After another hard day of urban nomad-ness, I rode the bus back to Slob Manor (read: rental housing). The rains commenced a few minutes after I boarded. By the time the bus cruised through Aina Haina, a downpour was ensuing. Between the time that I alighted the bus and crossed Kalani'ana'ole Highway, I was almost completely drenched. As I meandered along on the sidewalk, the rain kept beating down upon me. Then, I noticed one car in the swarm ahead swerve about three feet into the shoulder where a large puddle of water was sitting. All I could see was the huge wave of mud and crap before it hit. The riders in the vehicle were laughing their asses off. Within a few seconds, another car did the same thing. Again, I was able to observe the passengers in hysterics. Had the morons stopped, I would have committed mass genocide.
Assholes and asswipes ... that's what "Americans" are good at being. In fact, I must say that "Americans" excel at the art. And, why not? Every facet of "American" culture aims to bring out the inner asshole. Actually, that's an insult to the rectum, which serves a useful function.
The empire's citizens are arrogant and haughty, a psychotic byproduct of the military-industrial complex. Bringing suffering and pain to the helpless is one of the empire's noteworthy traits. The diseased mentality is so rampant that even the empire's individual citizens are prone to the same kind of sadistic behavior.
Aside from that, I managed to restore my monk haircut at the Institute of Hair Design. The Asian guy did a really good job. The instructors always check the students work, and also "clean up" any problems. I listened as Leo, one of the instructors, gave the Asian guy a few tips. A simple haircut is not really that simple.
I was not able to remove Samba from my Ubuntu installation because of the tight integration with Gnome®, although I was able to remove the other useless applications safely including Assistive Technologies (i.e., AT SPI). Removing all of the applications and utilities that I have mentioned did not reclaim much hard drive space. However, the added bloat has been trimmed back. I am also considering the removal of Compiz-Fusion. And, finally, I discovered that there is something called the Preload daemon that enables larger applications to load faster by using a RAM cache. It can be installed via Synaptic Package Manager. However, since I am trimming the bloat, I do not need the latter.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
On-line Hermit
My visit to Hawai'i Kai was deferred yesterday because of the holiday. Of particluar note, moms served ahi sashimi, tofu, futomaki sushi, kim chee, sea salad, fresh vegetables, and rice for lunch. For dessert, moms served apple pie with Foremost® coffee ice cream. That's a feast to remember.
Last night, I uninstalled Computer Janitor, remote desktop viewer (i.e., Vino and Vinagre), and terminal server client from my Ubuntu-based system. Later, I will also remove Transmission and, hopefully, Samba. I do not want anything on the computer that I do not use, especially "connectivity" applications. Once again, I am going through a dress rehearsal for the future upgrade to Ubuntu "Lucid Lynx" (v10.04 LTS).
I am also sending out e-mail to terminate the remaining useless on-line accounts that I had foolishly acquired over time. I will still spend a lot of time on the Net. However, I will be an extremely passive user.
In the next day or so, I will be perusing the catalog of thousands of Linux applications to find something useful to install on my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer. Any kind of "social networking" crap is out. My on-line presence will be similar to that of a hermit.
Last night, I uninstalled Computer Janitor, remote desktop viewer (i.e., Vino and Vinagre), and terminal server client from my Ubuntu-based system. Later, I will also remove Transmission and, hopefully, Samba. I do not want anything on the computer that I do not use, especially "connectivity" applications. Once again, I am going through a dress rehearsal for the future upgrade to Ubuntu "Lucid Lynx" (v10.04 LTS).
I am also sending out e-mail to terminate the remaining useless on-line accounts that I had foolishly acquired over time. I will still spend a lot of time on the Net. However, I will be an extremely passive user.
In the next day or so, I will be perusing the catalog of thousands of Linux applications to find something useful to install on my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer. Any kind of "social networking" crap is out. My on-line presence will be similar to that of a hermit.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Reading Between the Lines
There must be more to life than just Ubuntu Linux, I muttered to myself as I sipped coffee and perused the same old Linux magazines in the Barnes & Noble® Café in Kahala Mall this morning. However, for the ol' lavahead, there isn't anything else. He is an urban nomad. Nothing more, nothing less.
