apps. It makes the whole experience SO EASY!!!

Synaptic makes updating repositories easy, too. Simply click on "Settings," then "Repositories." Modify existing or add new to your heart's content, then Reload for your new list of apps.

The most popular "non-official" ubuntu-related repositories can be found at BreakMyUbuntu in the ubuntulinux.org wiki. These include repositories for restricted non-supported formats like java and multimedia codecs (among other pretty cool apps and libraries). You can see from this post how easy it is to add and remove ubuntu repositories, so give 'em a try!

One last thing: I HIGHLY advise against using a standard debian repository to install apps on Ubuntu. It can be done, quite easily as a matter of fact, but I can tell you from personal experience that if you accidentally upgrade core applications with apps from that debian repository, you can seriously damage Ubuntu. Best to simply avoid them, altogether. Plenty of great Ubuntu repositories out there, anyways. If you're having trouble finding what you want from the repositories you have, ask around at ubuntuforums.org.

--References--
Installing Java on Ubuntu
Adding Repositories for Ubuntu

Minor Disappointment With New Mobo

2005-02-20T20:58:00.000-08:00

Well, my new Albatron mobo has arrived from Newegg and it appears to have been packaged with the wrong I/O shield (that rectangular knockout that pops into your case with cutouts for the back panel ports of a mobo).

Obviously, I can't install the mobo safely without that. Of course, I have no intention of installing the mobo onto the case tray before I get my cpu, anyways, but that's beside the point. The point is-- I may have to rma an entire mobo for a backplane. That would kinda bother me. I've let a message for Albatron to see if they will simply send me the correct backplane. Seems like such a minor thing, perhaps it will be just that easy.

My buddy got his Gigabyte mobo in from Newegg this week, too. It really is awesome and has some cutting-edge new hardware included. It also sports the same feature-rich, user-friendly bios that mine does. Very, VERY impressive, overall. I would definitely recommend it just as highly as I do mine. Both boards shold be versatile on 64-bit Windows or Linux (both, in our cases).

I certainly hope I can find a way to resolve my I/O shield issue without having to rma the whole thing, but if I must, I must, and so much easier since I haven't tried to install a cpu on it yet (what a mess THAT would have been)!

What Color Are You?

2005-02-16T07:21:00.000-08:00

The company I work for has offered a training seminar called "True Colors" for years now. It's designed to help you understand yourself a little better so you make wise career choices, as well as assist in understanding how to better associate with others you have to work with. It's been very effective over the years and has often been useful in identifying potential managers, engineers, analysts, etc. It's also been useful in strengthening business relationships.

A good friend of mine recently found 2 of these tests online that are quick and easy to take. I've already noticed that it is possible to score differently on the 2 tests, so you must keep in mind that the tests are not 100% accurate. No personality test is. However, it's interesting to discover that you can fall into one sociological category while having characteristics of many different categories. Check 'em out, it's fun.

Test 1
Test 2

Ubuntu in the Classroom (Australia)

2005-02-10T07:56:00.000-08:00

Thought this was pretty interesting. Tim Riley works in Australia and has recently set up a computer lab at Pembroke School in Adelaide, South Australia to run exclusively on Ubuntu Linux. This lab is used primarily by students years 8 to 10.

A later blog entry at 88 MPH seems to echo Pembroke's success--

wara, a teacher at Grant High School (another South Australian school) writes about their success switching to Ubuntu for a computer recycling project: "[Ubuntu] is just the bees knees for a computer that will be used for basic office and student type tasks. It installs very very easily and comes with Open Office and Gimp already installed. Our learning curve suddenly seems manageable again."

Sidenote-- Is that a nice classroom or what? Do we have ANY schools that nice here?

More Ubuntu Stuff

2005-02-09T19:58:00.000-08:00

If you use Ubuntu, or are thinking of trying this Linux distro, you gotta check out the forums. These forums have been an incredible source of friendly, useful information, no matter what I've run into.

Just recently, those of us using Hoary experienced a little hiccup with the repositories. If you're using this latest version and got all sort of errors when trying to update using apt-get command-line or Synaptic, DO NOT FRET! It was a temporary ubuntu server problem that has already been resolved. Hey-- Hoary won't be official until April... What do you expect from cutting edge? It's still better than most development releases.

Also-- Bluefish, an EXCELLENT little HTML editor, has been added to the Ubuntu repositories (finally), as well as Graveman, an awesome cd burner utility. If you use Ubuntu, you gotta have these 2 apps!

You may have noticed, as well, that adding launchers to the drop-down menus isn't "easy" anymore. No worries there, either. Those launchers are located in your /usr/share/applications/ directory. Open it in nautilus (browser style). Look familiar? Anyways-- All you have to do to move these launchers around or add new launchers to submenus is move it into this directory, open it with vi or emacs, and edit the launcher's "category" to match one already in the desired submenu. If you're missing the nice little graphic to go with the launcher, you can edit that here, too.

If you're looking to customize the pointer, or install a new pointer theme, but you're dissappointed that it isn't as easy in gnome as it is in kde-- just apt-get install gcursor. With this nice little app, adding and changing pointer themes is actually EASIER in gnome than it is in kde. However, If you'd just prefer kde, the hoary repositories now include "kubuntu," meaning kde-ubuntu.

Well-- I've sung the praises enough for now. If you've been on the fence, try ubuntu, or download the live cd to try it without installing. You may be surprised just how easy it can be, especially with such awesome support (someone is ALWAYS on the forums ready with answers, and there's a LONG "how-to" section).

My New Motherboard... Almost

2005-02-09T09:05:00.000-08:00

Refund is in today. I can afford a nice component. I'm going for the motherboard-- a sweet Albatron Socket 754 (Athlon 64 cpu) with sata raid, on-board 8-channel audio, bios backup, overclocking options, 6 pci slots, and too much more to mention. I've been looking at this series of mobos for about a year now. The mobos have incredible reviews and outperform even the market leaders in overclocking options and accessories. Factor in that it's $40 less than it's closest competitor and... well, you see why I've got my eye on it.

Anyways-- I've updated my list with it regularly for about a year and it's never been out-of-stock... until today. What kind of luck is that? So now I'm on "auto-notify." Neither Newegg (the ONLY place to buy hardware online) nor Zipzoomfly (formerly "googlegear") had it in stock, so now I wait.

Ok. I've waited about a year, I think I can handle another week or two. In the meantime, I'll warm up mounts for it. It's still the mobo for me!

In the Living Room with WirelessMike

2005-02-09T08:22:00.000-08:00

As opposed to "At the Movies," of course. We've been watching a few new dvd releases and can report that there are some really good movies out there just waiting for you to rent/buy!

One of these is King Arthur. A very interesting twist on the old legend. The writers wanted to create a new story based on what little historical reference could be found about a REAL Arthur. The extras on the dvd go into detail regarding this-- It's REALLY worth watching. Some of the legendary fictional characters remain, of course, such as Merlin (though he is no "wizard"), Lancelot, Gawain, Galahad (indentured warriors under Arthur's command), and of course, Guinevere. This is a brand new story with a taste of historical realism. No magic swords, no conjuring wizards, no holy grail... Just a really good tale of courage, honor and devotion. Check it out-- You won't be disappointed!

Another great dvd worth mentioning is Bend It Like Beckham. An excellent movie revealing Indian culture in England and how perseverance can bring 2 cultures together. Lots of laughs, but a GREAT story, too. Good soundtrack, as well. You'll end up buying this one.

The Core and Timeline are more than worthy of mention, too. A couple of great movies with newer actors. Check these out-- Not all good movies do well at the box office. These should have been blockbusters.

Sick of tv? Watch a movie.

I'm Moody Again!

2005-01-30T21:13:00.000-08:00

And just like that, Unkymoods is back on the air!

And, as you can see, I'm simply

Anyways-- I really like the little icon and even when I have nothing to blog, I will at least take the time to change my mood. Anyone who knows me knows I change moods quite regularly, so I usually update my blog to show my general mood (as opposed to my more specific mood, which tends to change by the hour).

I have more reason than that to be happy, though. My Uncle Sonny passed away recently. I was a pall-bearer at his funeral. It was truly an honor. It may have been the best funeral service I have ever been to. My uncle's relatives and friends filled the funeral sanctuary past capacity. Many were standing just outside. The service included many examples of my uncle's dedication to God and family. The service ended with us all singing, according to my uncle's wishes, his favorite hymn, if it counts as an actual hymn. I don't even know what the real name of it is. Picture, though, if you will, at least 400 people singing "I've got that joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart..." I could practically feel my uncle beaming down on us, hoping that in our mourning, we might take a moment to appreciate where he is, and what it will be like when we see him again. At the graveside service, a friend of my uncle's (a genuine Scottish piper) played "Amazing Grace" in the traditional style on the bagpipes. There was mourning, to be sure, but there was also a sense of contentment in the knowledge that Uncle Sonny was now joyfully greeting our Savior in a place much more wonderful than this where there is no pain and no tears. I so look forward to seeing him again!

I'm also looking forward to seeing my dear friends in New York again (or should I say New Jersey?). They've just moved to a wonderful new apartment in Jersey City overlooking Manhattan. They still work in New York, of course, and I still consider them "New-Yorkers," but the difference between where they live now and where they have been living in Manhattan is AMAZING! I simply can't wait to visit...

And, of course I still miss my dear friends in Little Rock, as well... but our mutual friends, the rest of the commune, are still here in Monroe and we still keep the commune going along with the rest over the distance. The travel has actually proven to make things more fun. Sure, I miss not seeing them every day, but it's true that absence makes the heart grow fonder and I love a good road trip!

Anyways-- I thought it was past time I posted about something other than geek-updates. I'll be back later with updates about Ubuntu Linux, sweet low-cost hardware, free software, and my ongoing fear and loathing of java.

05 Hardware/Software Updates

2005-01-26T08:17:00.000-08:00

I haven't got much further on my computer construction. Only a new power supply, but a very, very nice one. I am still considering debian over Ubuntu for the next box, but lately, due to the vast improvements noticeable in the "hoary" dist of Ubuntu, I'm leaning back towards my old friend, Ubuntu again. The construction may be going slow, but it hasn't yet stopped. Next-- the motherboard. I'm still dead-set on Albatron, who makes an AWESOME mobo for an Athlon 64 cpu.

My blog will look a bit different... Unkymoods appears to be dead. The admin/owner was having bandwidth issues the last time I could access his site. He appears to have given up. A shame. He was an extremely talented artist and the unkymoods script was a must-have for any blog. I'll miss it. I'll keep an eye out for it, though-- In case he makes a come-back.

