Wear our hearts on our...T-Shirts.

borrowed from NobodyAsked

Thanks Frank

LenovO vs. LenovA

If you Google 'lenova' you are asked if you meant 'lenovo' which is a courtesy extended by the great and munificent Goz. Which would be alright but the Goz then goes on to list a number of entries for 'lenova'. Which prompts me to ask if there is a mass misspelling of the name of the company? Or is it a gender thing; masculine lenovO or feminine lenovA?

Anyone have any insights on this?

Don't even consider Linux!

I have a growing feeling. A feeling that I cannot deny. It is a sense that Linux is suffering. It is suffering from 'Joe-Average-Everyday-Desktop-itis'. And I would like it to stop. So I am pleading with you gentle reader - Don't even consider Linux.

When I came innocent to the Linux fold in 1996 I wanted a better Operating System. I wanted to be unshackled from the bonds of corporate megalomaniacs who insisted that they knew what was good best for me. I wanted stability, security, and a clean fast PC. I wanted to be captain of my own ship, steering my own computing destiny.

By sheer dumb luck I stumbled upon Slackware. I would like to tell you that it was a well researched intelligent decision. I would like to tell you that I made an informed choice. I would like to tell you that I listened to the voice of popular opinion. Nope, I just bought the book and CD-ROM that caught my eye. A book that at the time I could afford.

So when I read the following article from Think Thick it struck a resonate chord with me. Among other things it speaks to the work that a user must do to make the most of Linux. I believe this work is exactly what set Linux apart from the other OSs. In addition I believe that this prerequisite work is what is missing from the 'Joe-Average-Everyday-Desktop-itis' distros that tout themselves as the next great Linux.

Then I came across this excellent article from tuxmachines.org entitled Slackware 12: The anti-'buntu. From the title alone I knew the author had hit the nail on the head. Then I had this great idea. I would respond to the Think Thick '10 Things' article (in RED) with excerpts from the 'anti-'buntu' article (in GREEN). So here goes... (NOTE: You should read each article independently too.)

Confessions of a Linux Fan: 10 Things You Might Want To Know Before Switching Over To Linux

1. The basic installation of most mainstream Linux distributions is very easy, but a first time user might run into trouble when trying to depart from the defaults.

The "setup" script is a simple menu-based utility. The SlackBook, a well-written reference manual and tutorial on how to install and use Slackware, has a good walk-thru of the process (including screenshots). It's quite simple and fast, if you take the setup utility's recommendation and install everything (which avoids the setup utility asking you which packages you want to install).

2. If you want a proper Linux installation, you are going to have to mess around with the partition table.

Before running setup, however, you will need to parition your hard disk, if you haven't already. (I personally prefer to create partitions prior to installing a distro, regardless, using the GParted live CD.) Instead of providing a graphical partitioning utility (like gparted), Slackware offers you fdisk (which is completely command-line-driven) and cfdisk.

3. You will have to learn how to use the command line.

Now it's time to get busy adding a regular user account and configuring the X server. There are two utilities you can use to configure X, "xorgconfig" and "xorgsetup". The former will prompt you to provide quite a bit of detail about your hardware; the payoff is an "xorg.conf" that's extremely well-commented (i.e. the purpose of each section is explained). The latter will do the configuration automagically, but leaves the comments out.

4. All those pretty effects of wobbly windows and cube desktops require some work from the user.

If you're planning on installing the proprietary NVIDIA driver, this is a good time to do it. If you installed everything, you'll already have the needed kernel source. Using "xorgsetup" is the better than using "xorgconfig" if you're going to install the NVIDIA driver. I chose to let the NVIDIA installer write its own entries to "xorg.conf" after running "xorgconfig", and it made a huge mess of the comments.

5. Yes, more hardware works with Linux than with Windows. No, not all hardware works 100% like it's supposed to.

(See #4)

6. If you need/want to install a package not included in the repositories, or install from source, you might need to do some research.

To help you compile programs from source, there's a utility named checkinstall. After running the standard "./configure" and "make" commands in your source directory, you run "checkinstall" instead of "make install", and it will create a Slackware package for you (and also install it, if you choose). See checkinstall's README file for more information. (Although checkinstall was included in the "/extra" directory of the Slackware installation media until the very last minute, it was removed due to some sort of incompatibility. As of this writing, a new version hasn't been released yet.)