Ubtuntu "Karmic Koala" (V9.10) continues to give me grief, albeit a minor variety. The Network Manager applet icon continues to disappear. Gwget often initiates in a semi-frozen state, although the wget backend is functioning. Aside from that, everything is operational including headphones audio. This is the first time that my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer has been fully feature-operational under Linux.
Later, I happened to find a fix for the Network Manager applet. I must run the command:
On a side note, about a week after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, the empire dispatched about 10,000 military troops to allegedly help maintain order. The civilian population has been in desperate need of food, water, and medical aid for the whole week. An estimated 200,000 lives may have been lost. Yet, the empire is sending troops. Why? One has to understand the rationale of the empire's choices. Haiti has always been a "guinea pig" for the empire's nefarious experiments, first with "shock doctrine" economics and later sponsoring evil dictatorships. A few pundits have asserted that the empire is currently attempting a military takeover of Haiti. I would rather suggest that the empire is staging another experiment. this time a dress rehearsal for the upcoming civil unrest within the empire itself. Obviously, if the Haitians had ample food, water, medical assistance, and more help in saving survivors, then they would not be prone to anarchy. When all aid is rationed, there is a propensity for chaos. The situation on the ground in Haiti is far worse than the New Orleans theater during Hurricane Katrina, which makes the disaster perfect for military exercises. Scary, isn't it?
Ubtuntu "Karmic Koala" (V9.10) continues to give me grief, albeit a minor variety. The Network Manager applet icon continues to disappear. Gwget often initiates in a semi-frozen state, although the wget backend is functioning. Aside from that, everything is operational including headphones audio. This is the first time that my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer has been fully feature-operational under Linux.
Later, I happened to find a fix for the Network Manager applet. I must run the command:
nm-applet --sm-disablefrom the command line. However, the command is only active with the terminal window open. As for Gwget, there apparently is a new version available, but it's not in the Ubuntu repositories.
On a side note, about a week after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, the empire dispatched about 10,000 military troops to allegedly help maintain order. The civilian population has been in desperate need of food, water, and medical aid for the whole week. An estimated 200,000 lives may have been lost. Yet, the empire is sending troops. Why? One has to understand the rationale of the empire's choices. Haiti has always been a "guinea pig" for the empire's nefarious experiments, first with "shock doctrine" economics and later sponsoring evil dictatorships. A few pundits have asserted that the empire is currently attempting a military takeover of Haiti. I would rather suggest that the empire is staging another experiment. this time a dress rehearsal for the upcoming civil unrest within the empire itself. Obviously, if the Haitians had ample food, water, medical assistance, and more help in saving survivors, then they would not be prone to anarchy. When all aid is rationed, there is a propensity for chaos. The situation on the ground in Haiti is far worse than the New Orleans theater during Hurricane Katrina, which makes the disaster perfect for military exercises. Scary, isn't it?
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Brevity
Another urban nomad kind-of-a-Sunday was eclipsed by a microsecond glimpse of the hottie gym trainer. Unfortunately, not much can be discerned in a microsecond. The routine was the same as always, with the exception that I did not stop off at Kahala Mall this afternoon. No details are necessary.
This evening I took a break from the computer nerd crap and watched the movie, "The Rock," starring Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage on the tiny tube that I had set up in the Slob Manor (read: rental housing) living room. By the way, that's the first mainstream movie that I have viewed in a long time. Sadly, the movie appeared on one of the cable channels, so I had to tolerate the myriad advertisements. I must admit, though, that it was a nice break.
Later, I removed Ubuntu One from my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer. The synchronization was a mess, so I mummified it. I'm better off using a USB flash drive. I also reinstalled Brasero for future testing.
According to the Feedjit® Live Feed, there have no legitimate visitors to the "blog" in months. Can you believe it? I'm not even sure why I update it anymore. Well, what I will probably do, then, is to make my postings even more terse. From this point forward, let us assume that I am following:
This evening I took a break from the computer nerd crap and watched the movie, "The Rock," starring Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage on the tiny tube that I had set up in the Slob Manor (read: rental housing) living room. By the way, that's the first mainstream movie that I have viewed in a long time. Sadly, the movie appeared on one of the cable channels, so I had to tolerate the myriad advertisements. I must admit, though, that it was a nice break.