Ran into some interesting software for accessing MySQL lately called Navicat. Navicat offers ports of their software for Windows, Linux and Mac. The Windows version is excellent, but the Linux version kinda sucks (at least it does for debian/ubuntu). It appears that the Linux version was written exclusively for Red Hat. I used alien to convert it to a debian package, then dpkg to install. Works ok, but not as well as MySQL Query Browser, which I highly recommend for Linux users.

Happy New Year

2005-01-09T13:13:00.000-08:00

Well, Since I'm finally getting around to updating my blog and junk...

I had a great new year celebration. No fireworks... no resolutions... no predictions... Just a road trip, good friends, great food, some shopping and an excellent message Sunday morning.

We went to Little Rock, AR to visit friends (or family-- same difference in this case).

We had a GREAT time! We visited Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas and hiked down a cliff into a beautiful valley with a stream making small falls all the way down. At the bottom, we took off towards Cedar Creek Falls (below). All along the trail were picturesque views from the towering cliffs to the beautiful stream. Mix with a 6-year-old and 2 more couples of great friends and you have a guaranteed recipe for fun and memories!

If you're ever within distance of this park, I HIGHLY recommend exploring!

We also got to eat at Tia's. I've been aching to eat there again ever since the last time we went to visit and I ordered chicken. It was suggested I try the steak fajitas, but I went with what I know, and I know I like chicken. I did try my friend's steak fajita, though. This time, I went with a purpose, and if you ever find yourself looking at a Tia's menu, JUST ORDER THE STEAK FAJITAS! They really are awesome!

I've decided since coming home to change my name to "evil jj." Yes-- There are 2 of me out there, and my dear friend had the good fortune of marrying "good jj." Anyways, it's always comforting to know that there's someone else out there that's so easy to relate to on a personality level. Now if we can just figure out how to get everyone ELSE to understand us...

Anyways, Every time I see them, I'm reminded how much I miss them. However, the road trip IS fun... and I just love Little Rock. It seems to take too long between visits, but you know how life goes. Fortunately, God never runs out of time-outs, but you never know when He's gonna call one, so you just gotta make the most of 'em when they happen!

And for tradition's sake, here's my prediction for the new year: Lots of things will change, as they must and always do, and lots of things will grow. I intend to experience both.

Ubuntu vs. Debian

2005-01-09T12:18:00.000-08:00

vs.

Now after a few weeks on Ubuntu, I've become even more enamored of Debian. Ubuntu is an easy-to-install flavor of Debian. Ubuntu offers an interesting commitment. There is always a new, stable release of Ubuntu every 6 months. The current release is "Warty" and the next will be "Hoary." Ubuntu offers an excellent gnome desktop. Current predictions of the final release of Hoary contend that both kde and gnome will be offered.

I have run into one problem regarding Ubuntu, and that is its limited repositories. Due to the nature of its stability, it is unwise to upgrade any of the packaged apps using debian repositories... Oh sure, some of the apps non-essential to the gui or networking can be upgraded using a deb repository, but I have first-hand experience about the disaster that can happen if you try to upgrade gnome or networking tools. I had to re-install. Lesson learned, though, and I'm more careful now about how I use debian repositories on Ubuntu.

Basically, if you wish to stay current and update apps in real-time, and you like Ubuntu, you'd probably like Debian equally-- Especially if you're looking for a nice, full-featured, easy-to-update OS for your 64-bit box. However, If you like a nice, neat, stable OS and don't venture far outside of packaged apps, Ubuntu would be the wiser choice. I've decided Ubuntu will stay on my admin box and will most likely be on my new 64-bit home box, though possibly with kde (kubuntu) instead of gnome. Nothing against gnome, but there's a few apps unique to kde that I'm looking forward to checking out, and I'd like to explore similarities/differences in desktop customization. I've experimented with kde in the past and, until recent updates in gnome, preferred it. Now I'm more experienced in gnome, so I'll be looking forward to a fresh start with kde.

The bottom-line is that both Ubuntu and Debian utilize the best application in Linux, apt-get. Once you've tried apt-get, it's near impossible to go back to traditional linux software installation and updating. If you must have apt-get, you must have Debian or Ubuntu.

Up and Runnin' for Christmas

2004-12-28T08:25:00.000-08:00

Well, with BKW's help, Ubuntu is not just up and runnin' on my admin machine, it's thriving. Took forever to get vnc to work the way I wanted. Java took even longer, but in the end, I've learned that newer Linux distros do NOT play well with older Java releases. VNC updates and installation ended up being a repositories issue. Apt-Get is AWESOME! Unfortunately, Ubuntu simply does not have the large, diverse repositories that its mother, Debian does. Solution: Update Ubuntu repositories to include Debian sources.

Another tip to the wise-- Just use the latest version of Java. If the applications you use are designed specifically for older versions of Java, use a different application. Developers of Java-based apps should know that keeping up with the latest releases of JRE is the price you pay for developing software on it.

Anyways... Christmas has come and gone. Our Lord still reigns as the central meaning of Christmas. Hope yours was as happy as mine was! I got enough to get a couple more components for my home-built (mobo and power supply). Kid made out like a BANDIT! Lots to be thankful for.

The Return of The Return of the King... Update

2004-12-15T23:00:00.000-08:00

So I've seen the extended edition now, and it is EXCELLENT!

And now... the easter egg.

The easter egg is an "interview" of sorts, but it is NOT an exclusive interview with Elijah Wood at the Berlin premier as we have been lead to believe by TheOneRing.net. I won't spoil it for everyone by telling you how to find it. If you found it in the last 2 movies, you'll find it in this one, too.

The "interview" is a mock interview with Peter Jackson (director of LOTR) by Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughan for the last MTV Music Awards, continuing the saga of MTV Music Awards LOTR skits. It's pretty funny, actually, poking fun at Hollywood PR and hype (though it's a bit long and tedious... I've seen funnier). You'll have to see it for yourself for more info. That's as much of a spoiler as you'll get from me.

Go buy it. It's worth it. Cost me a little over $25 at Wal-Mart, but worth much more than that. All the scenes mentioned earlier are here. Fans of the books will not be disappointed. The "Scouring of the Shire" is still not included, but who wants to watch a 6-hour movie? The screenwriting feels much more complete thanks to the extra footage. If you came away from the theatre with questions, you'll get most of your answers. 'Nuff said.

The Return of The Return of the King!

2004-12-15T06:25:00.000-08:00

Which Fantasy/SciFi Character Are You?

How coincidental that I would score "Gandalf." I just bought The Return of the King Extended Edition (at long last) and so far (I've only watched half), It's all that has been promised and more! I'm VERY pleased with what I've seen already and HIGHLY recommend it for the Tolkien-lover in you!

I haven't yet checked out the easter egg-- I'll probably do that after watching the entire movie.

Some others that are just out waiting for me to buy include I, Robot with Will Smith and The Bourne Supremacy with Matt Damon and Karl Urban (Urban was Eomer in the LOTR trilogy).

I'm Down With Ubuntu

2004-12-10T05:55:00.000-08:00

Well, Since I last posted (which has been quite a while now), I have addressed SEVERAL issues with the LSMS I keep going on about (the database that has become my ENTIRE job), seen my daughter's school Christmas presentation (nobody puts on a show like kindegartners!), put my wife in the hospital (at least for a night), and, through experimentation with Linux Live CDs (like the ones mentioned in my last post), had a complete change of heart concerning my favorite Linux distro.

The new distro (new to me, anyways) is called Ubuntu. The live cd has proved to be VERY stable and intuitive. Clean installation won't be as easy as with the Fedora or Mandrake, but the features you get, such as the advanced apt-get software and very user-friendly gnome desktop environment, plus the inclusion of Firefox and Evolution as default applications... Well, what can I say? This is one awesome distro! Based on Debian, it can boast not only superior stability, but incredible hardware compatibility. The livecd has worked on everything I've dropped it in so far. I can't say that for Basilisk (the fedora live cd) or Mandrake Move.

Gnoppix is and EXCELLENT feature-packed live cd now based on Ubuntu "warty". This one has pretty much the same look and feel of the Ubuntu live cd (and why shouldn't it, both are based on "Morphix" live cd templates), but Gnoppix adds some flash and media apps. This live cd is what turned me on to Ubuntu in the first place.

So maybe you're wondering, "What does 'ubuntu' mean, exactly?" Well, the site says it's an ancient african word meaning "humanity to others."

From the Ubuntu homepage--

"The Ubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu Manifesto: that software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customise and alter their software in whatever way they see fit."

"These freedoms make Ubuntu fundamentally different from traditional proprietary software: not only are the tools you need available free of charge, you have the right to modify your software until it works the way you want it to."

Anyways-- I'll soon be replacing my permanent Fedora link with one to Ubuntu. My buddy, BKR, should be extremely pleased to have converted me. He's a Debian/Ubuntu evangelist and I must concede that he makes a POWERFUL argument. The live cds only help to prove his point. Consider me sold. Ubuntu rules!

Would You Like To Try Fedora?

2004-12-01T11:55:00.000-08:00

If you'd like to see how Fedora Core 3 would look on YOUR computer, try a nice little Linux "live cd" called "basilisk" from Linux4All. Just download the iso (only 1 cd, of course) and burn it. Drop it in the cdrom and restart. Presto, You're on Linux Fedora Core 3! What's more-- You can take basilisk anywhere and use Fedora Core 3 on almost any computer. Great for hardware testing.

There are a number of live cds out there. The most popular is probably Knoppix (this distro really WILL work on pretty much ANYTHING!). Only slightly less popular is MandrakeMove. Both of these live cds feature the kde desktop, a very nice gui environment for linux. I, however, prefer gnome 2.8 for fedora/red hat, so for me, basilisk 1.4 is perfect. I don't mean to say gnome is better-- In the big picture, perhaps kde is better, I'm not really qualified to say. It is a matter of personal taste and learning curve. For me, this latest gnome for fedora core 3 is simply more attractive.

So what's so cool about a linux live cd? How about you can use all the linux apps, connect to the internet as usual, cruise around the gui and experiment all you want without actually INSTALLING a new operating system? If you usually boot windows, when you take the cd out and reboot, windows looks just the way you left it, and your computer is none the wiser about having been a linux box temporarily. It's a wonderful, low-risk, highly educational and non-committal way to explore Linux. And if you've been following my comparison of Fedora and Mandrake, live cds are an easy way to compare for yourself without any commitment of your hardware whatsoever. Hey-- Give it a shot. Mikey tried it, and he LIKES it!

The Return of the King EE TRAILER!!!

