I googled slackgeek today because I'm making a userbar (just for myself) and I don't want people to think it's for some other site and getting all disappointed when they end up here. There's a site in Spanish called slackgeek.net, but it looks like a blog, so I'm not worried about confusing people. Interestingly though, Link #8 caught my eye because it seemed all too familiar. I was kind of surprised to show up on the first page, even though I picked a moderately cryptic URL. It's kind of cool either way.
Ooh...#1 on Altavista, oddly followed directly by my Deviantart profile.
I haven't really been doing a whole lot lately. Diablo 2 is up there on my list. I started a new character today and decided that Druid is the most amazing class ever, or at least to begin the game with. Not only is my character pretty strong, but he also has some really nice elementals and some interesting looking shape shifting abilities. It's a great game, but it requires your to sit down and just play for at least 3 hours at a time to really get into it and I just don't have the contiguous free time.
I also made the first post at Ubuntu Beginnings yesterday. It's pretty bland, but you have to crawl before you can walk. I don't want to completely bore people though, and I know I wouldn't come back after reading that. But that's just me.
The problem with having more than one blog is repetition. I keep finding myself saying some of the same things here and at the procrastination blog. But I'll try harder to focus on the issue there, while just being myself here.
So that's a quick update on what's going on with me.
P.S. It's Jason's birthday!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
Another Side Project
So I didn't set up my SETI server or LFS system. I want to download Slackware 11 before I start that and Ktorrent keeps crashing my system, so I have to fix that, but I keep getting distracted by a million things. I did do this though. Yes, another blog.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Today, Recapped
You may have noticed that I changed the template to something a little less flashy. Well, something almost nonexistent. You may (or may not) also be wondering where the URL for my blog came from. So I thought I'd talk about that today.
When I was first getting into Linux I was disoriented by the sheer number of distributions available. After I looked through a long list I came across one called Slackware 9.1 (not the Slackware logo I made in the sidebar). The name sounds friendly and easy to use, so I thought I'd give it a shot. It turns out that it's in fact the first, and least user friendly distribution available and gets it's name from the fact that it's so stable you could run it for years with minimal maintenance. So I learned Linux the hard way, and it was the best thing I ever did. The thing I like the best about Slackware is it's minimalism. It doesn't come with a bunch of crap you'll never use and it runs more smoothly than any other OS I've used. So that's what's up with my template.
I also started contributing to SETI@home today. The idea is simple SETI (the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) doesn't have nearly enough data crunching power to examine all the information they collect from their satellites and telescopes, so they let other people do it for them. You install a client on your computer, put in an email address, and they start sending data to you a few megabytes at a time. The client software runs in the background and processes the data using your computer's idle cycles, leaving your computer running without a performance hit. When it finishes processing, it sends the data back and retrieves more, and the cycle continues. I think it's a pretty good use of computing power because I've always been interested in SETI and just the universe in general.
In fact, I'm going to set up a SETI server tomorrow using the 166. I think when I figure out how to make the SETI client use all the available processor cycles it'll get more done than just the idle cycles of my laptop. I'm also going to install Slackware 11 on my 333 and start my Linux from Scratch on a separate partition. I think that would be better than installing the starter OS (which is needed because you need certain software to compile the same certain software), then installing LFS and then removing the original partition.
When I was first getting into Linux I was disoriented by the sheer number of distributions available. After I looked through a long list I came across one called Slackware 9.1 (not the Slackware logo I made in the sidebar). The name sounds friendly and easy to use, so I thought I'd give it a shot. It turns out that it's in fact the first, and least user friendly distribution available and gets it's name from the fact that it's so stable you could run it for years with minimal maintenance. So I learned Linux the hard way, and it was the best thing I ever did. The thing I like the best about Slackware is it's minimalism. It doesn't come with a bunch of crap you'll never use and it runs more smoothly than any other OS I've used. So that's what's up with my template.