Later, I removed Ubuntu One from my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer. The synchronization was a mess, so I mummified it. I'm better off using a USB flash drive. I also reinstalled Brasero for future testing.
According to the Feedjit® Live Feed, there have no legitimate visitors to the "blog" in months. Can you believe it? I'm not even sure why I update it anymore. Well, what I will probably do, then, is to make my postings even more terse. From this point forward, let us assume that I am following:
- the usual urban nomad routine and itinerary, or
- the usual Hawai'i Kai itinerary when I visit moms, or
- the usual Sunday itinerary complete with spottings of the hottie gym trainer, or
- the alternate itinerary on days that the library is closed, and
- the ritualistic urban nomad kind-of-an-evening.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
"Karmic Koala" Chaos
Last night, I decided to compromise and remove Evolution, Empathy, and Brasero from Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" (v9.10) using the Ubuntu Software Center (future replacement of Synaptic Package Manager). I was able to remove the applications, although some files still remain because of dependency issues. I also uninstalled gimp, Mono and iBus. I also noticed that there are some major font issues that need to be resolved.
Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day started off with a cup of Seattle's Best® coffee from Safeway®. The carafe of Colombian coffee was empty, so I had to ask one of the employees at the deli counter if more could be made. The employee was not to happy to be disturbed. I might as well have been trying to pull out the bitch's teeth. What is with these losers? Aren't they even happy that they have a wage slave job?
I rode the Route 4 bus (with my cup of coffee) to the library. When I alighted at the us stop, I happened to notice Kawaiaha'o Church across the street. With so much time on my hands, I toured the church and the surrounding grounds.
At the library, I have been reading the book, "Rule by Secrecy: Hidden History That Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, and the Great Pyramids," by Jim Marrs. The book miraculously reappeared a couple of days ago. I may or may not be commenting about the book.
After an unexciting workout at the gym, I was able to board a Route 1 bus heading to Hawai'i Kai. I have no idea why the buses heading to Hawai'i Kai are always full. I usually ride the Route 1 bus that ends at Kahala Mall and transfer to the Hawai'i Kai bus somewhere along the way. The Kahala Mall bus is never full. Yet, almost all of the passengers on the Hawai'i Kai bus alight before or at Kahala Mall. Does that even make sense? Really, that's just another example of the kinds of morons who make up the rank-and-file.
When I powered up my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer this evening, I noticed that the Network Manager applet was missing from the upper Gnome® panel. I was connected to the Net via Ethernet, but there was nothing to verify the latter. I restarted the computer, and the applet was restored. Strange things.
I can also understand why the Ubuntu developers have decided to go with the Plymouth GDM. The Xsplash GDM does not meet their goals. When the bootloader finishes, there is one flicker dues to a mode change. After that, Xsplash displays the first of two splash screen. There is a microsecond black screen and a system cursor flashing in the upper left corner. A second splash screen, which is animated, appears subsequently. The log-in screen comes next. After logging in, the screen goes black with a couple of verbose commands displayed in the upper left corner until it all fades into the Gnome® desktop. The process also takes much longer than the anticipated ten-second boot for "Lucid Lynx."
Speaking of "Lucid Lynx," the second Alpha version was released a few days ago. I have confined myself to read other people's opinions rather than download and burn the ISO file to CD-ROM. I have used "Karmic Koala" as a test case for configuration purposes, so I am now ready for the installation of the new version.
Well, another urban nomad kind-of-an-evening was dedicated to computer nerd crap again. What can I say? I just hope that I am now done with the troubleshooting so that I can go back to the old routine. Sheesh!
Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day started off with a cup of Seattle's Best® coffee from Safeway®. The carafe of Colombian coffee was empty, so I had to ask one of the employees at the deli counter if more could be made. The employee was not to happy to be disturbed. I might as well have been trying to pull out the bitch's teeth. What is with these losers? Aren't they even happy that they have a wage slave job?
I rode the Route 4 bus (with my cup of coffee) to the library. When I alighted at the us stop, I happened to notice Kawaiaha'o Church across the street. With so much time on my hands, I toured the church and the surrounding grounds.
At the library, I have been reading the book, "Rule by Secrecy: Hidden History That Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, and the Great Pyramids," by Jim Marrs. The book miraculously reappeared a couple of days ago. I may or may not be commenting about the book.