7. Most mainstream software manufacturers forget about Linux.

My guess (by looking at my package logs) is that the entire Slackware distro proper consists of somewhere around 800 packages, give or take. (Contrast this with Debian's pool of around roughly 18,000 packages.)

8. Linux is not for the meek of heart.

Compiling from source can sometimes be frustrating, but that's usually the fault of the software developer. For example, Slackware includes a nice bittorrent client named "bittornado" in its "/extra" repository, but doesn't include wxPython, which you need to install in order to run bittornado in GUI mode.

9. Linux is almost entirely virus/trojan/spyware free, but you will still need some kind of protection.

The Slackware article makes no mention of virus/trojan/spyware so I am including the '10 Things' answer...

Protection for Linux usually means a firewall, either installed in your computer, or in a router/hardware firewall. This, of course, implies a little bit more work for the user.

10. Linux assumes that you are an intelligent person.
And then there's Slackware, which is more traditional. Slackware is the oldest surviving Linux distribution; its first version came out in 1993. Version 12 was recently released. As its Wikipedia entry notes, it's got a reputation for sacrificing ease-of-use (in terms of configuration and package management tools provided by the distribution) in favor of letting the end user configure the system and its software by herself.
If you want an easy-to-use Linux distribution that doesn't make you work too hard, Slackware might not be for you. On the other hand, if you want a distro that's quick to set up, and know how to configure it by hand (or aren't afraid of learning to), you might fall in love with Slackware. It's definitely an interesting way to learn how to use Linux. And it's definitely a way to get a stable server up and running in very little time.

So your only real choice is Slackware! And if you are not up for the challenge then please ... Don't even consider Linux!

New Perspectives in Psychology ...just not PC!

Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature

...(Excerpted)...

Human behavior is a product both of our innate human nature and of our individual experience and environment. In this article, however, we emphasize biological influences on human behavior, because most social scientists explain human behavior as if evolution stops at the neck and as if our behavior is a product almost entirely of environment and socialization. In contrast, evolutionary psychologists see human nature as a collection of psychological adaptations that often operate beneath conscious thinking to solve problems of survival and reproduction by predisposing us to think or feel in certain ways. Our preference for sweets and fats is an evolved psychological mechanism. We do not consciously choose to like sweets and fats; they just taste good to us.

The implications of some of the ideas in this article may seem immoral, contrary to our ideals, or offensive. We state them because they are true, supported by documented scientific evidence. Like it or not, human nature is simply not politically correct.

Emphasis mine...

It is about (explicative deleted) time that somebody called a spade a shovel!

My daughter is on mission...

Rosemary, my eldest daughter, is on a mission trip. I cannot say where, only that it is half the world away. She is acting upon her faith. I must act accordingly.

Rosemary is truly away from home. For the first time she is not within emergency driving distance of concerned parents who would come if she called. Though she is with a group of good people she is alone with her God. Alone she can turn only to prayer and faith. Alone she is her own person.

I learned long ago that the greatest gift that I can give my children is to leave them alone. This is not to say that I cease to exist. Rather that I, while being available, allow my children to make their own way in the world. To that end it is I who must have faith. Faith in the knowledge that my children, autonomous, are capable of meeting the world without my heavy hand resting gently on their shoulder.

I must have faith as well that what ever might befall my child(ren) is as it should be. Early in their lives I observed that I could not prevent them from falling off their bicycles. Short of banning bicycles there is no way to prevent the inevitable pull of the Law of Gravity. I realized that my children will suffer at the hands of the world. Let me be clear that I take absolutely no personal comfort or pleasure in this awareness for I too have fallen and have endured skinned elbows and road-rashed knees. I do have some small insight into the implications of 'taking things on faith'.

So it is upon faith that I place my fears and concerns. The mind is a fertile field. In it can grow any number of horrific scenarios. My responsibility is to sow the fields with the seeds of faith knowing that what grows is as it should be - not as I would have it.

I can hear the critics voices, echoing a classic concern, "What if your daughter does not return?" I would be heart broken. A light in my life will have been extinguished. Here the key words are 'my life'. Too often we mourn the loss of a loved one as though it were their responsibility, something that they 'did' to us, something that they 'took' from us. When in fact our loss is a selfish clinging to what we knew not what we know.