I also started contributing to SETI@home today. The idea is simple SETI (the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) doesn't have nearly enough data crunching power to examine all the information they collect from their satellites and telescopes, so they let other people do it for them. You install a client on your computer, put in an email address, and they start sending data to you a few megabytes at a time. The client software runs in the background and processes the data using your computer's idle cycles, leaving your computer running without a performance hit. When it finishes processing, it sends the data back and retrieves more, and the cycle continues. I think it's a pretty good use of computing power because I've always been interested in SETI and just the universe in general.
In fact, I'm going to set up a SETI server tomorrow using the 166. I think when I figure out how to make the SETI client use all the available processor cycles it'll get more done than just the idle cycles of my laptop. I'm also going to install Slackware 11 on my 333 and start my Linux from Scratch on a separate partition. I think that would be better than installing the starter OS (which is needed because you need certain software to compile the same certain software), then installing LFS and then removing the original partition.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Yes, I Realize You're Tired of Hearing Me Bitch
I still don't feel any better. Jason has been really supportive and so have some of my friends, but it's not really helping much. Jason and have been playing this great MMORPG called Conquerer, and it's really taken my mind off things, but it's only temporary. I'm so incredibly tired right now, but I just can't sleep because there's sop much going on inside my head.
I went to a meeting for the movie that a friend is filming. I felt really out of place because everyone else was either going to film school, graduated from Specs Howard, been doing it for years, or at least knew what they were doing. I don't fall into any of those categories. Then when I was introducing myself I got done and the director said (although I'm pretty sure it was to be funny) "And he's our PA?" That really made me feel like an ass. I also don't know what they expect of me and what they want me to do. So, all in all it was a pretty lousy experience, but that's not much of a surprise considering my filmmaking track record.
I've also had one of my mom's friends pestering me over Yahoo Messenger. She'd ask me things like why I don't have a job and a car, if I have a girlfriend, if I have a lot of friends, and things of that nature. It was really annoying because I get enough of that from people who live here and I come into my room just to get away from it, and then I get assaulted online. I think my mom probably coaxed her into bugging me about a job, but I don;t know why she asked me if I have a lot of friends. I guess my mom could have told her I never leave the house, which is mostly true.
It's not my fault my only friends live out of state (I consider the UP out of state because you might as well live in Wisconsin, Julie). I can't help that I'd rather read stuff on the Internet all day and be somewhat social at a select handful of forums than go hang out at Mike's apartment and do nothing. I wish I had more of a life, but I don't. And that's that.
I also spread myself too thin. I'm trying to maintain this blog, Rich Magazine, and that Ubuntu blog I never even ended up starting as well as write a Draia fanfilm, an assload of dramas, a comedy or two, a couple science fiction flicks that I don't have a budget to film, and some skits to put up on youtube. And I've been trying to learn to play guitar for ages, I still haven't gotten HTML down, and I completely forgot about learning C++. But I got all the skill points in Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando. I play mostly when I'm depressed. I'm surprised I'm not playing right now.
I'm also worried that I have no talent, because I really don't. It takes me a year to write anything decent, and it just makes it's way to the round file anyway. I can't motivate people worth shit(I have an experience to prove it), so I'll be a lousy filmmaker. Despite what people think, I'm pretty lousy with computers and have little knowledge apart from tiny tidbits that I gathered in the 3 years I went to school for it. I'm intolerably shy, so I can't really work that well with people. The only thing I can really do is complain. Maybe I should go to school to be a politician.
If I could afford to go back to school. But then I'd have to choose a major and I don't think scapegoat is on the list. I was thinking of a better word, I just can't think of it because I'm terribly tired, but I can't sleep because there are so many things bugging me. None of my friends are online, and I already tried to call Jason. I just want someone to talk to, but this entire half of this stupid rock we inhabit is asleep. But here I am, wide awake and desperate for attention. You can tell I'm desperate because I just tried to IM Joe. And Justin, who I only know from the forum and I doubt really wants to hare about it, but he is really supportive at times. And everyone else who was supposedly online on myspace.