2004-11-30T06:30:00.000-08:00

Well, Still no sign of any "scouring of the shire" scenes-- But almost EVERYTHING else from the book is here! Some tidbits that you'll see in the 6-minute trailer include the Mouth of Sauron, the final confrontation between Saruman and Gandalf (the trailer even includes a short message from Christopher Lee regarding this scene, dispelling myths of hard feelings between he and Jackson), the capture of the Corsairs of Umbar, Aragorn using the palantir, the love story of Faramir and Eowyn, Sam and Frodo marching with the orcs, and a short, but very moving speech by Merry. 50 minutes in all (half an average movie in addition to original footage), and, of course, all-new appendices and extra features.

If you're like me, and this is what you've been waiting and saving for, you WON'T be disappointed!

The extended edition will be available December 14th (that's Tuesday after next). If only 2 show up on the shelves, I hope you can get there early enough to buy the other one. FRODO LIVES!

Firefox Grows Up!

2004-11-19T11:32:00.000-08:00

Well, It's finally happened. Firefox is no longer beta. Say hello to Firefox 1.0! The final release is finally out, so grab it while it's hot.

What a way to round out my week! I successfully finished updating my database, I have final release versions of Fedora Core 3 and Mandrake 10.1 Community, and to top things off, Firefox goes 1.0! What a great way to end the week and coast into Thanksgiving!

The Sound of Inevitability

2004-11-17T07:16:00.000-08:00

An appropriate Matrix quote, I think, for the death knell of Microshaft Internet Exploder. You know-- When even the media starts to recognize that what was once considered the free and simple alternative has become the free and simple standard, the general public is usually not far behind.

I've been an advocate of Firefox since the "Phoenix" days. It originated as a standalone alternative to the full, bloated Mozilla browser suite on the same gecko kernel. It has evolved over the years, changing names twice (from Phoenix to Firebird to Firefox). A companion email client, Thunderbird, is available but not included, keeping true to the "light browser" theme. What IS included is a very simple and easy-to-use options gui, a built-in popup blocker, compliance with all the latest W3C standards, a HIGH level of customization, automatic update of added-in features (such as skins or extensions) and a VERY active support community. There is more, of course, but I need not cover it here-- Comparisons and descriptions are easily found all over the web. I also need not mention that web page viruses and spyware are specifically designed to take advantage of Internet Exploder's many security problems. The Gecko engine does not share these vulnerabilities, making Firefox not just a wise alternative based on customization, features and level of browsing experience, but also based on security concerns.

Anyways, I've stated my case. I really REALLY can't understand why ANYONE would continue to use Internet Exploder in the face of such a superior free alternative.

OS Updates and Heartaches

2004-11-12T11:56:00.000-08:00

Well-- My version of VMWare has seriously curtailed the variety of Linux distros I'm able to test on my little home machine. Fedora Core 3 freezes in mid-boot. Red Hat 9 doesn't boot AT ALL. My sincere apologies, though, and thanks to the developers of Mandrake. Mandrake 10 installed and booted flawlessly (even if it didn't recognize my eth0). Unfortunately, the download version of this distro is so bare-bones, not to mention the lack of a nice updater such as apt-get or yum, that it simply wasn't worth the drive space. However, this makes me wonder if there isn't some sort of misunderstanding between the grub bootloader and VMWare... Both Fedora and Red Hat (pretty much the same thing) use grub. Mandrake uses lilo. Hmm....

I have some tests to run on yet another distro and some friends to consult before I scrap the whole idea testing and comparing various distros and just wait till I get the new machine built. However, I've pretty much got my mouth set on Fedora for its plethora of useful apps, yum app updater and friendly gui. Now to build the machine... You can see the case in an earlier post.

Oh yeah-- and if you noticed my mood hasn't changed from "sick" in at least 2 weeks, it's because I've been sick for at least 2 weeks!

Fedora Core 3 Released

2004-11-08T13:47:00.000-08:00

Well, It's finally been announced that Core 3 Final is available for download. Like Core 2, there is a traditional 32-bit version (i386) and an amd64 version (x86_64).

I'll be playing with gnome for the first time on this release. I understand the integration is excellent. The anaconda installer is included, of course, making this arguably the easiest distro to install (mandrake's installer is pretty easy, too, but I don't think it's necessarily any better than anaconda for red hat/fedora).

VMWare will allow me to play while I get a feel for gnome. Core 3 brings some enhancements such as the inclusion of apt-get and YUM repositories for Fedora. There are other updates, to be sure, but old lists from test versions appear to have been taken down and there are no release notes for this final release, so your guess is as good as mine.

Anyways-- Get it while it's hot.

The Return of the Red Hat Box Set (sort of)

2004-11-04T21:35:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm still in a state of excitement and anticipation over the upcoming Fedora Core 3. It's definitely in release candidate stages, but still no final version. I saw this post on FedoraForum today. I love that there's going to be a box set. It consists of a book by Colin Charles and core 3 final. I think it's only available for pre-order at Lulu right now. I don't know if it will make it to chain retail shelves. We'll have to wait and see.

Anybody remember the old Red Hat box sets? You used to get 'em at Office Depot for about $30 to $40. Worth it just for the nice cd set and the informative manual.

Yeah, I know you can still download it free... But that's a pretty nice little box set and they're really not askin' much for it. Will post a book report later if I get it.

Fun Week

2004-11-04T20:57:00.000-08:00

This week has got to go down as one of my worst weeks ever. Monday I got a file to update the LNP dbase. It took me till late Tuesday night to finish loading it. Tuesday, I had to stay home with the daughter (school closed for election day), which was pretty cool, but at some point during that day, I caught a cold... a bad one. Still, I worked from home until the update was finished late that evening. Wednesday, I found out the file I just used to update the dbase was short some records and resulted in over 250 trouble tickets from folks who either couldn't reach who they were calling, or couldn't get calls. I got more sick throughout the day while trying to use a "band-aid" approach to fix the problems, a number at a time as the tickets started rolling in. When I finally found out how big the problem really was, I knew I had to order another file and redo the whole update from the beginning. That took late late into the night and the next morning while I steadily got more sick. Thursday morning, I start addressing the troubles and define the problem and the upcoming solutions. Now I'm working on about 4 hours of sleep (in increments of 2 2-hour naps) and I'm more sick than ever, with a possible sinus infection, fluid buildup in ears and sore throat. After solving problems and playing catchup, I get to leave.

Tomorrow's Friday. I'm still sick. Right now I'm working on a dose of Tylenol Severe Cold, biaxin (an antibiotic), Vick's salve and cough syrup. Seems like I've been hit pretty hard this Fall with every bug that's floated by. Reminds me of when I used to smoke. Maybe will be better by the weekend. Some in-laws I like are coming to visit. Some old friends will be coming in not too long after that. I miss them terribly. I figure if my head will just go ahead and explode, I'll be fine. Come on, SATURDAY!

Oh yeah-- Next Monday I get to do another one of those dbase updates, only I'll be updating 5 regions instead of just 1. If you value the advice of a telecommunications engineer, don't port your number unless you absolutely have to. There are simply too many ways to misroute calls to ported numbers.

Halloween-- A Religious Holiday?

2004-11-01T09:25:00.000-08:00

Every Halloween the old debate is renewed. Is it ok for christians to participate in Halloween? Well-- I have almost all my life, and I've allowed my daughter to, as well. I justify this by reminding myself and my daughter that I do not consider Halloween to be in any way a religious holiday, but the truth is, it was.

The title of this post is a link to a short essay about the origin of Halloween. The name is derived from a holiday called "All Hallow's Eve" in recognition of the catholic church's attempt to migrate pagans conquered by the Roman Empire to christianity by celebrating instead "All Hallow's Day" or "All Saint's Day" (formerly in May, but moved to November 1st for the purpose of easing the transition). The pagans, however, continued to observe the druidic roots of their holiday on the night before, known as "All Hallow's Eve." That later got shortened to "Hallow's E'en." You can see how it got to be "Halloween" from that.

At conception, the holiday marked the end of the druidic year which was considered a time of sacrifice for souls that had not yet been judged by their chief gods, sanheim, god of the dead, and cernunnos, the sun god. Every October 31st, druids would make great bonfires in which to sacrifice animals to cernunnos (horses were especially sacred and killed often) and humans to sanheim. Druids believed that watching how they died in the fire revealed portents of the future. The original druid rites eventually died out, but some are still in practice in newer pagan sects, such as wicca, which still hold Halloween sacred.

Anyways-- It's comforting to refer to the holiday as "halloween" since that word has taken on a meaning of its own which few folks relate to sacrifice and worship of false gods. The holiday has come a long, long way from its druidic ritualistic roots. The jack-o-latern and trick-or-treating are products of unassociated practices of warding off evil spirits or retelling old celtic legends. The holiday is now a hodge-podge of many different customs and practices rooted in celtic folklore.

However, It's important to note that some people still prefer to call it "All Hallow's Eve," its original religious name, either in appreciation of the attempt by the Romans to integrate pagans and christians from which the observance was named, or in recognition of the worship of the druid gods for whom the observance was created. What's really frightening is that some people today actually celebrate Halloween with bonfires as the original druids did (though without the sacrifices, I hope). That's a little too close to the original druid rituals for my tastes.

The holiday is one of the only true pagan holidays left. Like it or not, that is its origin. This "debate," by the way, has been going on since the romans introduced it into christian culture in 834 ad and it continues today. Every christian should use their own judgement after education and prayer whether or not to celebrate the holiday and how to celebrate it. After all, any holiday can be an excuse to glorify God.

The New Saturn Relay

2004-10-28T06:29:00.000-07:00

I don't usually go for minivans, and I'm not about to start now. I'll probably keep driving my truck until the wheels fall off. However-- When I caught a glimpse of a Saturn minivan on a commercial I saw recently, I had to confirm that I wasn't seeing things and check it out online.

Well, I found it. The Saturn Relay. Lots of features packed into this little family-mobile, including the backseat dvd-player my wife always wanted. Nice, small 6-banger puts out about 200 horses and gets better than 22 miles per gallon (note the rating is based on the AWD model-- There are 2 2WD models, both of which will get better ratings). Easy seating arrangements, 2 sliding doors, etc. etc. etc.

Anyways, at 27 grand, It's a bit expensive at the moment, but I'll be keeping an eye on this nice little traveler. If it's possible, and the wife likes it, it may end up in my driveway sometime in the next 3 years or so. Hey-- It's a Saturn.

Today's Dilbert

2004-10-21T06:20:00.000-07:00

I saw this and just had to post it. Sure, everbody gets Dilbert every day, but this was blog-worthy, so up it goes...