After an unexciting workout at the gym, I was able to board a Route 1 bus heading to Hawai'i Kai. I have no idea why the buses heading to Hawai'i Kai are always full. I usually ride the Route 1 bus that ends at Kahala Mall and transfer to the Hawai'i Kai bus somewhere along the way. The Kahala Mall bus is never full. Yet, almost all of the passengers on the Hawai'i Kai bus alight before or at Kahala Mall. Does that even make sense? Really, that's just another example of the kinds of morons who make up the rank-and-file.
When I powered up my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer this evening, I noticed that the Network Manager applet was missing from the upper Gnome® panel. I was connected to the Net via Ethernet, but there was nothing to verify the latter. I restarted the computer, and the applet was restored. Strange things.
I can also understand why the Ubuntu developers have decided to go with the Plymouth GDM. The Xsplash GDM does not meet their goals. When the bootloader finishes, there is one flicker dues to a mode change. After that, Xsplash displays the first of two splash screen. There is a microsecond black screen and a system cursor flashing in the upper left corner. A second splash screen, which is animated, appears subsequently. The log-in screen comes next. After logging in, the screen goes black with a couple of verbose commands displayed in the upper left corner until it all fades into the Gnome® desktop. The process also takes much longer than the anticipated ten-second boot for "Lucid Lynx."
Speaking of "Lucid Lynx," the second Alpha version was released a few days ago. I have confined myself to read other people's opinions rather than download and burn the ISO file to CD-ROM. I have used "Karmic Koala" as a test case for configuration purposes, so I am now ready for the installation of the new version.
Well, another urban nomad kind-of-an-evening was dedicated to computer nerd crap again. What can I say? I just hope that I am now done with the troubleshooting so that I can go back to the old routine. Sheesh!
Friday, January 15, 2010
Mission Accomplished
Another visit to Hawai'i Kai went well. On my way there this morning in my Nissan® Frontier truck, I stopped off at the only petrol station with an air pump that has a pressure guage built in. That's the Koko's Island Chevron® in Koko Marina. I checked the pressure in all four tires. All were slightly above 30 psi. The required tire pressure is 35 psi. So, I'm not exactly sure why the warning light popped up.
Moms and I ate lunch at Zippy's, then shopped at Foodland. Later, moms served Foremost® coffee and vanilla ice cream for dessert. I kept moms company until 1:30pm. The rest of the day? You know the drill.
When I finally arrived at Slob Manor (read: rental housing), I was eager to finish up the last few tweaks of Ubuntu Linux "Karmic Koala" (v9.10). Everything is operational, as I mentioned in a late update last night. There were a few quirks. I had to insert the USB flash drive twice before Ubuntu mounted it. The sound was also incredibly loud for any setting of the software volume control. I had to turn down the volume using the knob on the front panel of my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer. I did not test to see whether the headphone jack was functional. Video playback using the xVideo extension no longer causes any Xorg and Gnome® freezing.
I spent most of the evening tweaking Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" on and off while I performed my usual on-line tasks. I uninstalled as many of the unneeded applications as possible. However, I did not uninstall Evolution, Empathy, and Brasero because of a dependency problem. Mind you, those applications are the ones that I desperately want to be rid. I can partially remove them, but that's not satisfactory to me.
As for the crazy volume control problem, I searched the Ubuntu Forums and found a few threads with proposed solutions. I tried the simplest one first, which was to access the Alsa mixer from the command line. I attempted to set the sliders, but it was a useless process. I ended up lowering the sound output to the point of inaudibility. So, rather than follow idiotic advice, I intuitively installed the Pulse Audio volume control. I was able to properly adjust the sound levels after that.
Heck, that was a lot of work for an operating system that I will be replacing in four months. Well, that's the kind of fun we have around here in my squalid room. In any case, we'll be returning to normal programming until the the next Ubuntu release. Sheesh!
Moms and I ate lunch at Zippy's, then shopped at Foodland. Later, moms served Foremost® coffee and vanilla ice cream for dessert. I kept moms company until 1:30pm. The rest of the day? You know the drill.