I guess I'll just have to go watch Bart and Homer for a while.
EDIT: And I think I just made Steph feel bad by talking to her about my problems when she has her own. Sorry.
I went to a meeting for the movie that a friend is filming. I felt really out of place because everyone else was either going to film school, graduated from Specs Howard, been doing it for years, or at least knew what they were doing. I don't fall into any of those categories. Then when I was introducing myself I got done and the director said (although I'm pretty sure it was to be funny) "And he's our PA?" That really made me feel like an ass. I also don't know what they expect of me and what they want me to do. So, all in all it was a pretty lousy experience, but that's not much of a surprise considering my filmmaking track record.
I've also had one of my mom's friends pestering me over Yahoo Messenger. She'd ask me things like why I don't have a job and a car, if I have a girlfriend, if I have a lot of friends, and things of that nature. It was really annoying because I get enough of that from people who live here and I come into my room just to get away from it, and then I get assaulted online. I think my mom probably coaxed her into bugging me about a job, but I don;t know why she asked me if I have a lot of friends. I guess my mom could have told her I never leave the house, which is mostly true.
It's not my fault my only friends live out of state (I consider the UP out of state because you might as well live in Wisconsin, Julie). I can't help that I'd rather read stuff on the Internet all day and be somewhat social at a select handful of forums than go hang out at Mike's apartment and do nothing. I wish I had more of a life, but I don't. And that's that.
I also spread myself too thin. I'm trying to maintain this blog, Rich Magazine, and that Ubuntu blog I never even ended up starting as well as write a Draia fanfilm, an assload of dramas, a comedy or two, a couple science fiction flicks that I don't have a budget to film, and some skits to put up on youtube. And I've been trying to learn to play guitar for ages, I still haven't gotten HTML down, and I completely forgot about learning C++. But I got all the skill points in Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando. I play mostly when I'm depressed. I'm surprised I'm not playing right now.
I'm also worried that I have no talent, because I really don't. It takes me a year to write anything decent, and it just makes it's way to the round file anyway. I can't motivate people worth shit(I have an experience to prove it), so I'll be a lousy filmmaker. Despite what people think, I'm pretty lousy with computers and have little knowledge apart from tiny tidbits that I gathered in the 3 years I went to school for it. I'm intolerably shy, so I can't really work that well with people. The only thing I can really do is complain. Maybe I should go to school to be a politician.
If I could afford to go back to school. But then I'd have to choose a major and I don't think scapegoat is on the list. I was thinking of a better word, I just can't think of it because I'm terribly tired, but I can't sleep because there are so many things bugging me. None of my friends are online, and I already tried to call Jason. I just want someone to talk to, but this entire half of this stupid rock we inhabit is asleep. But here I am, wide awake and desperate for attention. You can tell I'm desperate because I just tried to IM Joe. And Justin, who I only know from the forum and I doubt really wants to hare about it, but he is really supportive at times. And everyone else who was supposedly online on myspace.
I guess I'll just have to go watch Bart and Homer for a while.
EDIT: And I think I just made Steph feel bad by talking to her about my problems when she has her own. Sorry.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Update
I've been really depressed for the last couple days and I don't know why. Being away from Jason is part of it, but there's something else. Debby hasn't directly done anything to me for a while, so that's not it. It's just that sometimes people make me feel like everything I do is a waste of time. I make plans to work on a lot of things during the day, but then I let one person ruin all of it. It's partially my fault for spreading myself too thin, but only so much of the blame can go to me. Or maybe it's all my fault. I don't know.
I really do miss Jason. I'd give anything to just be able to sit down with him and play Scrabble or something. We talk every day, but it's not the same.
Somebody...cheer me up. Please?
I really do miss Jason. I'd give anything to just be able to sit down with him and play Scrabble or something. We talk every day, but it's not the same.
Somebody...cheer me up. Please?
