Haven’t done a desktop snapshot in quite a while.

The icon sorting mechanism is called Fences from Stardock which is absolutely awesome if you are like me an have about 40 too many icons on your desktop at any given time. (And it’s free!)

Sidebar is standard Vista flare.

I have never used the sticky notes gadget, but I just like the look of it for some reason.

The application bar above the Windows taskbar is Kubuntu running in a Sun VirtualBox in seamless mode, which makes it behave much like an app running in Vista, but it’s actually kind of just overlayed.  Pretty cool actually if you want the whole “eat your cake and have it too” scenario.

The picture, honestly I just Google imaged the search term “widescreen desktop wallpaper” and this was one of the results, and I thought the robot was cool.  I think he is looking at the heart, not quite sure what to make of it because it is so foriegn to him.  He may squish it at any moment, because he needs to know what will happen when he does.  It’s how he’s wired.

So I’m still off windows, and for the most part feeling fine.

There are some things I have liked and some things that have been a challenge…but on a whole, I’m still quite happy as a windows free user…

Things I like:

• Firefox…A hint of familiarity for all my web browsing needs… Widows or Linux
• VLC media player…My person favourite for video… Windows or Linux
• Sound Juicer. A nice, no nonsense CD ripper.
• Exaile…A nice little media player, which is rumoured to support the Creative ZEN 4G, with a bit of work. Something I will need to investigate in order to get Laura’s working….
• TorrentFlux…A nice awesome way to download and manage torrents. Requires a web server running PHP, but lets you search, download and manage your torrents from a web interface. Nice to be able to log in from anywhere, or even my blackberry and start downloading completely free legal media. …
• Xampp web server in a box…. Includes Apache Web Server, MySQL, PHP, and FTP in a single easy to install package. Great for running on your home pc for a web sandbox for your projects before dumping them live on the net.
• Wine Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too? Run windows apps in Linux…for those times that you just can’t get it done in linux…
• K3b Liking this CD/DVD burner as well.  Seems to get the job done, nice enough interface.

Challenges:

• as previously noted, the Creative ZEN 4G has not been easy to get going. I’ve heard it’s possible, but haven’t had time to sit and dig into it.
• A replacement for windows movie maker. WMM is actually a pretty capable little video editor for the novice who just wants to throw together a quick video of his kid without a lot of experience needed. Looking for a good alternative to that. Hasn’t been terribly easy at this point. Cinerella Cinelerra is a bit intense looking. May have to try Kdenlive next to see how that works.
• Dual monitor + Fancy Effects + ATI card. I can run dual monitor mode, or single mode without any fancy effects, which the nerd in me likes….you know…ooooh…shiney…. more investigation needed.

Those are my only hang ups so far. Loving the rediscovering of my PC, it’s like when I was learning DOS when I was 10 years old. New, fresh and fun. Heck…even Laura hasn’t minded the switch so far.

Say no to windows…

P.S. I certainly appreciate any suggestions for alternatives to the apps I have listed, I’m just exploring and have no particular allegiance to anything.  It’s still fairly new to me.  And if anyone has ideas for anything else, for purposes not listed above…please feel free…

LOL! This is awesome….
Hats off to the extremely funny criminal geniuses who pulled this off.

TORONTO (Reuters) – A mocking announcement about Canada’s prime minister, “Stephen Harper Eats Babies”, was flashed on electronic advertising signs on Toronto area commuter trains for several days, and technicians were still scrambling on Tuesday to get the signs fixed.

“Stephen Harper Eats Babies. Stephen Harper Eats Babies. Stephen Harper Eats Babies,” started to appear every three seconds across some LED screens late last week. The signs usually carry transit updates and advertising spots.

It’s hard to express how funny this is to me.
(Pehaps because I just woke up…)

So, just because I like to rub it in the face os spammers, I have added a section to the right that will report some stats on what MT-Blacklist v2.01b running on Moveable Type 3.11 has blocked to date.
This information is available to you in the MT-Blacklist interface, but I just wanted to move it out here and show it on my blog…because…well…I like to look at numbers as they grow, and know in my heart of hearts that each time it increases, a spammer is wasting it’s time with me.
I have included the PHP code that I wrote in the extended entry if anyone else wants to use it. Be forewarned, I am not a super l33t PHP/MySQL programmer, but the code works for me. I have tested it on nothing else aside from my installation, using the versions of the programs mentioned above.
I might be able to help you if you have a problem, but I offer no guarantees.
Don’t bother writing and telling me I write messy or crap code, because well…I don’t much care. But if you have constructive critisism, that’s ok.

Read more »

A few days ago I mentioned that Mike Rowe was having some problems with Microsoft over his domain, MikeRoweSoft.com
It now appears that the issue has been settled out of court.

On Saturday, according to The Seattle Times, Microsoft and Mike Rowe came to an agreement. In exchange for transferring control of his domain name, Microsoft has promised to help Rowe set up a new Web site, pay for a Microsoft certification course and subscription to the Microsoft Developer Network Web site and pay for his family to visit Microsoft Research Tech Fest at Redmond in March. To top it all off, he will get an Xbox with some games.