It is my daughter's faith that has taken her on mission. She has no real knowledge of God's plan. She can take no solace or succor in personal comfort. She will be challenged in all her senses. Even the very concept of faith that has empowered her to take this bold step will be challenged. She knows that her life and perhaps her death is in God's hands. Who then am I to argue with God? Who am I to question the outcome of my daughter's journey of faith?

If my daughter does not return then my heart will be broken. A far greater catastrophy would be to have my daughter return and learn that her faith had been broken. I would much rather have my daughter wrapped in the loving arms of her Lord than returned to me empty and broken.

I cannot prevent my children from falling off their bicycles... I can only stand by the side of the road and watch.

Bless you and keep you Rosemary where ever you may ride.

Love

- Papa

Curious juxtaposition

Here it is my intent to report a blog phenomena, to faithfully represent these posts as they were actually presented in my reader ... the presentation of two completely different bloggers in proximity to one another.

Great minds ... think!

thanks Frank
thanks Hugh

P.S. Notice their choice of tags.

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	Jul 7, 2007 (9 hours ago) Power, patronage, and popularity from Listics by Frank Paynter The historical situation that is being pointed to is one in which artists have ceased to be attached to some nobleman’s entourage and now form a “class” of their own, a group apart, so that their circle of acquaintance consists of other artists. No longer enjoying aristocratic patronage but unable to look to the bourgeois for comprehension… their poems can be dedicated only to each other. But two further points arise in this connection. First, to the extent that the traditional function of the dedication as a means of seeking “political” protection and hence as an acknowledgment of social power survives here in a new guise, the esthetic dedication reveals to us an interaction, in Baudelaire’s social environment, between the world of art and the world of the “majority” with its “strength” - a majority whose taste, as a consequence of its strength, is what determines artistic reputation. Baudelaire’s Dedicatory Practice Ross Chambers SubStance, Vol. 17, No. 2, Issue 56
	Add starShareEmail (Updated)Mark as readEdit tags: a_people

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	6:52 AM (1 hour ago) mean, mediocre from gapingvoid by hugh macleod
	Add starShareEmail (Updated)Mark as readEdit tags: a_people

We're mad as Dell and not gonna take Vista anymore...

My daddy didn't raise any fools and I am an only child. He said, "Boy, watch which way the money flows. Where it comes from and where it goes." Truer words were never spoken.

That is the very reason I read the Wall Street Journal if I can find one that isn't three days old or been used for wrapping fish. Say for example Joe Average invents a wonderous new technology for storing petabytes of data on the head of a pin. Long before you or I have a chance to see it the WSJ will report on whether Joe's idea will be funded for production. If it isn't then no matter how important the invention the technology will not flourish. (Disclaimer: I am sure that there have been exceptions to this premise. Please leave comments detailing them.)

If the WSJ is a good bellwether for new technology then CRN is the compass of existing technology. CRN are the folks who make a point of watching which way the money is going among the people who are in the existing technology business. Value-Added-Resellers, Technology Integrators, IT Consultants, and Solution Providers are all in the 'channel'. This channel is where the money flows.

All of that leads me to...

VARs Ripping And Replacing Vista For XP At Breakneck Pace

By Edward F. Moltzen, Steven Burke, CRN
6:01 PM EDT Fri. Jul. 06, 2007

Dell Computer isn't the only one warning clients of the pitfalls of moving to Microsoft's Vista operating system.

System builders and VARs, however, aren't just talking about it. They are are ripping the much ballyhooed operating system off desktops and notebooks at a breakneck pace because of the problems that come with moving clients to Vista.

...

"We are ripping it off systems 99 percent of the time," said Jay Tipton, vice president of Technology Specialists, a Fort Wayne, Ind., Microsoft Gold partner.

...

Technology Specialists won't even run the operating system internally on any of its production systems because Tipton does not want his technicians taking time out of their day to "debug Vista." The earliest Tipton sees that ripping and replacing ending is when Microsoft releases Service Pack 1 for Vista. "Hopefully at that time Microsoft will fix all the little gotchas that make the older software not work," said Tipton.

Glen Coffield, president of Smart Guys Computers, an Orlando, Fla.-based retail chain with six stores in central Florida, said his No. 1 service job right now is wiping Vista off sysetms and replacing it with Windows XP.

...

