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Immortal (so far)'s LiveJournal:
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| Saturday, May 23rd, 2009 | | 4:49 pm |
| | Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 | | 11:07 am |
"MSplas8hnproof keyboard"M
Not so 7gbood axctually. O8hn, and don9'mt 8hnit t8hne xcontrol key - it sends you to anot8hner window. And t8hne (last letter of t8hne alp8hnabet) key sends t8hne xcomputer to sleep. Does not like xcoffee, apparently. Time for a new keyboard.> Current Mood:  blah | | Friday, May 8th, 2009 | | 8:34 pm |
Geek meets Ubuntu
WOW!!!(Posted from Firefox under Ubuntu) So, I've been working away from M$ software for a while now, particularly after the fiasco getting XP to run, and I downloaded the install for Ubuntu. I've used Unix/Linux since the old SVR4 days when a user interface involved "curses" so I figured I'd be able to handle it. I thought I'd wait until I get my next hard drive, allocate a linux partition and take it from there but I was getting impatient so I looked into ghosting part of my existing partition... Then I discovered that you don't need to create a new partition to run Ubuntu! No shit, just install it on the current hard drive and tell it how much disk space to take. Cool! ( Installation )( Configuration )( Installing Software )So far, it had taken me 20 minutes to do what took me 2 days under XP ( 1 when M$ wasn't refusing to validate my XP copy) but now for the acid test. ( Server software )( Torrent files )ConclusionUbuntu is an operating system for dummies...And I mean that in the nicest possible way. I did in 20 minutes effortless ease what takes 3 days in XP. The preconfigured software available would never be listed in a proprietary OS. So much for M$'s dark hints of "total cost of ownership". I've already saved days of hard work! Ubuntu is mine!No software checking you aren't doing what Microsoft don't want you to do, nothing gobbling up your CPU time, no frequent bugfix updates (Unix and Linux have been developed since the '60s and open source detects and fixes security leaks far faster than commercial companies) and a distinct lack of viruses. With Vista (reincarnated as Windows 7) trying to take ever-increasing control over what you do, this is definitely the way to go. Code::Blocks isn't quite Visual Studio but it's damned close and, being open source, it's improving all the time in the direction that its users want it to regardless of corporate policy. I'd already switched to OpenOffice (far better than M$ Office), Code::Blocks and it won't be a great loss to go from Dreamweaver to Quanta Plus. If I had the Dreamweaver code, there are already numerous things I'd change! As soon as I point SQL server to my existing databases and Apache to my existing site base, Ubuntu is going to be my default OS. Recommendation:Go for it! Install Ubuntu, check it out and see what you think. Current Mood:  ecstaticCurrent Music: Chumbawamba - You can't trust anyone nowadays. | | Thursday, April 30th, 2009 | | 1:56 am |
| | Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 | | 3:13 am |
I am so done with Microsoft
I know every time I end up making a major change to my system there's a load of hassle but this time I am finished with them. ( Don )So as soon as my new hard drive arrives, I'm installing Linux and XP will be relegated to the laptop (needed for testing pages in IE). I've been wanting to make the switch for ages but this latest in OS disasters has finally given me the push I need. Bye bye Microsoft. Our abusive relationship is finally over! Current Mood: determined | | Saturday, December 27th, 2008 | | 12:11 pm |
Made it to internet connectivity
Another desperate dash and, while we're not home, we've at least made it to the internet. ( cut for pictures (same as Sarmonster) )The tracks we'd cut helped get up some momentum and the near-emptiness of the parking lot helped but escape still involved throwing the 2½ ton vehicle around to make use of the momentum. Fortunately, whenever it got stuck, a few inches backing up gave us the momentum to move forward a bit more and the front end wasn't sliding about quite as badly as in the powder. The roads were pretty bad until we hit the main routes. We only managed it up one hill by maintaining momentum. It took several attempts driving between frozen walls of snow to find a gas station that hadn't stopped selling propane for insurance reasons (grrr!). Every now and then, a frozen patch would twitch us towards the ditch. The last 2 roads leading to Joel's were solid snow and ice. The back end was constantly slipping and I had to try and steer with the front without spinning out. So long as I kept the momentum up I managed to stay more or less straight. As soon as we get the "fairly clear" from Gold Bar, we'll try and reach home. Current Mood:  anxious | | Monday, December 22nd, 2008 | | 2:51 pm |