When I finally arrived at Slob Manor (read: rental housing), I was eager to finish up the last few tweaks of Ubuntu Linux "Karmic Koala" (v9.10). Everything is operational, as I mentioned in a late update last night. There were a few quirks. I had to insert the USB flash drive twice before Ubuntu mounted it. The sound was also incredibly loud for any setting of the software volume control. I had to turn down the volume using the knob on the front panel of my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer. I did not test to see whether the headphone jack was functional. Video playback using the xVideo extension no longer causes any Xorg and Gnome® freezing.
I spent most of the evening tweaking Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" on and off while I performed my usual on-line tasks. I uninstalled as many of the unneeded applications as possible. However, I did not uninstall Evolution, Empathy, and Brasero because of a dependency problem. Mind you, those applications are the ones that I desperately want to be rid. I can partially remove them, but that's not satisfactory to me.
As for the crazy volume control problem, I searched the Ubuntu Forums and found a few threads with proposed solutions. I tried the simplest one first, which was to access the Alsa mixer from the command line. I attempted to set the sliders, but it was a useless process. I ended up lowering the sound output to the point of inaudibility. So, rather than follow idiotic advice, I intuitively installed the Pulse Audio volume control. I was able to properly adjust the sound levels after that.
Heck, that was a lot of work for an operating system that I will be replacing in four months. Well, that's the kind of fun we have around here in my squalid room. In any case, we'll be returning to normal programming until the the next Ubuntu release. Sheesh!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
More Ubuntu Fun
Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day sans coffee was lethargic and leisurely. Absolutely nothing new to report about the urban nomad itinerary, so what's left? No, don't expect anything new insofar as the urban nomad kind-of-an-evening is concerned. Same ol' shit.
Well, I was quite impressed by the Mandriva One 2010 "distro," so much so that I played around with the "Live CD" version for about 30 minutes last night. I did happen to observe that the "right click" option on the trackpad of my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer was not enabled. So far, only Ubuntu has the option enabled, most likely because the X.org configuration is done automatically (i.e., xorg.conf file is not used).
Mandriva already utilizes the Plymouth GDM. Every facet of the operating system worked flawlessly except for the trackpad issue that I described. The Gnome® desktop was familiar, although I was not too keen on the available blue-only themes. Isn't almost every other operating system using blue for a theme color? Then, again, I am not too fond of the Ubuntu brown theme color.
The Ubuntu "Lucid Lynx" Alpha2 was released today. I have decided to not download the ISO because there are to be three Alpha releases in total, then two Beta releases before the release candidate (RC). I will now wait for one of the Beta releases in March. So, what will I do in the meantime?
I logged off briefly and booted the "Live CD" of Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" (v9.10) to review it more fully. From what I can tell, there are no problems. So, I will be installing it later this evening. Obviously, the process will take a while because I will have to store any residual files onto a USB flash drive. Then, after the initial install, I will have uninstall of the useless applications. Then, I will have install useful ones. There are over 140 updates in the queue as well. If any problems occur ... well, let's just say that I will be using Mandriva tomorrow. Sheesh!
Update:I began the Ubuntu installation at 8:30pm and was still at it at 10:30pm. So far, everything is working fine. There's still lots of uninstalling, installing, tweaking, and updating to do.
Well, I was quite impressed by the Mandriva One 2010 "distro," so much so that I played around with the "Live CD" version for about 30 minutes last night. I did happen to observe that the "right click" option on the trackpad of my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer was not enabled. So far, only Ubuntu has the option enabled, most likely because the X.org configuration is done automatically (i.e., xorg.conf file is not used).
Mandriva already utilizes the Plymouth GDM. Every facet of the operating system worked flawlessly except for the trackpad issue that I described. The Gnome® desktop was familiar, although I was not too keen on the available blue-only themes. Isn't almost every other operating system using blue for a theme color? Then, again, I am not too fond of the Ubuntu brown theme color.
The Ubuntu "Lucid Lynx" Alpha2 was released today. I have decided to not download the ISO because there are to be three Alpha releases in total, then two Beta releases before the release candidate (RC). I will now wait for one of the Beta releases in March. So, what will I do in the meantime?