I'm not sure what's worse-- That I know someone who could seriously benefit from Dogbert's training, or that I could seriously benefit from this training!

Here are a few boring folks worth mentioning... Try to picture someone in each category and then determine which bores you the quickest. For the sake of humor and trendy language, I'll use "that guy" in each short description. Remember, these people may be boring, but they're not awful or detestable, just boring sometimes.

Warning-- Odds are, you've been one of these people at some time or another.

(1) That guy who thinks he really is somewhat of an expert on everything. Every conversation is a series of statements for the sole purpose of your enlightenment.
(2) That guy who brings up the same thing every time you talk to him, either forgetting he told/showed you, or believing it's interesting enough to bring up yet again.
(3) That guy who just isn't a closer. He tends to go on and on and on... It's like he's waiting for the credits to start rolling or something.
(4) That guy who thinks everyone MUST be interested in sports, and will give you statistics, regardless.
(5) That guy who said something that p*ssed you off once, got informed, and now says that same thing every time you see him thinking that maybe the tenth time, it won't p*ss you off anymore.
(6) That guy who can never connect the right subject with his audience and knows it, but keeps talkin' anyway.
(7) That guy who has the answer, but won't give it to you, thinking he's doing you some kind of favor by making you guess until you get it right.
(8) That guy whose consistent reply to criticism is a simple, apathetic "Get over it." It's not his best reply, it's his ONLY reply. This guy is typically about as creative and exciting as the menu at Luby's.
(9) That guy who can't talk outside your personal space.
(10) That guy with the tales so tall, they don't even appeal to sci-fi fans.

My Yawn factors are as follow:

1. 4 Big Yawns (should be plenty of time for 4)
2. 3 Big Yawns (I'm reminded of the phrase "gets old fast")
3. 3 Big Yawns (This one's just me, the "ramblin' man")
4. 5 Big Yawns (This one is REALLY me, so I'll be generous)
5. 1 Big Yawn (that's all you'll have time for before walking away from him in mid-sentence)
6. 4 Big Yawns (again, plenty of time for 4)
7. 2 Mediocre Yawns (most times, I just give up and look it up online)
8. 1 Mediocre Yawn (another one where there's just not much time before utter disinterest)
9. 1 Big Yawn (when he's that close, this is all it usually takes, especially if your breath is bad)
10. 5 Big Yawns (don't know that I find anything more boring than this)

These guys are just boring. If these people seriously upset you, you're taking them too seriously. Personally, I've been each one of these guys at some point. Remember, the "average joe" can detect when they are boring and change accordingly. Heck, these little boring idiosyncrasies tend to make us a bit more memorable!

Have fun!

My New Digs

2004-10-21T05:57:00.000-07:00

Well, My family and I are just about settled into our new digs at this point. There's still some things to unpack, some changes/updates to do, a lawnmower to repair... but already, I've got used to the living room. The bedrooms are nice and roomy, even the guest room. We lost a shower (this one has a bath and a half instead of 2 full baths), but the advantages over the old digs outweigh the small sacrifices.

Now we have some pictures to hang and a room to clear. That second thing will REALLY take some time. Our dog, Sunny, seems comfortable enough already. Now if we can just get the backyard fence complete, we'll be able to open the door and let her run wild. My daughter can ride her bicycle (previously, there was severly limited space for this activity, which was usually reserved for visiting family in neighborhoods).

The dining room overpowers our little table a little, but that's ok. We already have a bigger table. We're waiting for chairs to set it up. Overall, I'm extremely pleased. The best thing is the lack of speeding vehicles outside the bedroom window. You just can't beat that. Home Sweet Home.

Debian vs. Fedora

2004-10-18T07:40:00.000-07:00

I have a close friend, bkw, whose distro-of-choice is Debian. While he has many reasons for preferring Debian, his 3 biggest reasons are (1) 64-bit kernel is free, (2) hardware compatibility, and (3) the apt-get method of software installation and update is incredibly easy and overcomes that universal OS problem of knowing when to update open-source software.

As you know, I am a fan of Mandrake and a very recent fan of Fedora. I now lean towards Fedora because of it's open-source nature. Recently, due to yet another friend's success with Debian on my suggested hardware, I've been exploring how my current pick, Fedora Core 2, stands up against Debian Sarge.

VS.

Here's the breakdown:

Both distros offer a 64-bit kernel free.
Both distros are easily found, both in standard i386 and 64-bit formats, online for download as iso's.
Debian offers apt-get as part of the install package. If you want apt-get for Fedora, it is available, but must be downloaded after install and you must manually complete the lists for apt-get to search for updates to Fedora software (see this thread).
Fedora offers an app called YUM with install that automatically searches for updates to rpm software, much like apt-get. This is unique to Fedora and Red Hat.

Here's my problem with both distros:

All other things being equal, Fedora is still the easier install by far, using "Anaconda," a gui install that rivals Mandrake in user-friendliness. Debian, by comparison, will require (for me, at least) some assistance-- Most likely, hands-on.

The current Debian distro will recognize ALL my suggested hardware. Fedora Core 2 has a problem with SATA HDDs (or at least with Hitachi SATA HDDs), as I explained in an earlier post.

Fedora Core 3 should be out next month. If it still chokes on SATA HDDs, this comparison leans heavily towards Debian. But I already know Core 3 will come with both YUM and Apt repositories for Fedora, and that plays heavily in its favor for me. I also know that WD SATA HDDs have been installed successfully under Core 2, so maybe it's just Hitachi. I suppose I'll know soon enough.

My Other Home is in Middle Earth

2004-10-13T08:51:00.000-07:00

Being the die-hard Tolkien fan that I am, I thought it might be cool to put up some updates regarding the upcoming extended edition of The Lord of the Rings -- Return of the King.

But first...

Ever wonder what it might be like driving in Middle Earth today?

OK, Now that I have THAT out of my system...

The extended version will be available December 14th, according to DVD Times and features 50 minutes of additional footage!

No word yet what of the story that footage will include. Fans like myself are hoping it will include the "scouring of the shire" (or at least some trimmed-up version or reference to it) which was overlooked completely in the theatrical release and considered by many to be very important to the story with consideration to the character of Samwise, in particular, not to mention the demise of Saruman and Wormtongue. What is known is that it will most likely include an extended version of the scene at Orthanc where Pippen finds the Palantir. In the book, there is a long parley between the wizards which results in Gandalf's final curse of Saruman (not a literal curse, of course), and the tossing of the palantir out the window by Wormtongue. The cut of this scene from the theatrical release kept Saruman from appearing in the movie at all, and subsequently lead to Lee's boycott of the premier.

If you can believe it, someone has already exposed the easter egg!

There'll be more news as the release date approaches and I happen to stumble on it.

A Fair and Unbiased Story About Reeves

2004-10-12T11:31:00.000-07:00

This is an update to yesterday's post chastising the liberal media. For whatever reason, it never occurred to me to look outside the US for an unbiased examination of what Reeve's death meant to America, undivided.

Just click the post title above.

Caution-- This is not indicative of the biased and strongly liberal agendas of the US media. Don't let stories like this take you off your guard or keep you from holding our news accountable on credibility.

Superman Dies

2004-10-11T06:08:00.000-07:00

After seeing Christopher Reeve as Superman, I could picture no one else in the role. I thought it was entirely appropriate to cast him as Clark's trusted confidant in the tv series, "Smallville."

He was an excellent actor, and showed amazing strength in the face of adversity after his tragic accident. I prefer to memorialize him as you see him above, in his prime, an extremely athletic and tall man who fit the role of Superman perfectly. You won't find pictures of him in his wheelchair here.

I didn't deify him. I've never even been that big of a fan, but he is, to my generation, "Superman."

In other news-- The media is actually using Reeve's death to promote politics, and I quote, "US actor Christopher Reeve, who died of heart failure after a long battle with paralysis, was a thorn in the side of President George W. Bush (news - web sites), seen here 08 October 2004, over his championing of stem cell research."

Does everything, even the death of an actor whose life is so interesting, it easily stands on its own merit, have to boil down to political posturing?

Very disappointed in the media...

Fun and Simple Site Graphics

2004-10-07T11:55:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon a cool little site today.

Most anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE graphics, makin' 'em, tweakin' 'em, resamplin' 'em, etc.

Well click the title of this post and visit nhacks.com/email icon generator. You simply type your email address the way you want it to graphically appear, and it spits out the colorful icon for you. Right now, it only generates for gmail, hotmail and yahoo, but that pretty much covers me (and probably most other folks, too) regarding the addys I don't mind sharing publicly.

Here's what it spit out for me:

Notice I made mine "mailto" links. That's really pretty darn simple to do, but if you don't know how and want to do this, too, just steal my code (with appropriate changes, of course).

[a href="mailto:youraddress@gmail.com"][img src="http://www.wherever you uploaded the icon/email.php.png"/][/a]

You'll have to replace those brackets with "less than" and "greater than" symbols, of course.

Just some eye-candy I had to share.

What Do I Do All Day (or "How Does LNP Work")?

2004-10-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

For the last few days, I've been dealing with the stress caused by sub-standard hardware in a networked LSMS which MUST be updated before Wednesday. This slow, unpredictable, unreliable, million+ dollar piece of hardware takes approximately 8 hours to update per dbase, and there are 4 dbases (not including the main one at the LSMS, which takes about 3 or 4 hours to update before you begin the 8-hour procedure). So here's a little description to help understand the source of my stress...

OK-- A short tutorial for the techie or telecom engineer in you. The LSMS (Local Service Management System) I work on is a large Sun database consisting of multiple components in 2 cabinets with built-in redundancy (there's a active database, and a backup). This dbase contains the information necessary to properly route calls to ported customers (customers who have changed providers but kept their numbers). All telecoms must have one, or have access to one via third-party solution provider, in order to meet the mandated requirement for LNP (Local Number Portability) set by the FCC.

How it works:
When a call is made to a ported number, a "query" is launched from the LNP-capable switch (there are several different types of switches out there, the most popular including Siemens, Lucent and Nortel) that's supposed to "terminate" the call. There are 2 ways a switch can know to launch a query to route a call to a ported customer-- (1) The first six digits (known as the NPA-NXX) are identified in the switch as being portable, so every call made to a number with those six digits at the beginning forces the switch to launch a query to an LNP dbase, or (2) the switch is set up to launch queries to an LNP dbase on every number the switch terminates calls to.