Stranded in Olympia
Had a client meeting on Saturday so we went to Oponn's on Friday to break up the journey. I was almost ready to cancel but decided to give it a go. The Beastie is definitely not designed for snow! First it got stuck in the snow getting out of the drive but by then it was too late to get back to our parking spot. We had to put a towel under the wheels to get enough traction to avoid hitting the tree on our way out. The main roads weren't too bad and we made the meeting but it started to snow again while we were in there. I was worried we wouldn't be able to make it out of the sloping driveway to get back onto the road. Afterwards we headed to Olympia for Chief's Festivus party and the snow and road conditions just got worse. By the time we hit Olympia's roads I was desperately trying to control 2 tons of fish-tailing beastie on a foot of slippery powder. We got to the parking lot, the back end slid around and wedged against a low wall and the tires stuck on the kerb leaving the beastie blocking the road. We used the towel trick again and got half-way up the slope before sticking again. Now I was too terrified to take my foot off the brake since the slightest jolt could have sent up sliding back down the slope and into the idiot who parked directly opposite the entrance. We managed to push the vehicle away from the wall, dig out the rear wheels, sand the underlying ice and make it onto the flatter area. We always have to be out of the parking lot by Monday since the spaces are rented during the week by Washington State employees. We tried to move to Chief's spot but managed to get all of 3 feet before getting stuck again. Fortunately, there wasn't a single new car in there this morning. There's another storm due on Wednesday. I don't think we'll make it back into the driveway in Gold Bar so we'll probably try making a dash for Joel's place tomorrow before it hits. At least that way we'll have wi-fi and can get some work done. | | Monday, July 28th, 2008 | | 5:33 pm |
More pure evil
I've added a couple more levels to Evil Tetris - 'Mohammad's Mountain' and 'Timewarp'. The latter is pure evil but take time between curses to pity your truly having to debug it. I won't tell you what they do because that would spoil the surprise! Current Mood: Evil! | | Saturday, July 26th, 2008 | | 8:47 pm |
Evil Tetris
I needed something I could get my teeth into rather than my constant diet of interfacing web pages to databases so I wrote, in javascript, a tetris clone in about half a day. Then, of course, it needed a reason to exist. Why would the world need yet another version of tetris? Therefore, I present Evil Tetris! Share and enjoy! Current Mood: geekyCurrent Music: Vangelis - Pulstar | | Thursday, July 17th, 2008 | | 1:33 am |
| | Friday, June 13th, 2008 | | 5:46 am |
Bad Phorm
There's a certain irony in that what a company says in adverts, which everyone assumes to be lies, are better regulated than what it says to news agencies which everyone assumes to be true. ( Case in point. ) Current Mood:  aggravatedCurrent Music: (Sarah snoring) | | Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 | | 3:42 pm |
| | Monday, January 14th, 2008 | | 11:27 pm |
What Do You Have To Say? - Put It On Repeat
Only one (even desert Island Disks give you ten) would have to be one that has stood the test of time. Orff's Carmina Burana, Beethoven's 9th (Berlin Philharmonic version). Contemporary would be The Wall (at least that way you get two), Bat out of Hell or ELO's Time. Maybe the Moody Blues "On the threshold of a dream" - I've enjoyed listening to that one for 35 years. | | Sunday, November 4th, 2007 | | 9:01 am |
How to implement linked lists in SQL
Having had this bit of uber-geekery on my mind for the past few months (and found no online source for it), I've solved the problem and figured I'd post it where other lost-souls might find it via internet search. If anyone does, please comment below to let me know I haven't completely wasted my time! Not rocket science but tricky enough so that it doesn't seem to be documented anywhere. Current Mood: geekyCurrent Music: Hawkwind - Masters of the Universe | | Thursday, October 25th, 2007 | | 4:08 pm |
What Do You Have To Say? - Fashion: Costume Construction
 Using fishing line to hold the legs and particularly the crotch in place. This was the "sanitized" version for work - it had a mini-skirt to cover up the fishnet stocking suspenders and panties with "stripper" across the back. | | Friday, September 7th, 2007 | | 1:39 am |
Security vs Freedom.