I logged off briefly and booted the "Live CD" of Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" (v9.10) to review it more fully. From what I can tell, there are no problems. So, I will be installing it later this evening. Obviously, the process will take a while because I will have to store any residual files onto a USB flash drive. Then, after the initial install, I will have uninstall of the useless applications. Then, I will have install useful ones. There are over 140 updates in the queue as well. If any problems occur ... well, let's just say that I will be using Mandriva tomorrow. Sheesh!
Update:I began the Ubuntu installation at 8:30pm and was still at it at 10:30pm. So far, everything is working fine. There's still lots of uninstalling, installing, tweaking, and updating to do.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Bringing Out the Inner Nerd
Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day was thwarted by yet another library "furlough day." Since "furlough day" will be a recurring event, the alternative plan is to spend the morning at Barnes & Nobles® in Kahala Mall. And, that's exactly what I did. I perused the usual bunch of Linux magazines in the café with a cup of coffee in hand.
At 11am, I rode the bus to town, specifically to perform my usual workout at the gym. Afterward, I rode the bus back to Kahala Mall, where I loitered until 4pm. Well, at least my Nissan® Frontier truck benefited from a whole day in shaded parking. Returning to Slob Manor (read: rental housing) was obviously unexciting. All that's left is another urban nomad kind-of-an-evening.
Speaking of my Nissan® Frontier truck, it has another slow leak in one of the tires. No doubt, there is another nail lodged in the tire. Obviously, vandals are at play. I attempted to locate the tire, but the air compressors at most petrol stations do not have built-in air pressure gauges. I have a cheap air pressure gauge, but it is essentially useless. Every reading is random garbage.
Well, after reading some good reviews about Mandriva Linux One 2010, I decided to download the ISO of the Gnome® version. I will burn it to CD-ROM later. I have been waffling on whether I should attempt the install of Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" (v9.10). I am very apprehensive about doing so because there have been a lot of problems reported in the Ubuntu Forums. Although I ran the "Live CD" with no apparent problems, I cannot guarantee that the installation will go smoothly. Thus, I need a viable back-up solution. As I mentioned yesterday, reinstalling Ubuntu "Hardy Heron" (v8.04 LTS) is out of the question.
I am still looking forward to Ubuntu "Lucid Lynx" (v10.04 LTS). There's a lot of innovation in that release including the use of the Plymouth GDM, the extensive use of Upstart in place of the SysV init service, and the total removal of HAL (hardware abstraction layer) daemon. The Ubuntu developers are attempting to achieve a ten-second boot time. That's enough to bring out the inner nerd in anyone, eh?
At 11am, I rode the bus to town, specifically to perform my usual workout at the gym. Afterward, I rode the bus back to Kahala Mall, where I loitered until 4pm. Well, at least my Nissan® Frontier truck benefited from a whole day in shaded parking. Returning to Slob Manor (read: rental housing) was obviously unexciting. All that's left is another urban nomad kind-of-an-evening.
Speaking of my Nissan® Frontier truck, it has another slow leak in one of the tires. No doubt, there is another nail lodged in the tire. Obviously, vandals are at play. I attempted to locate the tire, but the air compressors at most petrol stations do not have built-in air pressure gauges. I have a cheap air pressure gauge, but it is essentially useless. Every reading is random garbage.
Well, after reading some good reviews about Mandriva Linux One 2010, I decided to download the ISO of the Gnome® version. I will burn it to CD-ROM later. I have been waffling on whether I should attempt the install of Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" (v9.10). I am very apprehensive about doing so because there have been a lot of problems reported in the Ubuntu Forums. Although I ran the "Live CD" with no apparent problems, I cannot guarantee that the installation will go smoothly. Thus, I need a viable back-up solution. As I mentioned yesterday, reinstalling Ubuntu "Hardy Heron" (v8.04 LTS) is out of the question.
I am still looking forward to Ubuntu "Lucid Lynx" (v10.04 LTS). There's a lot of innovation in that release including the use of the Plymouth GDM, the extensive use of Upstart in place of the SysV init service, and the total removal of HAL (hardware abstraction layer) daemon. The Ubuntu developers are attempting to achieve a ten-second boot time. That's enough to bring out the inner nerd in anyone, eh?
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Distractions (Reprise)
Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day ... no coffee time. Aside from that, the rest of the day was genuine urban nomad. No details are forthcoming. As for the evening, can you say, "Another urban nomad kind-of-an-evening"?