Coffield said that the biggest hurdles facing Vista are hardware and software compatibility issues. Clients don't want to replace all their hardware and software to move to Vista, he said.

...

The big question looming over the marketplace is what happens when Microsoft no longer allows big brand system makers and system builders from offering Windows XP?

"Customers won't buy PCs or they'll bootleg XP unless Microsoft does something to vendors and partners behind Vista," said Coffield. "It's not going to happen. People don't have to buy a new computer. They can get the one they have now fixed."

Sorry, this just has to be said...

Lucy?

Yes, Ricky?

Lucy, you 'splain somet'ing to me, ok?

What is it Ricky?

Lucy, why is it that this Paris Heeltone is guilty of being a deetz an' Lucy she has to serve her full sentence. Yes, Lucy?

That's right Ricky.

An' the guy who was found guilty of lying to the Federal Gov'mint, Meester Scooter Leebbee, he don' have to serve a day of his sentence? Lucy, you 'splain that to me, yes?

*Gulp* Welllllllll Ricky you see here in these United States anyone can come from an under-privileged hotel holding multi-millionaire family and get into trouble. But it takes crooked politicians to get you out of it.

No mo' ToDoCue ... sorry

Tried the Google/FireFox applet 'ToDoCue' hoping that it would serve as a 'ToDo' list that I could integrate into my G/FF Web 2.0 world. No bono ... looked good on the surface but a bit too quirky under the hood.

1. Repeatedly had to login even though 'Remember Password' was checked.
   
2. This is the deal breaker... repeatedly had to check the "Done" check box to make my ToDo items stay done. More over, had to check the done box for the same items on different platforms (with different OSs) - This may be the same problem with a different spin.

Ah well, back to the search for a suitable Web 2.0 ToDo list.

You have the right to remain...

Ludium 2, June 22-23, 2007

A DECLARATION OF VIRTUAL WORLD POLICY made by representatives of law, industry and academia, assembled in full and free convention as the first Synthetic Worlds Congress.

Whereas virtual worlds are places with untapped potential, providing new and positive experiences and effects, we resolve that:

1. A self-governance group of virtual world stakeholders should be formed.
2. A players’ bill of rights should be drafted and should include the right of free speech and the rights to assemble and organize.
   
3. A universal age verification system should be created to support the individual rights of all users.
   
4. Virtual world designers should have freedom of expression">Virtual world designers should have freedom of expression.
   
5. Virtual worlds should include plain-language End-User License Agreements (EULA) to enable all individuals to understand their rights.
   
6. There are different types of virtual worlds with different policy implications.
   
7. Access is critical to virtual worlds, so net neutrality must be maintained.
   
8. Game developers shall not be liable for the actions taken by players.
   
9. Fair use may apply in virtual worlds that enable amateur creation of original works.
   
10. The government should provide a comprehensive package of funding for educational games research, development, and literacy.

Meeting us on the other side

Peter Callesen

Caligraphy in the 21st Century

Tip of the cap to Virtual China

Slackware 12

Slackware ... this is just a taste...

- PCMCIA, CardBus, USB, IEE1394 (FireWire) and ACPI support. This
makes Slackware a great operating system for your laptop.

- The udev dynamic device management system for Linux 2.6.x.
This locates and configures most hardware automatically as it
is added (or removed) from the system, and creates the access
nodes in /dev. It also loads the kernel modules required by
sound cards and other hardware at boot time.

Google Kool-Aid....Ah, refreshing.

Before you go all "JimJonesSlamming" on me there are a couple of mitigating circumstances that should be acknowledged.

1. I have recently taken on a new set of responsibilities (e.g. Intranet Web Master (MS-IIS), MS-Access Developer, Postgresql Database Administrator)
2. I work on several different computing platforms - Servers, Desktops, Laptops, PDAs (e.g. RedHat, Slackware, Ubuntu, MS-Windows XP, MS-Server2003, Palm)

In everyday operational terms I need to have a seamless Information Environment that is not platform dependent. Currently I am composing this entry on an IBM R51 laptop running Ubuntu 7. My main desktop is a well resourced MS-Windows XP-Pro system. With the ubiquity of Internet access I can get to my 'stuff' from nearly any computer that I can log into.

So here is the Google (+FireFox) line-up...

• gMail - the Foundation.
  
