Category: Computers

  • Quickies

    1) In this post, wget had created a directory structure, foiling my plans to do the md5sum check automatically. The correct way to do what I wanted to do was use the option -nd for no directories. If I had typed wget -nd address it would have just saved to my current directory and the…

  • Crazy Christmas Lights

    I’m really busy, so check these out, they are awesome. It’s a guy who synced up his Christmas lights to music. Saw it on CNN and googled to find it. Sorry it’s in evil Windows Media Video… http://members.cox.net/transam57/lights.wmv http://www.msftlabrat.com/funstuff/jingle.wmv

  • Art and its role in Culture

    Reading a post from Miss Izzy is like watching a Simpsons episode. The beginning has nothing to do with the end, but serves only to set up the source of conflict. While reading Sunday Digression, she moved to a topic I feel pretty strongly about, the value of art in culture. She writes: If you…

  • Reasons you shouldn’t use Linux

    My wife asked me a poignant question a couple of weeks ago, “If Linux is SOOO awesome, why don’t you stop using Windows?” I told her that I couldn’t play civ4. “I thought you said it was ready for use and equal to Windows,” she continued. And I realized, there are probably some others who…

  • CLI = Command Line Interface

    You may wonder what use the command line has? Afterall, why use it when you have a GUI? Well, they are so useful, that Microsoft will be reimplementing it in Windows Vista to allow people to run shell scripts. I’ve blogged about the usefulness of the command line before, but I wanted to demonstrate with…

  • Linux Screenshots

    Here are some of the latest screenshots I’ve taken of my main Linux desktop and how to do the same for yourself. Click on the screenshot to be taken to the fullsize picture. I finally listened and provided a low-res picture here instead of resizing the large one, thus a faster download time for those…

  • MMORG and Real Economies Clash

    As I was driving home last week, I heard something interesting on NPR. I knew that people had been selling their MMORG characters on Ebay. They would spend a few sleepless nights getting their character up to a really high level and then sell the character on Ebay to the highest bidder. I’ve heard stories…

  • DSL

    DSL

    What does DSL mean to you? If you’re a technological person, it might mean Digital Subscriber Line, a way to access the internet. If you’re not a technological person….well, just ask my sister-in-law what it means to her. But to Linux users, DSL has even a third meaning, Damn Small Linux. What is Damn Small…

  • Think you know your keyboard?

    Do you think you know your keyboard? Then read Techn0manc3r’s “Tour of Your Keyboard” post. He covers in depth the meaning behind many keys. Like wtf is Scroll Lock for? Why are there other keys you almost never use like “Pause/Break”? He does an excellent job presenting the keyboard and even veteran computer users will…

  • Linux News!

    Some tidbits I’ve gleaned and where to get more in depth info: KDE3.5 has been released! Hopefully this means that it will make its way into the Fedora Core 5, due out in Feb 2006. Or, if they’ve completely moved KDE to the extras packages, maybe it will be available even earlier! Lots of info…

  • Xbox 360 in trouble

    Apparently, MS’s new $400 console is having a lot of problems. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t be happy if I plunked down enough money to buy a cheap computer and my video game console didn’t work correctly. However, the real problem for Microsoft is touched upon in this blog. In the past,…

  • Viruses and Virus Software

    As I spoke with my in-laws last weekend about viruses and anti-virus software makers, they voiced a thought everyone has had at one time or another- perhaps the viruses from Norton and McAfee. After all, why would you spend $40 a year to keep your computer safe if there weren’t any viruses? As I explained…

  • A response on Good and Evil

    Sarong Party Girl (SPG), who ironically does very little blogging about parties, wrote this hasty article, tackling an issue she talks about a lot – relativism and good & evil. The key point of her post, which has been a theme in some of her other posts is: At the end, whatever we do, there…

  • Sony, Malware, and Viruses!

    An update to the story I talked about on 8 Nov – BBC News has revealed that at least three viruses have emerged that take advantage of the malware Sony has installed on user’s machines without their permission. Sony says its sorry, but sorry doesn’t bring back the bits! This is exactly why music CDs…

  • I stand corrected – buying virtual land

    A BBC News story has pointed out that my prior post (which I can’t find on my first blog) in which I called this guy a moron for spending $17 thousand to buy land in a virtual world. Afterall, it’s only an investment if you can sell if for a higher price. However, according to…