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Primary Problems
I think I'm about due for another nerdy post,so here I go:
I was all set to create a ghost image of my partition (I even deleted 9 gigs of video that I can now stream online), only to realize one critical detail: Windows locks the hard drive that it runs from, which prevents the complete access that I would need to ghost the partition. No problem. I'll just resize this partition and install another copy of Windows. As an added perk, the image would take up less HD space, letting me backup my Ubuntu partition as well.
Nope. I never planned on creating another partition on this hard drive, so I created 3 primary partitions and an extended one, that others can fit inside. The extended partition acts like a primary partition for backwards compatibility, and the maximum number of primary partitions on an IBM PC hard drive is 4. No problem. I'll move the Ubuntu partition into the excess space from the resized Windows partition, move the extended partition into the space the Ubuntu partition took, make the extended partition take up the remainder of the drive that's now empty, and add a logical partition into the extended partition, thus allowing me to install another copy of Windows.
Nope. Partition Magic refuses to move any of the Ext3 (Linux formatted) partitions, even though it recognizes them and I have the Ext IFS driver installed under Windows. No problem. Pop in the Ubuntu CD and repartition the hard drive.
Nope. Using Windows to repartition the drive apparently made a mess of everything, leaving bits and pieces unaccounted for and just being generally inaccurate. The Ubuntu partitioning utility won't touch it because the NTFS table doesn't line up like it should and this and that. No problem. Delete all the partitions, think it through again, and start all over.
So I will. I don't really want to, but I do have some better ideas and I remember some things I hadn't thought of previously. Since I'm basically using a junk installation of Windows now, this will give me a chance to figure out how to crack all my games so I don't have to do it later. After all, sometimes a No-CD crack is really a Trojan Horse in disguise. Other times it's as simple as copying files from the CD's data folder to the HD and editing a few registry keys. Ahh, how I've missed my adventures into the deep abyss that is the Windows registry.
I also came up with a good use for my old computer. I'm going to build Linux from scratch. Basically, instead of downloading a pre-made distrobution, such as Ubuntu or Slackware, I'll be making my own from the current version of the Linux kernel and whatever I feel like putting in it. I recall a time, in my Slackware days, when I tried to compile the kernel from source (the machine code that makes the program run). I gave up after three days. Wish me luck with this. It should be a really good learning experience though.
Jason has been gone for a whole week now and I really miss him. It's more than just his warm hands on my back or his strong embrace. It's the way he looks at me and the way he makes me feel. I know he misses me too because he's said so every night since he left. I can't wait for him to get back so I can hold him all night. I still maintain my happiness that he got this opportunity though, because he really deserves it.
I wrote an article for Rich Magazine about wifi and I made some userbars, but then something happened. I put it in my signature at the forum, and I suddenly noticed a few more people had them. (I think they all added them the day after) Theirs are all so fancy, and mine are kind of plain. If you want to see them, they're here. I think I'll redesign them, but I don't know what kind of graphic to use because Rich Magazine doesn't have a logo. I guess I could do that tonight instead of lay awake, wondering why I can't sleep.
I also tried to write a little bit today. I want to make a move about a guy orphaned on our planet when he was a child. The thing is: he doesn't know it, but he's been having flashback dreams about it. I don't know how I'll make it and if I'll have actual space travel in the script, although I'd really like to use other planets as a way to ridicule some of the things happening on our own. Sort of the way Douglas Adams did in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, but not on nearly as elaborate a scale. Look forward to the blockbuster hit sometime between next year and 2035, when I think the concept of space travel will be as outdated as all those computer movies from the 80's.
I was all set to create a ghost image of my partition (I even deleted 9 gigs of video that I can now stream online), only to realize one critical detail: Windows locks the hard drive that it runs from, which prevents the complete access that I would need to ghost the partition. No problem. I'll just resize this partition and install another copy of Windows. As an added perk, the image would take up less HD space, letting me backup my Ubuntu partition as well.