Honestly, I can’t blame him for settling. It would certainly be a difficult and costly battle for a 17yr old to undertake. And hey, free XBOX.
At least it’s better than the $10 that they originally offered, that was just insulting.

Today’s lesson kids is, “Don’t water your Router”
Yes, it seems like common sense doesn’t it?
In my defence, it was early, and I was watering my plants…
I overwatered one and it leaked water all over and in my router.
Boooo…
But on the plus side, what better time to upgrade to wireless?

Now that I have nearly 400gigs of storage on my main system, I need to start filling it up.
My first acquisition is The Human Genome, courtesy of Project Gutenberg. I have no plans to do anything with it, and I wouldn’t have a clue even if I wanted to. But I just figured I should have a copy of it, given that I am human.
Really, what it’s all about is filling the space so I can justify getting myself even more space.
Aiming for a terrabyte……

Every piece of computer hardware or software I come across today has decided to give me the finger and not function correctly…
Grrrr….I can’t wait for this week to be over.

No matter how advanced technology gets, I hope there are always pieces of equipment that you can fix by giving them a swift smack or kick, giving the thumbs up and saying “Ehhhhhhh…” in a Fonz like manner.

My new toy…How video games were meant to be played.
Goes Nicely with these.

Why print your documents, only to shred them later? Instead, shrint them with this handy dandy Shrinter.

On a side note, with nothing at all to do with efficiency…
My right eyebrow has been twitching for three days. If it doesn’t stop soon, I may have to do something drastic…

I hope it doesn’t mean I am developing a case of dystonia.

News: Antispam measure gains steam in House

Antispam sentiment on Capitol Hill is growing, with a new proposal in the House of Representatives promising to slap the worst bulk e-mailers with prison terms and millions of dollars in fines.

I must say, I am laughing at myself right now. I realized today that I am a nerd. There is no more arguing it. I have been tirelessly working on a computer pretty much since 3pm this afternoon. This is not terribly out of the norm.
I am actually writing this entry from the very computer I have been working on. The thing that makes me a complete and total nerd is that this computer is running MS-DOS 6.22. Why? Just because I felt like having a computer that ran DOS. I’m using the Arachne web browser for dos. Complete with 16 colour graphics.
The ultimate plan for this computer is to take my massive 2 gig drive and fill it up with all the games and dos programs of my youth. The hardest part was getting this sucker to run on my network. Networking is DOS can be evil.
hehe.
So there you have it. I am a nerd because I spent 6 hours building a completely outdated computer, just for fun.

If you have any old favorite DOS programs you think I should run, please let me know. So far all I have is Scorched Earth.

News: Intel signals the end of BIOS

For more than 20 years, the PC has relied on the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System), a small set of fixed software routines normally built into a chip on the motherboard. This hangover from a distant past is causing more and more problems, said Mark Doran, Intel’s principal engineer behind the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) that aims to humanely kill the antique technology.

Upgraded Moveable Type, moved all data files to MySQL Database.
On the new server now, all seems well.
Now what do I do?

Update:
I am trying to make my site more compact…Just because I want to.
My list of weblogs is going to be a random list of a handful of weblogs, rather than a full list. At the moment, Items in the list may duplicate, because I am a php newbie and can’t figure out how to pick a list of 5 unique items from a larger list. Cyborgirl seems to have done it, and in all honesty, I am borrowing the idea from her.
In the meantime, if you see a number of duplicated items on the list, consider it a sign, you must visit that weblog, immediately.

CNN.com – Too much screen time can make you sick – Nov. 8, 2002

The more time an office worker toils in front of a computer, the more likely he or she is to suffer a host of physical, mental and sleep-related ills, Japanese researchers report.

Internet2

As of April 2000, there were 27 Internet2 Gigapops. Short for gigabit point of presence, a gigapop is a network access point that supports data transfer rates of at least 1 Gbps

Some days…I like Microsoft…

The center, located in Redmond, Wash., will match people with technological prototypes that are still five or so years away from becoming products and see what works.

For example, the company is currently tinkering with RingCam, a video camera that captures a 360-degree view of a room. Potential applications include a videoconferencing situation where several people seated around a table need to be featured on the screen, said a Microsoft representative.

TransOrbital, Inc. – TrailBlazer – Mission

Commercial space flight. Now things get interesting.

Really? You are a representative of the government of Nigeria? Really? You are going to put $25,000,000 in my bank account for the purpose of international disbursement? Really? You are going to give me 30% of that money?
Heavens! 100% risk free you say?
And all I have to do is reply to your email, including a fax# and my phone#?
Wow! That just seems too good to be true!

One question…Who Falls for This Stuff?
If you do fall for such things, I hope you are weeded out of existence soon so that we somewhat more intelligent beings can get about our business without having to stop and tie your shoes for you…