So, what shall we discuss tonight? The failing economy? The corrupt Fascist empire? The moneychangers and powers-that-be? How about none of the above? Well, that only leaves the subject of computers. I have discovered that Fedora will be releasing a new version of its Linux-based operating system just two days before Ubuntu releases its final version of "Lucid Lynx." Aside from fairly short release cycles, Fedora also has a few quirks that are not in line with my own needs. Thus, I have decided to stay on with Ubuntu. So, where do I file the Fedora CD-ROM that I burned? In the trash can, of course.
In addition, I will be avoiding the more complicated "distros" that require command line installations until I acquire another computer. To see what I mean, visit the Arch or FreeBSD sites and read the installation instructions. A bit much, isn't it?
The game plan for my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer is to defer a new operating system installation as long as possible. Ubuntu "Hardy Heron" (v8.04 LTS) has 15 more months of support. However, I do not want to find myself in the situation where I will have reinstall "Hardy Heron" again after some kind of failed new installation. There have been hundreds of updates since its release, and I absolutely refuse to install those updates again.
Anyway, to understand the scope of the problem in choosing a Linux distribution, take a quick look at the DistroWatch site. There are new "distros" being added all the time. For exciting distractions, peruse the DistroWatch Weekly that is also on the site.
So, what shall we discuss tonight? The failing economy? The corrupt Fascist empire? The moneychangers and powers-that-be? How about none of the above? Well, that only leaves the subject of computers. I have discovered that Fedora will be releasing a new version of its Linux-based operating system just two days before Ubuntu releases its final version of "Lucid Lynx." Aside from fairly short release cycles, Fedora also has a few quirks that are not in line with my own needs. Thus, I have decided to stay on with Ubuntu. So, where do I file the Fedora CD-ROM that I burned? In the trash can, of course.
In addition, I will be avoiding the more complicated "distros" that require command line installations until I acquire another computer. To see what I mean, visit the Arch or FreeBSD sites and read the installation instructions. A bit much, isn't it?
The game plan for my Toshiba® Satellite notebook computer is to defer a new operating system installation as long as possible. Ubuntu "Hardy Heron" (v8.04 LTS) has 15 more months of support. However, I do not want to find myself in the situation where I will have reinstall "Hardy Heron" again after some kind of failed new installation. There have been hundreds of updates since its release, and I absolutely refuse to install those updates again.
Anyway, to understand the scope of the problem in choosing a Linux distribution, take a quick look at the DistroWatch site. There are new "distros" being added all the time. For exciting distractions, peruse the DistroWatch Weekly that is also on the site.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Oh Well
Another visit to Hawai'i Kai found moms and and I making the rounds in my faithful Nissan® Frontier truck. For lunch, moms served hot dogs and fresh vegetables. For dessert, Foremost® coffee ice cream, of course. I kept moms company until 1:30pm. The rest of the afternoon followed the usual urban nomad routine. No details are necessary.
For dinner, I purchased an overpriced ($3 on sale) bottle of Odwalla® Strawberry & Banana Smoothie and a quarter-pound of bulk nutty carob energy squares (at $9.25 per pound) from Foodland. A delicious, but non-filling meal. Expensive, too. Next time, I may just settle for a bottle of Kim Chee.
When I returned to Slob Manor (read: rental housing), I did not have much to do since I ate my so-called "dinner" before I even left Hawai'i Kai. So, I cleaned up the big-ass Fisher® boom box that has been laying around and collecting dust in the second floor common area. Then, I put it downstairs on the rarely-used dining table to supplement the "entertainment center" that I set up yesterday on a side table. Surprisingly, the decrepit boom box is still functional. Thus, it will not be slated for the bulk trash pick-up at the end of the month. Does anyone remember that Fisher® was once a respectable name in the high-end of audio equipment?
Every night, I spend a few hours reading hella on-line articles from the alternative media. I cannot believe how fatigued I become after such sessions. In fact, I have already stated explicitly that I will rarely comment on many currents issues. Only one thought really stands out, that is, I just cannot believe what a pathetic joke our lives have become. That's why I really enjoy the writings of Chris Hedges. He, like the ol' lavahead, is a socialist. Of course, my resonance with his thinking goes beyond socialism. Hedges' latest column for the Truthdig site titled, "Wall Street Will Be Back for More," really spells out exactly my own feelings and thoughts. Believe me, it's a worthy read.