This query goes to the STP, which is a network "gateway" for telecom service providers. In the STP, there is a DSM card, or database line card, that contains either all the information that is in the LSMS, or information filtered specifically for the switches that STP services. If the number being queried is ported, it will be in that dbase with an "LRN" (Location Routing Number). The LRN looks like a plain old 10-digit telephone number, but it acts as an address for the ported customer. So it may identify the customer as being serviced by any provider within that code-owner's "rate center". A code-owner is whoever actually owns all the numbers beginning with a specific NPA-NXX.

That info (the LRN) is returned to the switch trying to route the call so it will know where the customer actually is in order to send it to the correct service provider, who will terminate the call (ring the called party's phone).

That's all there is to it. The NPAC (Number Portability Administration Center) has this information, these LRNs (along with information necessary for other SS7 services) for every ported number in the US, seperated into 8 neat regions in order to optimize dbase space (1 of the 8 is Canada, which I never have to deal with).

Each service provider has access to an LSMS which downloads the info they need from the NPAC in "real time." The LSMS, in turn, updates the dbase cards in the STPs with said information, and those cards provide the info to switches in order to properly route calls as needed (ever time a "query" is launched).

Sounds simple, right? Well... Not exactly. You see, telecoms get bought out every day, and in order to properly route calls to numbers they ported, or for the new provider to port more numbers that belonged to that carrier, Several changes have to be made to the information at the main NPAC dbase (mostly with correctly identifying who owns those NPA-NXXs and LRNs). Also, carriers who maintain their own LSMS must know to update their information, as well. This takes alot of time. Because of instances like this, and the occasional failure of the LSMS to get updates in real time, one must monitor the LSMS daily to make sure everything is working properly and all the info is up-to-date. As if that weren't enough, unpredictable problems crop up like not being able to update one specific network element without updating it's redundant twin first, and not knowing which one that is until the update fails, or simple network latency, or problems associated with the stability of the admin console, etc. It keeps you on your toes.

That's my primary job description. I do other stuff, too, as I work in a very small department responsible for the reliability of SS7 in our network (you'll just have to look up SS7, there's not enough space here to describe). I don't have to work on it every day, but I have had to work on it for the past week and a half. Hopefully, I'll only be doing routine maintenance over the next few weeks so I can concentrate on some other tasks, like reports, number pooling, customer service associated with porting, SS7 troubleshooting, etc.

Sick of Bein' Sick

2004-10-06T09:25:00.000-07:00

Being sick sux. For the last few days I've suffered a pinched nerve between my neck and shoulder (some refer to this as a "crick" in the neck). It steadily worsened until I finally gave up, called my doctor, and picked up the muscle-relaxers he prescribed. It's now worlds better and I predict I'll have no recollection of ever having this pain by Friday. What makes it worse is that I've been fighting a mild case of bronchitis for the last week, too. So for a couple days there, it was hard to breathe or move. I don't get it... I'm only 34!

Anyways, It cost me a day of work. A day I really couldn't afford to lose, so I ended up working remotely from my home computer, which is nowhere near as reliable as the one at work. Still, It got the job halfway done. Next day, I'm at work (barely moving my head), and I'm working today, too, though feeling much much better, yet still not "out of the woods." I'm sick of being sick.

The Problem With Bleeding-Edge Hardware

2004-09-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

SATA Harddrives, Gigabit LAN... Cool stuff, I know, and it represents the standard for future PCs, but is it too new for the current operating systems? Is it possible that hardware manufacturers are turning out cutting-edge equipment faster than OS programmers can integrate it into their kernels? Oh yeah, You better believe it!

I site 2 OS's: Windows XP and Linux. More specifically, Fedora Core 2 for amd64 and Mandrake 10.0.

So what's the problem? Well-- Windows XP refuses to recognize the new 3Com gigabit LAN integrated onto the Albatron 8X800 Pro II Mainboard, so if you're using that mainboard with Windows XP, know now that you'll have to fill up one of those PCI slots with a redundant network card.

Both Fedora and Mandrake will hang on this piece of hardware, too, although it's possible that this will be remedied in the upcoming Fedora Core 3. I will post as soon as I find out. Regardless, SATA harddrives have so far proved too new for the OS programmers to keep up. Hopefully, the IBM Hitachi HDDs are high on the list of SATA drivers for Linux kernels.

You'll have these problems with all 3 I've mentioned at this point. The latest stable version of Debian Linux ("sarge") seems to be able to handle all the newest hardware, but it's a monster to install, and there do seem to be some problems associated with the latest unstable version of debian ("sid"), which you'll need to take full advantage of a 64-bit processor.

Have an Invite, Leave an Invite...

2004-09-27T06:25:00.000-07:00

Remember the old "Have a penny, Leave a penny; Need a penny, Take a penny" dish at your local convenience store or chain restaurant? Well how interesting would it be if the concept was used virtually for gmail invites? Wonder no longer-- It's been done!

Check the link in the title of this post. It takes you to a site where you can get the enigmatic gmail invite so that you, too, can use gmail beta (google's new web-based email soon to go public release). Even in "beta," it's more than a match for competitors like hotmail and yahoo, offering 100M of space, comparable features (plus some new stuff), and free, of course (or I would not recommend it here).

An excellent idea. All my gmail friends and I always have extra invites that simply expire. We've none else to send them to! Now they don't have to just waste away, and even more folks can get in on this GREAT free email service! Check it out. It's free, it's not spam, and now it's easy. Hey-- It's Google... What MORE do ya need to know?

Flashy New Case

2004-09-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

Here's the case for my new 'puter.

Yeah, I got it a few months ago, and it's still incomplete but it's worth showin' off a little. That's a nice little temp gauge on the front. Here's the pros and cons of this case:

Pros--
(1) Pre-modded to look FANTASTIC
(2) Easy to take apart and put back together
(3) Nice built-in doors for 2 ide optical drives, so you don't HAVE to match colors
(4) Lightweight and lots of places to install fans
(5) Comes with 350w power supply

Cons--
(1) Temp gauge is Farenheit, only. Celcius is just easier to read, but this is not major.
(2) Knockout for firewire port in front, but front ports built into a block attached to face panel prevents the installation of said firewire port
(3) Front audio not equipped with mobo connectors, so must route out the back and back into the audio card outputs
(4) Blowhole fan is set too far back to install a 2- or 3- fan power supply
(5) Comes with 350w power supply

Some of those cons are easily worked around and some can even be interpreted as "pros" depending upon the hardware you purchase to fill it, so don't hold any of this against the case. It really does look great. Once everything is assembled, I'll post benchmarks to see if it performs as good as it looks.

If you want one, too, or just want to compare it to some other cases, here's where you can find it on newegg.

Open Source and Freeware Updates

2004-09-20T06:24:00.000-07:00

I guess I've been a little behind on these, so I've just caught up. Here's a synopsis of what I've updated on my personal machines (open source and freeware, of COURSE!):

Filzip is now at release 3.2. An excellent alternative to winzip, and it works with almost all varieties of compression utilities, including gzip, tar, blackhole and even rar!

Irfanview is now at release 3.92. It is, perhaps, the greatest, most versatile image viewer available. Most folks pay for viewing software that is this versatile and user-friendly, but it has become one of the all-time most downloaded progs on the net.

Firefox is now in Preview Release pending 1.0 status. After downloading this myself, I don't recommend updating to it yet if you are using the current stable release. Most of the existing themes and extensions are not yet compatible with it, so it will only frustrate current firefox users. However-- If you're still IE-dependant, I'll pray for you, and suggest that you download the preview release of Firefox immediately and start enjoying the web again! Won't be long before Firefox overtakes IE, altogether, anyways. See for yourself here at "Spread Firefox". Seems everyone's sick of IE's failure to comply with W3C internet standards.

Gaim has just recently, at long last, achieved 1.0 status! I highly recommend this multi-server chat client, which accesses AIM, MSNIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber, etc. It's been packaged with numerous Linux distros and is also offered in a windows port, which I use daily with great success. It interacts with the standard proprietary AIM, MSN and Yahoo software wonderfully, including file transfer options, something most other multi-server progs can't claim (like Trillian), and unlike some of those OTHER major progs, achieving 1.0 status didn't translate into turning their backs on the open source community. They remain true to the standards that got them this far. We all know the same can't be said of other, similar programs that came up the same way... wink, wink!

Anyways, Give these progs a try if you haven't already, or upgrade when you get a chance, these are always improving and provide tons of user-friendly functionality. Winblows would have you believe you have to pay for that. Don't believe the hype!

There's Lots of Different Kinds of Penguins

2004-09-15T11:37:00.000-07:00

Now I was all upset yesterday about not being able to simply download Mandrake 10 for amd64. I got my heart set on Mandrake because (1) it has lots of easy-to-use apps that make it an easy, logical alternative to Winblows and (2) it has an AWESOME installer gui that makes clean installation of the os just as easy, if not easier than any Winblows OS available. I know there are other distros out there that are designed for 64-bit systems, but they're either more expensive than Mandrake, or much more difficult to install with fewer user-friendly apps bundled.

Then, I go back to take another look at Fedora, a fairly new stepchild of Red Hat designed solely with open-source code and software on its own core. Everyone knows about Red Hat. It's practically synonymous with Linux. It was one of the first realistic alternatives to Winblows on the same hardware (relatively user-friendly). Well, Red Hat has gone server-side and has a nice pricetag associated with it (hey-- if you got a server an' the money, it's worth it), and older versions of Red Hat are no longer being updated. But Fedora has most of the apps that were common to Red Hat, including its wonderfully user-friendly installer, "Anaconda," and it's constantly being updated, and it's totally free and open-source, AND there's even a 64-bit version of it available for FREE, too!

Basically, with most factors such as hardware compatibility (drivers, etc.), user-friendly gui (kde and gnome + x), and a VERY user-friendly installation gui, I can't see any good reason to buy the Mandrake 64-bit OS when I can get the Fedora 64-bit OS free. Color me impressed. When the rest of my hardware is in, I will install it. If it's nothing but heartache, I will go back and install Mandrake (if I must use 32-bit, I will go Mandrake-- It is still, IMO, the best transitional distro). I will update again when either the Fedora or Mandrake surpasses their current level of goodness or I actually get an opportunity to install it on my own hardware.

Even Penguins Love the Smell of Money

2004-09-14T06:37:00.000-07:00

Ahh... Finally a moment to write again. It's no secret that I'm a Linux Mandrake fanatic. A simply elegant OS with all the advantages and abilities of an open-source OS and great open-source applications on top of what has been hailed as the most user friendly gui outside of OSX, KDE! I recently downloaded the ISOs for the official 10.0 release and am very pleased at the short amount of time it has taken. This particular distro has a few advantages over other distros including ease of installation (just as easy to install as Winblows-- if not easier), lots of popular applications (like Kate, Konquerer, and Wine), and, most importantly, it's still FREE!!!