Nope. I never planned on creating another partition on this hard drive, so I created 3 primary partitions and an extended one, that others can fit inside. The extended partition acts like a primary partition for backwards compatibility, and the maximum number of primary partitions on an IBM PC hard drive is 4. No problem. I'll move the Ubuntu partition into the excess space from the resized Windows partition, move the extended partition into the space the Ubuntu partition took, make the extended partition take up the remainder of the drive that's now empty, and add a logical partition into the extended partition, thus allowing me to install another copy of Windows.
Nope. Partition Magic refuses to move any of the Ext3 (Linux formatted) partitions, even though it recognizes them and I have the Ext IFS driver installed under Windows. No problem. Pop in the Ubuntu CD and repartition the hard drive.
Nope. Using Windows to repartition the drive apparently made a mess of everything, leaving bits and pieces unaccounted for and just being generally inaccurate. The Ubuntu partitioning utility won't touch it because the NTFS table doesn't line up like it should and this and that. No problem. Delete all the partitions, think it through again, and start all over.
So I will. I don't really want to, but I do have some better ideas and I remember some things I hadn't thought of previously. Since I'm basically using a junk installation of Windows now, this will give me a chance to figure out how to crack all my games so I don't have to do it later. After all, sometimes a No-CD crack is really a Trojan Horse in disguise. Other times it's as simple as copying files from the CD's data folder to the HD and editing a few registry keys. Ahh, how I've missed my adventures into the deep abyss that is the Windows registry.
I also came up with a good use for my old computer. I'm going to build Linux from scratch. Basically, instead of downloading a pre-made distrobution, such as Ubuntu or Slackware, I'll be making my own from the current version of the Linux kernel and whatever I feel like putting in it. I recall a time, in my Slackware days, when I tried to compile the kernel from source (the machine code that makes the program run). I gave up after three days. Wish me luck with this. It should be a really good learning experience though.
Jason has been gone for a whole week now and I really miss him. It's more than just his warm hands on my back or his strong embrace. It's the way he looks at me and the way he makes me feel. I know he misses me too because he's said so every night since he left. I can't wait for him to get back so I can hold him all night. I still maintain my happiness that he got this opportunity though, because he really deserves it.
I wrote an article for Rich Magazine about wifi and I made some userbars, but then something happened. I put it in my signature at the forum, and I suddenly noticed a few more people had them. (I think they all added them the day after) Theirs are all so fancy, and mine are kind of plain. If you want to see them, they're here. I think I'll redesign them, but I don't know what kind of graphic to use because Rich Magazine doesn't have a logo. I guess I could do that tonight instead of lay awake, wondering why I can't sleep.
I also tried to write a little bit today. I want to make a move about a guy orphaned on our planet when he was a child. The thing is: he doesn't know it, but he's been having flashback dreams about it. I don't know how I'll make it and if I'll have actual space travel in the script, although I'd really like to use other planets as a way to ridicule some of the things happening on our own. Sort of the way Douglas Adams did in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, but not on nearly as elaborate a scale. Look forward to the blockbuster hit sometime between next year and 2035, when I think the concept of space travel will be as outdated as all those computer movies from the 80's.
Friday, January 05, 2007
My New Toy
It's been pretty hectic around here since Christmas. I spent a lot of time with Jason since then because he left for New York yesterday. I know it's only been 48 hours since the last time I was with him, but I really really miss him. It's going to be a long four months, but I'll make it through because I love Jason and I know he loves me too. I can't wait for him to come home so I can wrap my arms around him and give him a great big kiss.
I still haven't moved out, but I am still considering it. I know occasionally drives his dad's van and I think I could talk him into helping me if I need. I'll give it some time and if things get worse around here, I'll leave.
Jason gave me a laptop, which was really generous of him. The first thing I did, naturally, was install Ubuntu. It runs really well, but I can't get the PCMCIA Wifi card to work. It uses Realtek's RTL8185 chipset, which there is an official driver for, but it's a bitch to compile and has issues working with Debian (and Debian based) distrobutions. I also tried using NDISwrapper, which allows you to use a Windows compatible driver for the card and emulate the Windows functionality using a few obscure APIs. That didn't work, and I don't know why because I'm not terribly familiar with the software. There's an unofficial, open source driver, which also didn't work. Basically if I don't get this card to work I can just buy a new card based on the Linux friendly chipset.