• Google Sync - Essential for keeping it seamless.
• gCalendar - the name says it all.
  
• gReader - RSS and news feeds all in one place
• Google Gears - Because I cannot be connected to the Internet every minute of every day.
  
• gNotebook - Handy place to put things worth saving.
  
• gDocs & Sreadsheets - Mature "Office" suite compliment.
  
• Recently I identified the need for a 'To Do' list so I have begun to work with ToDoCue - a FoxFire/Google Add-On. I have to wonder when Google will integrate a ToDO feature of their own.
  
• Google Desktop - Finding it fast when I really need it.

Bonus Add-On: CustomizeGoogle - I have certain reservations about using this applet but not enough to stop me. :) CustomizeGoogle allows me to fine tune my Google experience. True enough, sometimes too much of a Google thing is not a good thing.

I am hungry. - The World

Ethanol demand outgrows corn

Beef and dairy farmers in Midwestern states that produce most of the nation's ethanol are able to feed their cattle with less expensive grains leftover from distilling that fuel. But ranchers in Texas and Oklahoma, which do not have large corn crops or produce as much ethanol, will be harder hit by high corn prices, Moseman said. In addition, hogs and poultry cannot digest the leftover grains from ethanol production, so those farmers will feel the pinch of higher corn prices, Moseman explained.

Along with making livestock feed more expensive, acres that have been dedicated to other crops or set aside for conservation now are being planted with corn, creating the biggest shift in planting patterns in the past century, said Ludwig of the Hale Group.

An annual federal report detailing farmers’ planting plans estimates that corn acres will increase 15 percent over last year. Crops that likely will be supplanted by corn include rice and cotton with which U.S. farmers are not competitive with growers in other countries, said Ludwig.

Farmers also could be induced to set aside less land for conservation or quit rotating crops on their land, sapping nutrients from the soil or causing more erosion, the U.S. Department of Agriculture warns.

Emphasis mine... Cars and cattle... Burgers and Buicks... I am sooooo rich I can feed my car better than ...








Bonus Link: Pew Research: Ethanol Demand Outgrows Corn

Says it all

Thank you Meg.

Coals to Newcastle

Jeremy, responding to Steve Talbott, mentioned caution when advocating 'vocational' education over a 'Liberal Arts' education...

As a long standing advocate of 'Liberal Arts' education I wanted to add the following winnowed from Wikipedia... Liberal Arts

The term liberal arts has come to mean studies that are intended to provide general knowledge and general intellectual skills rather than more specialized occupational, scientific, or artistic skills.

The term liberal in liberal arts is from the Latin word liberalis, meaning "appropriate for free men", and they were contrasted with the servile arts.

Providing 'general knowledge' AND 'general intellectual skills' are the very substance of a free society. When people can think for themselves and act accordingly then true freedom can be achieved. Perhaps more important, as Jeremy points out, is the need in a free society for in depth personal resources that can only be purveyed by and acquired through a 'Liberal Arts' education.

Delivering coal is a skilled trade. Carrying coals to Newcastle requires some small insight.

P.S. Let Marshal McLuhan's medium be the message.

Is 'Good' good?

Bank Shots

When playing pool a well executed bank shot is a thing of beauty.

HOWEVER...

This week we have heard of two 'bank shots' that give me pause to review the legendary record of 'Slick' Willie Sutton. Well chronicled by the very agency that he thumbed his well attired nose at - the FBI retells that story of Willie's famous answer to the all time stupid question, "Why do you rob banks?"

...Sutton simply replied, "Because that's where the money is."

My heart goes out to Cat'sPaw - who might be said to have experienced a 'reverse bank shot' - being held up by the bank.

Then just a few articles down the RSS page I read of David Cushman as reported by The Social Customer ... evidently in the Mega-Cathedrals of Cash I am a lowly poor sinner who should just crawl away and repent.

While I do understand a banking institution's need for responsibility and integrity I do not understand why it is the patron who must bear the burden of grace and humility under fire. If a Bank wants my business then they should take a lesson from my dentist - Dr. Wright knows that if he wants my return business he will make a painful situation as comfortable as he possible can. And I can tell you I would much rather 'enjoy' another root canal than be subjected to the attitudinal scrutiny of another bank teller.

This has been my $0.02, deposited here in the First Bank of Blogaria.

One tear drop rolling down a cheek...