Frankly, though, I am tired of all of that crap. Life has simply been reduced to meaninglessness by humans, and there's no way to turn it around anymore. That's why I have shut down, or at least my mind has shut down. I am unable to reconcile the idea of returning to wage slavery. I would rather use up all of my savings and end up in destitution. All I want is my freedom. I want to find value in something other than money and useless possessions. No, I don't need a babe because I have nothing in common with babes. Think about it. What babe would hook up with a guy who thinks like the author of the "blog"? Thus, I must derive my own version of "meaning."
And, that's exactly why I am attempting to make the most of my time when I visit with moms. That's all I have. My family, my ancestry, my roots. For now, this is kind of a touchy subject with me. I will have more to say in the near future, as time is really short.
The only hobby or interest that I seem to endlessly enjoy, in good times or bad, is computer nerd-ism. I have, in fact, seriously contemplated the purchase of a netbook to augment my computer fun. However, I just cannot justify the $300-plus investment in hardware that is marginal. Yet, maybe that is all I really need. I would only use it to experiment with Linux and other non-commercial operating systems. Obviously, we are looking at increasing my passive activities. I do have more active interests, but I am now curtailed by the lack of health insurance. That's the reason why I do nothing exciting. I only sit in my squalid room or follow the nauseatingly mundane urban nomad routine. Oh well.
For dinner, I purchased an overpriced ($3 on sale) bottle of Odwalla® Strawberry & Banana Smoothie and a quarter-pound of bulk nutty carob energy squares (at $9.25 per pound) from Foodland. A delicious, but non-filling meal. Expensive, too. Next time, I may just settle for a bottle of Kim Chee.
When I returned to Slob Manor (read: rental housing), I did not have much to do since I ate my so-called "dinner" before I even left Hawai'i Kai. So, I cleaned up the big-ass Fisher® boom box that has been laying around and collecting dust in the second floor common area. Then, I put it downstairs on the rarely-used dining table to supplement the "entertainment center" that I set up yesterday on a side table. Surprisingly, the decrepit boom box is still functional. Thus, it will not be slated for the bulk trash pick-up at the end of the month. Does anyone remember that Fisher® was once a respectable name in the high-end of audio equipment?
Every night, I spend a few hours reading hella on-line articles from the alternative media. I cannot believe how fatigued I become after such sessions. In fact, I have already stated explicitly that I will rarely comment on many currents issues. Only one thought really stands out, that is, I just cannot believe what a pathetic joke our lives have become. That's why I really enjoy the writings of Chris Hedges. He, like the ol' lavahead, is a socialist. Of course, my resonance with his thinking goes beyond socialism. Hedges' latest column for the Truthdig site titled, "Wall Street Will Be Back for More," really spells out exactly my own feelings and thoughts. Believe me, it's a worthy read.
Frankly, though, I am tired of all of that crap. Life has simply been reduced to meaninglessness by humans, and there's no way to turn it around anymore. That's why I have shut down, or at least my mind has shut down. I am unable to reconcile the idea of returning to wage slavery. I would rather use up all of my savings and end up in destitution. All I want is my freedom. I want to find value in something other than money and useless possessions. No, I don't need a babe because I have nothing in common with babes. Think about it. What babe would hook up with a guy who thinks like the author of the "blog"? Thus, I must derive my own version of "meaning."
And, that's exactly why I am attempting to make the most of my time when I visit with moms. That's all I have. My family, my ancestry, my roots. For now, this is kind of a touchy subject with me. I will have more to say in the near future, as time is really short.
The only hobby or interest that I seem to endlessly enjoy, in good times or bad, is computer nerd-ism. I have, in fact, seriously contemplated the purchase of a netbook to augment my computer fun. However, I just cannot justify the $300-plus investment in hardware that is marginal. Yet, maybe that is all I really need. I would only use it to experiment with Linux and other non-commercial operating systems. Obviously, we are looking at increasing my passive activities. I do have more active interests, but I am now curtailed by the lack of health insurance. That's the reason why I do nothing exciting. I only sit in my squalid room or follow the nauseatingly mundane urban nomad routine. Oh well.
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