I also installed Windows so I can play games. That went pretty well too, eventually. Let's just say Microsoft's piracy countermeasures hurt legitimate users too. I am having a problem with static in the audio though. I know it's a software issue because it works just fine under Ubuntu, and I think it worked before I updated the audio driver from Dell's site. I tried to do a driver rollback, but it didn't give me the option, so I uninstalled the device, but it repeatedly kept returning. But I can access my network and the Internet, so I'm happy.
I also wanted to make a ghost image of my OS partitions so I won't have to reinstall and reconfigure Windows and (unlikely) Linux when I decide I need a fresh start. The problem is that none of the programs I looked at eliminate the free space from the copy, so I'll need 15 GB of free space just to back up my less than 3 gig Windows installation. I'm pretty sure the new version of Norton Ghost has this feature, but I don't have the $60 to shell out. But I really do want to back up the installation of Windows before the performance starts degrading. Hmph.
I've been trying to write over the past few days. I really need to get going on Rich Magazine and Ubuntu Beginnings (I started that one a LONG time ago). I don't know why, but I just don't feel motivated to do anything right now. It could be because I was preocupied with a new computer to play around with and Jason's leaving, but I don't know. I'm also in the middle of writing several movie scripts and a few shorts. You'd think now that I can leave my room and still use a computer I'd get more done, but I'm really not. I know! It could be because my mom's been home and she makes me nervous.
That's about it. Have a good week everyone.
I still haven't moved out, but I am still considering it. I know occasionally drives his dad's van and I think I could talk him into helping me if I need. I'll give it some time and if things get worse around here, I'll leave.
Jason gave me a laptop, which was really generous of him. The first thing I did, naturally, was install Ubuntu. It runs really well, but I can't get the PCMCIA Wifi card to work. It uses Realtek's RTL8185 chipset, which there is an official driver for, but it's a bitch to compile and has issues working with Debian (and Debian based) distrobutions. I also tried using NDISwrapper, which allows you to use a Windows compatible driver for the card and emulate the Windows functionality using a few obscure APIs. That didn't work, and I don't know why because I'm not terribly familiar with the software. There's an unofficial, open source driver, which also didn't work. Basically if I don't get this card to work I can just buy a new card based on the Linux friendly chipset.
I also installed Windows so I can play games. That went pretty well too, eventually. Let's just say Microsoft's piracy countermeasures hurt legitimate users too. I am having a problem with static in the audio though. I know it's a software issue because it works just fine under Ubuntu, and I think it worked before I updated the audio driver from Dell's site. I tried to do a driver rollback, but it didn't give me the option, so I uninstalled the device, but it repeatedly kept returning. But I can access my network and the Internet, so I'm happy.
I also wanted to make a ghost image of my OS partitions so I won't have to reinstall and reconfigure Windows and (unlikely) Linux when I decide I need a fresh start. The problem is that none of the programs I looked at eliminate the free space from the copy, so I'll need 15 GB of free space just to back up my less than 3 gig Windows installation. I'm pretty sure the new version of Norton Ghost has this feature, but I don't have the $60 to shell out. But I really do want to back up the installation of Windows before the performance starts degrading. Hmph.
I've been trying to write over the past few days. I really need to get going on Rich Magazine and Ubuntu Beginnings (I started that one a LONG time ago). I don't know why, but I just don't feel motivated to do anything right now. It could be because I was preocupied with a new computer to play around with and Jason's leaving, but I don't know. I'm also in the middle of writing several movie scripts and a few shorts. You'd think now that I can leave my room and still use a computer I'd get more done, but I'm really not. I know! It could be because my mom's been home and she makes me nervous.
That's about it. Have a good week everyone.
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