Now it's that last advantage that is of some concern to me now... the fact that it is still currently free and available for download online. You see, paying members qualify for some neat extras, like an endless supply of drivers (this is an EXTRA?!!!) and enhanced versions of the latest release (10.0+), as well as early access to the next release. The biggest advantage, however, of being a silver member of the Mandrake Club is that it is the only way you'll get to download the amd64-friendly version of Mandrake, and membership is $130/year. Oh yeah-- You can buy it retail if you don't want to join the club. Guess how much it costs? That's right, $130. Sound familiar? Does that sound like open-source to you? Hey-- They need some money to keep this level of quality, right? I can dig that. I just wish they'd stick to donations... but how many of us actually donate?

Aww... I'm mostly just bummed 'cause I'm building a 64-bit system and know I won't be able to take advantage of a really good 64-bit OS without having to pay for it. I shouldn't pick on Mandrake, I suppose, but they're my favorite. They're not the only ones charging for a 64-bit OS, of course. Plus-- There are distros out there that are 64-bit friendly and are yet still free, like Fedora, but Fedora isn't as user-friendly as Mandrake. Oh well... You feel my disappointment. I still love you, Mandrake, but I won't give you $130 (yet).

The Labor Day Weekend

2004-09-07T07:26:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had as much fun over the Labor Day weekend as I did! The wife and kid and I packed up for a weekend in Dallas, TX. We used to do this more often, but now that we're on the other side of Louisiana from Texas, these little trips require a bit more planning (what was a 3-hour drive is now a 5-hour drive).

So off to Dallas we go. We meet the mother-in-law (a doting grandmother and shopping expert) in Haughton, then on to Canton where we stop for a few minutes and acquire a puppy to be picked up on the way back through on Monday. Then to Grapevine where we shop at what has to be one of the all-time most incredible outlet malls in existence. All indoors, real wood floors, big screen tvs from the ceilings every 50 feet or so, awesome dining (we ate at the Rainforest Cafe), and shops varying from the a gap outlet to "off-fifth" and "off-rodeo" to a huge Virgin Records outlet. There was even a Nautica outlet. Lunch at the Rainforest Cafe is a MUST if you end up anywhere near one.

Mother-in-Law wanted to use the opportunity to puchase a bonafide desired christmas gift, so she gets me this AWESOME leather jacket (very, very nice straight, black jacket with removable liner). We turn in at Amerisuites then it's straight to Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington! My daughter, though only 5-and-a-half years old (and she will add that "and-a-half" for you if you forget it) LOVES the big thrill rides. She comes away from SFOT a veteran of the Lost Mine Train coaster, the Shock Wave, Judge Roy Scream, Roaring Rapids and some other minor rides. Her only complaint that she is not tall enough to ride the Texas Chute-Out and Superman's Tower of Power. She is the kindergardner who does not know fear.

The wife and I are now veterans of Superman's Tower of Power and Batman, The Ride. Batman, The Ride was pretty cool, but the 30-second thrill is a little overshadowed by the 1+ hour wait in line. Still, the suspended coaster twists you every-which-way and leaves you slightly disoriented. Right next door is Mr. Freeze. Just watching this monstrosity will give you chills. The wife and I chickened out this year, but I will ride it next time I'm at the park. Superman's Tower of Power was very cool! It blasts you upwards around 40-45 mph, bounces you around a little up there, then reels you up to drop you at the same speed (if not a little faster). You get quite a view of the park from 325 feet straight up! I highly recommend it.

We had planned to go to the Dallas Zoo Monday, but the weather cancelled those plans and we ended up shopping some more. I finally got to go to Fryes. All I can say is HALLELUJAH! This is a geek's shopping mecca! If you are a geek, make your pilgrimage plans now, cause Frye's has everything you can find at any computer fair and MORE! Into case modding? They've got it. More memory? Got it. Unlimited variety of mobos, cpus, cases, power supplies-- gotta have sata power? How about hard-to-find sata harddrives? Care to see what Doom 3 plays like on a 64-bit hoss with 3 gig of Ram? It's all there at Frye's. Yes... I'll be going back there. Oh yeah-- and we went to Foley's and Town East Mall for a little while, too.

Overall, a VERY enjoyable and satisfying, albeit short vacation. It's been so long since I've been to Six Flags. I'm looking forward all the more to going again (and next time we'll bring friends!).

Gmail

2004-09-01T06:28:00.000-07:00

Google's answer to Hotmail, Yahoo, and all those other free webmail services. This service is so cool! No tiny storage limits on these bad boys... You get 1 gig of email storage. You can archive old messages. I haven't yet experimented with limits on attachment sizes-- That will be interesting and fun. Viewing messages online is pretty cool. It looks almost like chat archives or something. When you get replies, they are displayed "google-style" as a thread, and you can easily look above the current email message to previous messages in the thread and open them as you like. You also have labels instead of folders. Your mail can be anywhere on the server and accessed on demand first by your address, then by identifiers like labels, and organized accordingly. So Google doesn't have to waste server space maintaining folders per user. No wonder they offer such unheard-of limits!

Anyways-- It's not generally available yet, so my buddy BKW and I got with a gmail group on stumbleupon and the exceptionally nice folks there extended us a couple invitations. They actually extended 3 to me cause I asked too many folks. So I set up 2 for myself thinking I can just change the name in the address later and give it to someone else. Well, what do ya know-- Can't be done (not yet, anyways). So I give the 3rd to my other buddy, R-Rabbit, and have 2 addresses for myself, 1 active and 1 "not-so-much."

So to make a long story longer, I've been waiting to get my own invites to send out. My friend, R-Rabbit gets 6 as soon as she signs up. She sends 1 to another friend, GreenEggs, and SHE gets 6 of her own right off the bat. So BKW an' me are wonderin' what we did to rate not gettin' invites in all this time we've had accounts. Then, today, I get 6... AND I get 6 on the other address, so I've got like 12 INVITES!!!

Hey-- If you read this blog, and you want an invite for a gmail address, email me at wirelessmike@gmail.com.

NEC Raises The Bar... Again!

2004-08-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

I love hardware. I'm currently *slowly* building my own pc. Got the whole thing spec'd out with pricing from newegg and zipzoomfly (formerly "googlegear"). Currently, I have very little, which includes the case, some fans, a power supply (which will be upgraded), a floppy drive and a nice hardware-based modem (Linux-friendly, of COURSE!!!). Anyways, I am constantly updating my list, usually with prices, but twice now I've had to update the DVD burner due to NEC. They regularly outdo themselves by outpacing the market, yet somehow keeping their retail prices at or below market average. I wouldn't bother blogging about it, except that this last upgrade is so far above and beyond the rest of the market... Well I just HAD to holler about it!

The NEC ND-3500a burns dvd+/-r at 16x!!! It still burns dvd+/-rw at only 4x, like its predecessor, the 2510a, but it burns dvd+r9 (dual layer media) at 4x, too! That's almost twice the speed of any of its competitors. Oh yeah-- What about cd burning speeds, you ask? How about cd-r at 48x and cd-rw at 24x?! As if all that wasn't good enough, it's a 16x DVD reader, too (the burners typically read a little slower than non-burners, which currently max out at 16x)! The list of compatible media seems almost endless, and firmware updates can actually increase speeds in the future! I can't say enough good about NEC. All this, and they still charge less than $100 for this monster on newegg! Well, it's on my list, and it's gonna take some SERIOUS moves by the competition to knock it off. Way to go NEC!

Message to IE-- GET COMPLIANT!

2004-08-26T07:04:00.000-07:00

Finally passed a couple milestones in the church website yesterday and last night. Some tricky code, but it works and it's W3C standards compliant.

Unfortunately, Internet Explorer is NOT! Even more unfortunate is the fact that most of the site's readers probably use IE. Oh well, I'm not going to push good standards and write redundant code just to make something look in IE as good as it looks in gecko-based browsers (that includes Netscape, Mozilla and Firefox-- not counting Mac versions like Camino).

Here's the deal-- I used "onclick" and "showdiv/hidediv" code with some related javascript to create a page that allows you to reveal hidden text by clicking a letter. Sure, you can do this with anchor code (a href, a name, etc.), but apparently, anchor code and show/hidediv javascript don't play so well together in IE, so I stick with the original simple span and it works. Thing is-- When you mouse over the letter that, on click, reveals the associated text, nothing special appears to identify it as a link. Typically, you expect to see your cursor change into a pointing finger or something else and the text underneath to change in some way (color, underline, etc.). Well, that's typical of anchor code, not simple spans.

Here's something cool, though! Apparently with css2, you can assign values to "span" that can make it look like typical anchor links! In the css, it looks something like this:

span:hover {
cursor: pointer;
text-decoration: underline;
}

You can get the cursor: pointer style to show up inline with the rest of your html on the same page with the content, too, by assigning the style in the span, like this:

[span style="cursor:pointer"]F[/span] (replace ][ with appropriate symbols)

Done appropriately, it makes this look like a link

Now the silly part-- IE, being non-compliant with css2 standards, doesn't know what to do when the above code is referenced in a css (like that in {} brackets above), so it does nothing, but the links still work and do their job, you just don't see the change in text on mouseover, nor the change in cursor.

I figure it's better, overall, to be standards-compliant, so I'm not including the inline style, which won't allow me to assign the change in text on mouseover (like underline or color change, etc.). Besides, the code is redundant since it is also in the css, so it's out.

Bottom line, the hide/showdivs trick works in any browser, but it looks better in gecko-based browsers than in IE. Oh well, I'm still happy, and I'd rather toy with the notion of putting up a disclaimer on the site that says "this site best viewed with internet standards compliant browsers" than "this site best viewed in Microshaft Internet Exploder."

GET COMPLIANT, IE!

Ever had one of those days?

2004-08-25T05:58:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad that yesterday isn't today or tomorrow, I'd call in sick.

What an awful time trying to make things work! All day I'm working on trying to organize a schedule to get bulk downloads for our LNP database over the next couple weeks or so and can't really seem to work it out, so I had to give up. I was also working on the church's website and thought my friend and I had accomplished an elegant page of "hidden divs." Looked very professional, actually. Would have been wonderful if it worked in gecko-based browsers AND mosaic-based... I'm not gonna say that's back to square one, but we're gonna have a time finding the offensive code. What I mean by that browsers incompatibility I mentioned is that it works in Mozilla, but not Explorer (which doesn't seem all that awful, since Explorer isn't standards-compliant, anyway). Most folks still use Explorer, though, despite the government warning that it has built-in security risks, so this has to work in Explorer. I got some of the "ministries" page done, but gave up on it because of all the time I spent on this other page.