So just how good is this security we're being offered? What does $170m of security buy? Not much, apparently!  The crew of a popular Australian show drove a motorcade (waved on by police) to within a block of GW's hotel with the host dressed as Osama Binladin! Don't you feel safer now? Current Mood: amusedCurrent Music: Men of Harlech | | Saturday, May 5th, 2007 | | 11:57 am |
09 There has been a backlash against the release F9 of the AAC code to decrypt DVDs. (Also known 11 as the 09 F9 situation). The industry in an attempt 02 to close the floodgates are threatening to sue bloggers 9D under the DMCA because it's "part of a copyright 74 circumvention system". So I can't post what the key E3 is. However, I have encrypted it within this message. 5b And under the DMCA breaking that encryption, no D8 matter how basic it is, is illegal. For example, as the 41 Sony root kit problem gained momentum, John 56 Halderman realized that by holding the shift key down C5 when a DVD is inserted, the autorun feature is disabled 63 and the protection was nullified. He was sued under the 56 DMCA for publishing this obvious fact. Therefore, any 88 request to remove this post means that the requester C0 has broken the encryption and will be counter-sued to the full extent of the law. Current Mood: Bring it on!Current Music: Simon and Garfunkel - He was my brother. | | Wednesday, April 18th, 2007 | | 1:57 am |
Warning!
Mike will be away for the next 2 weeks and pretnozone-fuelled psycho-Mike will be taking his place. Yes, I finally went to the doctor to get a prescription for steroid cream for my eczema and came away with one for a 12-day course of steroids. These leave me cranky and uncaring so I apologize in advance for any offense my alter-ego might cause. At least my itching has died down to relatively minor occurrences which stop before I've run my nails over every square inch of skin. Their effects have just ramped up to the point where my pulse is over 90 while sitting in front of the computer - scary stuff. Mind you, it's left me out $70 for the visit and $80 for the meds. The 'zone I could have got over the net but couldn't wait but the steroid cream isn't profitable enough for the less "official" sites to run. Current Mood: crankyCurrent Music: Bob Geldof - Song of Great Indifference | | Saturday, March 31st, 2007 | | 11:26 pm |
Comcast bandwidth
Very interesting. Comcast evidently have a bandwidth throttle in place with some kind of monthly allowance before they decrease your bandwidth. I've been using Bittorrent quite a bit lately, ironically for stuff that I actually own but is back in the UK, and last week it ground to a pathetic little dribble. It took me more than a week to download a partial file. Suddenly, a few hours ago, everything began streaming back in as normal. I noticed last month that the same thing happened but it was hard to be sure. The sudden surge at midnight EST for April 1st seems to confirm this. Current Mood: geekyCurrent Music: The Shamen - Ebeneezer Goode | | Friday, March 23rd, 2007 | | 4:11 pm |
New battery - problem solved.
When I took Sarah to pick up her car from having a new fuel filter fitted, the beastie wouldn't start afterwards. The starter tried but failed to turn the engine over and we needed a jump-start from the guys at the garage. They put it down to the Chevy hot-start problem with the solenoid. We stopped on the way home, let the engine cool a little but by the time it was cool enough, the battery was exhausted by trying. So we drove home and didn't stop for gas because we couldn't risk turning it off. Cut to last night. We had to drain the tanks and the fuel on that thing was so low we would barely make it to the nearest gas station with 8-10mpg. The engine and solenoid is now cold, we go to start and the engine doesn't turn over and the dashboard lights are dim. So much for it being an overheating solenoid! This morning we took the battery in (the date on it was 2002, so much for a new battery when we got it), got a new one, fitted it and it works like a dream. Now that I know what to look for, it was taking longer and longer to start so I can recognize it next time. Now the gas tank is full, the gunge tanks are empty, the propane is half-full and the house battery fully charged ready for this weekend's partying. I also got around to closing up my new computer case and positioning it out of the way under the desk so I now have lots more legroom! Finally had some user feedback on my admin tool - a few minor bugs and useful changes on the date entry tool. The great thing about having a single admin tool for every site is that the changes benefit everyone else too as well as future customers. While I was at it, I got back onto getting the tool working with Firefox too. Life is good! Current Mood: happyCurrent Music: Baha Men - Best years of our lives |
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