I got to leave feeling like I hadn't really accomplished anything, yet managed to work hard all day. Such a great feeling. Couple this with attitude from the wife and you have a recipe for disaster. I ended up praying to be in a good mood, and that worked, of course, which allowed me to bail out the rest of the evening from being a total loss for me.

But hey-- It's a brand new day! Today, I'll make that code work, or use different code, and I'll get closer to finishing the ministries page, and I'll have that LSMS bulk download schedule. Then I'll leave ready to spend some quality family time with my wife and daughter at church.

Shadowlands

2004-08-23T05:24:00.001-07:00

If you're a fan of interesting celebrity biographies, you'll want to see this film. Anthony Hopkins convincingly portrays C.S. Lewis in the 40's and 50's (the plot summary on IMDB.com says the 30's, but that's incorrect). I also found this really interesting site about C.S. Lewis and his works, including the Chronicles of Narnia.

The movie drags a bit at first, but is very insightful about the relationship that so solidified his belief and strengthened his faith through adversity and heartbreak. It centers on his relationship with an American fan, Joy Gresham, whom he loved intensely and mourned until his death in 1963 (interesting note-- he died on November 22, 1963, the same day Kennedy was assassinated). He was reknowned for his christian apologetic, "The Problem of Pain," concerning pain and suffering before he met Joy, having been born to christian parents, embracing atheism in his youth, and becoming a christian, himself, in 1931 in part due to conversations with his brother and close friends, J.R.R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson. Only after Joy's death was his theology truly tested. Joy Gresham was jewish, but was an atheist for a while. She converted to christianity before she met Lewis (in part because of Lewis' writings).

His intense love affair with his wife, Joy Gresham, was cut short by cancer, which also killed his mother. For the second time in his life, he was confronted with his beliefs and for the second time, he waivered, but in the end, his faith was strengthened and he wrote "A Grief Observed" under a pseudonymn to chronicle the experience and its impact on him. In the movie, Joy is credited with authorship of the line, "the happiness now is part of the pain then, that's the deal," during an outing in Ireland during which she means to remind him that there is a price for the joy they share, knowing that she has cancer and is going to die. He refrains this by the end of the movie in saying "the pain now is part of the happiness then, that's the deal." This is basically the theme of the movie.

There is also some rumor that a live-action movie based upon The Chronicles of Narnia is in preparation for production! For more news about this, see this site.

My Daughter's First Day at School

2004-08-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

My wife's message about our daughter's first school day:

"Today our daughter officially started kindergarten. She was very excited about the first day of school! We got up early, I made eggs, sausage, and biscuits for breakfast, which she didn’t eat but about 3 bites of. Then she got dressed in what she’d picked out, a red polo and khaki pleated skort. (They have to wear uniforms.) When we drove up at school she jumped out of the truck and wanted to walk straight to her class without us! Her class is the very last one on the hallway closest to the playground. There are 19 kids in her class, from what I could tell more boys than girls, but they weren’t all there when we left. Our daughter shares a locker with a friend from her preschool, so she was happy about that. They were starting off the day watching a video of some puppets that the teacher had smaller versions of in her class. They all have a number next to their name, and that tells them what day they are the teacher’s helper, the leader, and get to have their nap in the special spot at the top of the reading platform. She was especially fascinated with the cafeteria –I’m sure that won’t last!"

"So she is officially a big girl now. It was hard to leave her there, but she seemed fine with us going, barely even waved or said bye. I wasn’t so fine, but that’s ok. I did take some regular pictures, and we borrowed a friend's digital camera and took some. We didn’t get very many, because she didn’t want to pose, she was too interested in getting to her spot and checking out the other kids….she’s a little bit nosy – wonder where she gets that from!"

Security Issues

2004-08-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

Well-- I finally broke down and renewed my subscription to Norton. I feel like I just bought a full tank of gas for a big truck I'm going to trade in tomorrow for an electric car. You see, I'm building this new 64-bit box that I've carefully designed to be Linux-compatible. Yes, I'm a mandraker. Anyway, I won't need av on this machine, and even if I did, there are some lovely open source firewalls and av freeware that are specifically designed for Linux (that is, they don't have to be as heavy or secure as typical Windows-compatible software as it does not attract quite so many viruses).

Still-- I had to do it. I have recently upgraded my connectivity to DSL and now have a big, open pipe to the internet. I'm currently using a firewall because I've had to NAT some ports in order to get some of my favorite utilities to work and to be able to remotely access my machine. Sure, I could use a secure, point-to-point ssh tunnel (my buddy, BlueKnightWriter, is gonna have to show me how to do that one of these days), but the indirect tcp should be secure enough with my firewall settings. Of course, I run all this by my networking buddies before committing to open ports.

Anyways, My original intention was to reformat my current machine when my new one is 100% built, updated, clocked and online. The old machine will go to my daughter. Now, of course, I'm having doubts about exposing my daughter to Windows. I'm not like all those other parents who figure if they had to suffer through it, their children should, too. I really really really want to get my daughter a nice, inexpensive IMAC. I'm actually looking forward to it (very much).

The daughter is in class right now at her first day of school (kindergarten)! What's cool is that the school has IMACs everywhere you look! I'm hoping she'll get used to that. I do intend to get her the MAC. Heck, I want one, too... though I'd prefer the laptop. Still-- Pretty cool that my daughter may be introduced to MACs from day 1. I'll have to post some pix when I get some. How time flies... My daughter's very first day at school. Sometime later I'll have to post my wife's thoughts about that. She really has a way of delivering the visualization.

The Problem with Open-source

2004-08-20T06:54:00.000-07:00

I love open source software. You can recompile it to fit the needs of your specific hardware, and that's kinda important if you like to upgrade your machine's hardware from time to time, but I'm preachin' to the choir.

I have this one little problem with open source software. Constant updates and revisions. You know, there are a few freeware progs out there that go check, then tell you when your software is out of date (like Gaim).

But many other progs, like Irfanview, Filezilla, Filzip, Virtualdub, etc. can sit on your comp 5 or 6 updates behind without the slightest "hey-- maybe you should just go check, it's about that time" message. Consider this my official blogged request for autoupdate functionality on all open source software.

Not really upset, just frustrated...

Which OS Are You?

2004-08-19T06:38:00.000-07:00

A simply excellent quiz! I can't believe I rated what I did-- Really thought I'd end up as Mac or possibly even Windows (which would have made me a little upset, but not entirely surprised). Anyways-- Take the quiz and have some fun!

Here's my rating:

The Joy of Firefox

2004-08-18T07:55:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this browser. If you haven't already switched, do so immediately! I currently use both Firefox and Thunderbird (a standalone email client based on Mozilla Mail) and can never turn back. The customization features are incredible, including the ability to narrow down to 2 or even just 1 toolbar and still have full functionality (and that's not even in fullscreen).

I've been using it since it was known as "Phoenix," then it evolved into "Firebird," and now "Firefox." It truly gets better with each successive release, addressing bugs and integrating even more customization (not to mention its compliance with all W3C standards). There's also a very active community on mozillazine where bugs can be addressed immediately. If I had to list all the advantages this browser has over, say, IE, I'd be writing all week.

If you try Firefox, I encourage you to install Stumbleupon. This is an incredible utility that takes websurfing to a whole new level. Imagine being able to put into an online database all your favorite subjects to surf (like Linux, Instant Messengers, Religion, etc.). Now imagine that a community of more than 10,000 other surfers all did the same. Everybody surfs from time to time, but "stumblers" remark on any site they find of particular interest and it is automatically catalogued according to the site's subject matter (sourceforge.net is categorized as "open source" stuff). With the touch of the "stumble" button, you are whisked to sites that specifically match your interests, and you get to rate 'em in order to further specify what kind of sites pop up when you stumble. The community is made up of "surfing blogs" that include some information about the stumbler and sites they like (and why, if you comment on sites). You collect an audience and friends with which you can identify other interest groups or interesting sites. It's actually a little difficult to describe, but it is very addictive and seriously enhances the web experience. I can't recommend it enough.

Another plugin must-have if you're new to Firefox is Tabbrowser Extensions. This is an all-inclusive extension that allows you to browse pages using tabs. That way, instead of fumbling around with back and forward buttons or multiple browser windows, you can simply click on an internal tab to open or look at multiple sites. Just using this for a week or two and you will never be able to cruise again without them.

Anyways-- That's my evangelism for today. I'll post the joy of some new freeware later (perhaps Irfanview, Winamp or TightVNC).

Bumper Stickers

2004-08-18T07:48:00.000-07:00

A friend sent me an email today with funny bumper sticker quotes. You know-- We've all seen 'em, but they get to be so typical (sometimes even a little crude) that we actually get desensitized to them and ignore 'em all.

I'll have to start paying attention again after seeing some of these. I won't bore you with the entire list, let me just give you my 2 favorites (political, of course!):

"If We Quit Voting, Will They All Go Away?"
and
"Politicians And Diapers Both Need To Be Changed, And For The Same Reasons!"

Figured anyone could relate to those, democrat or republican, conservative or liberal.

Please read bumper stickers! Apparently, there's a fresh batch out there that are truly clever and worth your notice.

Weekend in Arkansas

2004-08-16T08:55:00.001-07:00

Well-- Helped some friends move this weekend. Just married and out of the very cramped one-bedroom and into the nice roomy tw0-bedroom across town near all the best shopping and entertainment (gotta love Little Rock).

Had to leave my daughter with in-laws and that always chokes me a little... Don't get me wrong, I trust my family, and it's important that my daughter spends as much time with family as possible so she knows that she not only has lots of family, but that they love her and care about her very much. I feel it is of the utmost importance that a child knows her family by spending time with them. You can't tell I'm family-oriented, can ya? I want to steer my child towards the more traditional family values I was raised with so that she, too, puts special significance in being part of a family. Still-- I really do miss her when she's not with me, but I suppose that's just natural for a doting father.

I did have some fun, too. Got to put together a new tv stand for the new apartment and hook up all the entertainment components (stereo, tv, dvd, etc.). I love doin' that stuff. Unfortunately, I didn't get to make my usual shopping trip to CompUSA or BestBuy... maybe next time. I'm really looking forward to the next visit with my daughter when we'll make our usual visit to the zoo and check out Little Rock's new "Build-a-bear" store in the mall. My daughter ought to go simply nuts!

Little Rock does call to me every time I have to come back home to Monroe. I've heard it said as a joke about trying to awkwardly enter a conversation, but the fact is... "I like mountains." Some excellent places to eat in LR, too... What can I say? I can't wait to go back and visit again!

The Lost Weekend

2004-08-09T06:27:00.000-07:00

Isn't every weekend sort of a "lost" weekend? I mean... Couldn't they all last just a little bit longer?

This weekend, the in-laws came to town to visit. My father-in-law and I went golfing and had a great time. Finally started getting tired around the 15th hole or something and my game suffered badly. Was doing really well up until then. My father-in-law, on the other hand, started off slow and finished big. Go figure.

Then off to Simmons to shop. Pretty cool stuff at Simmons, an outdoors/sportsman mecca, but a bit overpriced. Still, fun to shop.

Sometime late Saturday I picked up an awful cold. Sneezing fits for the rest of the day until I knocked myself out with antihistamines and syrup, then more fits throughout Sunday and this morning. Still, I know I almost have it licked, so off to work I go!

My updates over the weekend to the LSMS finished after 34 hours. Man, that's slow! But HEY! I'm FINISHED! (for now, at least)

My best friend here got to see Spiderman 2 this weekend! I'm not jeolous, just that much more anxious to see it so we can talk about it and pick it apart. I collected the comics for years and have been, perhaps, slightly critical of the big-screen adaptation, but overall, I very much like the changes and the overall adapation. The character of Peter Parker in the movie is, in my considered opinion, more "believeable" than that of the comics on not just a few levels. Anyways... I'm a big fan and it sucks to have to wait this long for a chance to see the movie, but according to all reports, it's worth the wait! Sometime soon, I'll have to post my short contrast/comparison between movie-spidey and comics-spidey, and why I feel, contrary to my traditionalist nature, that the movie-spidey is superior in nature and origin.

Looks like Gaim 0.81 is out, so I'm gonna get to updating! I just updated Firefox last week. I wonder what else is in need of update? virtualdub? cdex? nero? filezilla? filzip? Guess I'd better get to it...

LNP Woes

2004-08-04T10:51:00.000-07:00

LNP... stands for "Local Number Portability," or possibly "Lethargic Numb Posterior."

All day and all night. That's what it takes to update an LNP database with new information. Could this process possibly be more mind-numbing? It takes approximately 5 hours to audit one of these databases (there are 4). After the audit, which identifies what needs to be updated, a reconciliation runs for about another 7 hours or so to update, then it's on to the next one until all 4 are updated. It's not difficult or complicated, just SLOOOOOWWWWWWW! Metaphorical expressions come to mind... like:

(1) watching paint dry
(2) cows coming home
(3) the end of time
(4) Happy New Year!
(5) watching oil dry
(6) what is infinity?
(7) is my hair gray, or gone?
(8) the lost highway
(9) time measured in infomercials
(10) watching mercury dry

Still... It's a living. In the end, it's one more internal solution for my employer, and one less bill to pay someone else for the service, and that's almost always a good thing (and the experience is priceless).

Hardware

2004-07-28T12:18:00.000-07:00

Well, the AMD 64 cpus continue to become more affordable today. The "bottom-of-the-line" 2800+ (1.8G newcastle core) has dropped another $10!!! The 3000+ dropped only another couple bucks, but it dropped all the same. Interestingly, the rock-solid 32-bit athlon xp line hasn't dropped so much as ten cents this year. Go figure!

Apparently, AMD has decided to drop having a choice of 2 different ath 64 3200+. There was a newcastle core AND a clawhammer core. Now there is only the newcastle core (512M of L2 cache). The clawhammer core (1G of L2 cache) starts with the 3400+ (2.2G) and opens at a mere $300. It's all good, though... I would sooner buy the 2800+ or 3000+ now, which will last a while beyond 32-bit obsolescence, and look forward to buying the primo 64fx cpu or next gen for an upgrade a couple years from now.

On a different note, what's up with the westell modem? I just got dsl, and this flaky little guy needs to be power-cycled every time it gets slightly burdened. I'm thinking about rma'ing the whole rig, but it does work (it's just not very stable). Perhaps I'll look into incompatibilities or the limitations of my existing box...

Man I love shopping for hardware, don't you?

Got the handiest, dandiest little mail notifier client to replace ezpop (which apparently is no longer being updated). I highly suggest poppeeper to anyone in the market for a windows mail notification prog. It's light on the HD and FREE! Plus, it's VERY user-friendly. Just a little lagniappe for those into freeware like me.

Missing Software Updates & LSMS Woes

2004-07-26T08:13:00.000-07:00

Just how do I miss software updates? I scour the web every day for updates to my freeware, like irfanview, filezilla, cdex, winamp, filzip, etc., and somehow, I've missed like 3 updates of irfanview. I must be seriously slackin'!

Not much time left to tweak our LNP database. I have the necessary forms to filter the amount of information coming from the NPAC (the NPAC is a big portability database consisting of 8 regions split up alot like the old RBOC regions-- It contains all ported and pooled numbers along with what service provider owns them, how they're supposed to be routed, and other important SS7 info), but I haven't completed them yet. Hey-- I only just compiled all of my employer's LRNs with our office point codes throughout our entire network Friday... I'll get around to it! Once those filters are in place, a whole lot of corporate bean-counters will be VERY happy. These LSMS databases, like the one we're implementing now, have a default limit of 48 million records. Well, the entire NPAC is WELL past 48 million records already, so if we had to download everything, our database would already be obsolete the same day of purchase. If you ask me, the default limit NEEDS TO CHANGE! But that's neither here nor there. We download enough in the regions we cover that we're already less than 7 million records from the limit only ONE WEEK after our first bulk download. The filters I'm requesting will cut that number in less than half.

Interesting news-- Prices have finally started to drop again on 64-bit processors. Athlon 64 Newcastle core CPUs dropped almost $10! I'm excited, and ready to get back to my hardware project! Especially now that my dsl modem is here (supposed to be at my house today). That will help in so many ways... Keeping an eye on the LSMS, updating my web pages, admin of the church site and email, software and OS updates (there's just too much to list).

Anyways-- Plenty to do, no time... Sometimes it's really exciting that way!

Goals, Tools, and Other Stuff

2004-07-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

Lots of folks comin' over this weekend. My director figured I'd be up here on Saturday trying to finish that database. Hey-- I'm finally over the hump of this mountain, I think I'll try to take it easy on the downhill side. I'm nearly there, anyways. I'd like to have my database complete before 5 today. The LSMS is up and running, so no headache there (yet). Next week-- Testing the database from live offices in our network. Should be cool.

Got the church's website finished (at least the basic design and the front page). I'm using "css," so I won't have to work hard on the subdirectories. The staff is happy, so I'm happy. I'd like to get the rest of what I have responsibility for on that site finished by next weekend.

Maybe after it all, I can get back to my favorite personal project -- my home-built comp.

In the meantime, I've been able to address alot of Firefox bugs unique to Gaim's incompatibilities. Here's looking forward to the next release of Gaim. Firefox still has some stability issues, but overall, it's still my default browser and browser of choice.

I've been working with what have got to be some of the best html editors of all-time. Aranae is simply divine. Highlights, easy-to-navigate tools... I can't say enough. Notetab Light just gets better and better, too. Combine those with Firefox and Filezilla (an open-source ftp client that looks/feels like cuteftp, but easier to navigate), which has a wonderful shortcut to bookmarked ftp sites, and you have yourself a website creating powerhouse!

So Much to do... So Little Time

2004-07-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

Well... Here I sit in training. It's really helpful and I'm learning plenty! I hope to be able to do some of my own translations soon. It's good for my deadlines on related activities and for job security!

At the same time, I need to compile a database of offices and LRNs (Location Routing Numbers). LRNs are kind of like an address for every office that is "LNP-capable." The offices each have a point code. This point code identifies them in an SS7 network. Lots of folks don't know what SS7 is, but simply stated, it's a way of sending data over telephone networks that all providers can understand and translate in order to give faster, more dependable service and more options, like caller id, caller name, *67, and other stuff. I have records of point codes and records of LRNs per office, but I have very few records of offices with BOTH the point code AND the LRN... and I need this yesterday in relation to the uploading of information to our new LSMS (Local Service Management System). The LSMS is a central database maintained by a telephone service provider that contains the information necessary to correctly route calls to ported numbers across the US.

As you can see, LNP (Local Number Portability) is no simple technology. It's complex enough that it requires a high level of maintenance and upkeep, but hi-tech enough that it does alot of this maintenance automatically. Our company is making alot of changes right now in this area, and I, with a few others, am at the center of it. Combine that with company coming this weekend, a new website to publish (my church's) that needs immediate updating, and training, and you get a dedicated tylenol customer.

I know all will be well again soon enough. Just happens to be a big pileup right now. It will all fall back to baseline levels soon. I'm looking forward to getting back to building my project computer and looking for new digs.

Life can be kind of stressful sometimes... but isn't that sort of the same thing as exciting?

Software Bugs

2004-07-20T12:37:00.000-07:00

I'm running across the strangest bugs today...

Gaim makes a Windows port. It's an excellent mult-platform chat client that connects to AIM/ICQ, MSNIM, Yahoo, IRC and Jabber. It has the most popular functionality of each of these built into one nice, neat client. The latest version (0.8) has serious issues opening links in Firefox (my browser of choice) and has limited operability in the menu attached to the systray icon. It has improved file transfer utility, but I'm back to the old version. Here's hoping the next version addresses these bugs (as well as other minor GUI bugs). I used to be a die-hard trillian evangelist, but they got greedy and started charging major bux for the same thing Gaim offers with a few more features. I'm simply not impressed enough to drop $25 for it, and the free version isn't as compatible with current features as Gaim, so it was kind of a "no-brainer."

Firefox is showing some strange bugs, too. Overall, my rock-solid opinion on the stability of the latest releases is that 0.8 is the best, most stable release at this time. I'm using 0.9.2 and there are some strange bugs, including limitations on shell settings. 0.9.2 also has some stability issues related to multiple java applets, but overall, it does pretty darn good, and is still light-years beyond IE.

First Blog

2004-07-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

Well... My first blog. Seems kind of interesting. A place to write all the stuff I think about all the time like God, my family, politics, computers, etc.

I like the idea. There's a lot of cool stuff to stay up-to-date on, like new browsers, 64-bit processors, LNP (this is what I engineer for a living), Creationism and other stuff.

Come back sometime. I'm only getting started. It won't be long before I have something of interest, maybe even some photos. I'll be logging the construction of my new computer, too (from the ground up). That should be of interest to lots of folks.