Recent Entries

15:31 watching Fink on OSX compile the world. #
19:36 The mental vacation starts. With weather that makes me not so sorry to miss being cooped up in a hotel for Marcon. #

09:11 waiting for DSL repair, and trying to make the computer ignore the HDMI sound port in my new video card so that I can hear things again. #
09:14 while waiting for DSL repair, noticing that the connection has worked much better in the last couple days than anytime last week. #
10:39 both DSL and sound now work! #
11:06 going to work today! #
14:18 debugging code I wrote 2-3 months ago. #
17:36 debugging code someone else wrote 2-3 months ago. #

09:27 argh! Just got a computerized call saying that my DSL repair is rescheduled to tomorrow. #
11:59 Got a much more promising phone call. Now at Colin's Coffee diving Head First into Java. (And drinking some too.) #
12:26 Needs more Kinks. #

18:33 Had horrible net connection all day. Called about it again. They'll send someone on Monday. Five mins after hangup: back to full speed. #
19:06 (not that the full speed lasted, of course....) #

02:57 frustrated by a damaged DVD, but somewhat mollified by online screenplay archives. #
13:21 getting weird mouse lag sometimes after upgrading Ubuntu to "jaunty" -- on one machine but not the other. #
13:22 got all ready to call about DSL problems, but now it's been fine for 10-15 minutes. I hate it when that happens. #
14:48 fixed DSL by replacing phone cable with a short one. They claim the old cable got broken down by DSL signals. Time maybe; signals doubtful. #
16:32 upgraded to a dual-monitor video card; can't get anything but a mouse pointer on the screens now. I'm such an optimist about my upgrades. #
21:50 Fixed the new video card by maxing out AGP aperture. I don't know either. Maybe I'll lose depth-of field and gain light. #
21:52 One of the cats looks like he slept in mud. And now he wants to come inside to sleep in the bed. #

09:24 trying to remember how to set Xresources properly so that emacs starts out the right size. Also watching Ubuntu 9.04 install. #
09:33 success with Xresources & Emacs. Ubuntu upgrade still running. #
13:00 once again frustrated with the DSL, but the Ubuntu upgrade seems to be moving along again. Maybe. #
13:11 wistfully remembering when phone conversations were clear, with big microphones at mouths and big speakers at ears. Not to mention wires. #
18:27 done with one Ubuntu upgrade. Now the same thing in progress on the laptop. After that, back to the first for a video card replacement. #
22:05 watching O Brother for the first time. Testing my memory of Homer. #

08:03 alone in the house for the next 3.5 days. Except for cats. #
11:22 attempting to max out my 2002-vintage computer to be as modern as possible. #
12:11 not a good sign when the first power-on after an upgrade just results in beeps. And that's just stage 1. Back to the workbench. Or lunch. #
13:47 Good news: my motherboard has diagnostic LEDs. Bad news: they light up red or green. I hate red/green LEDs. Colorblindness FTL. #
14:19 at least the LEDs have visibly distinct elements for red vs green. Then it's just a matter of guessing either RGRR or GRGG. #
14:36 starting to think I bought bad/incompatible RAM. I guess the price was too good to be true. #
14:45 giving up on the new memory, going back to the old. Have to continue with 2GB instead of 4GB I guess. #
15:20 stage 2: upgrading Ubuntu from 8.04 to 9.04, through 8.10. This could take a while. #
17:07 Tough to download Ubuntu packages when DSL keeps dropping out. #
20:10 watching GParted repartition my disk. Discovered a long-lost home directory in the process, with email going back over a decade. #

14:37 should check the transmission fluid more often. I've found this car's chronic problem. (Every car has one.) #
16:19 should be more careful about making firewall rules that block DNS.... #
16:21 wondering if that firewall/DNS problem caused me to lose any email.... #
16:27 probably lost some email sent to me since Apr 23. Argh. #

08:32 WebKit-based browsers to check out: Midori <is.gd/38fE>, Arora <is.gd/KCE>, Foxkit <is.gd/xt09>. Faster than Firefox! #

12:55 researching programming languages, type inference, lambda calculus... should get lunch instead of following Wikipedia links. #
17:01 rained in. #
19:47 messing with OS X. *So* much better than Windows, and I see how it could almost be used as a replacement for Linux, if one were so inclined. #

13:21 decided to update iPod before going out. Waiting for that, decided to install Java&JRuby. Now iPod is done, gotta finish JRuby.... #
13:47 ooh, I can ask JRuby for the number of CPUs (via Java). Seems like a good start to parallelizing Enumerable#collect (aka "map")... #

13:26 ended up running sound for the 2nd bellydance performance at OSU Renfest. One glitch when I bumped the CD player. Afterward, dal makhani! #

08:26 was given a Dreamwidth.org account. Though I haven't even posted a real entry on LiveJournal in months. Should probably do another soon. #
08:47 hearing stories about increased pushing of hand sanitizer. Um, flu is a virus, and hand-san kills bacteria but not viruses. #
09:13 failed first attempt to get wrongly-withheld $$$ back from the suburb I moved out of 2 yrs ago. They say I need now-ex-employer to sign off. #
15:59 wishing it were easier to install RubyGems entirely in /usr/local -- even when ruby is in /usr/bin. #
18:16 ack, tornado warning! #
18:20 looks like we're right in the path of a bad storm #
18:40 apparently the cell bearing down on us is no longer severe, and no more tornado watch/warning. Leaving the basement to watch now! #
18:53 and the storm cell has passed us entirely now. Starting to think I have to justify my slight tornado paranoia, but I DO have justification. #
22:36 Twitter seems to be voting for H1N1 to be called "Hamthrax", but I still like "Bacon Lung" better. #

12:00 managed to remove a tick from my own hairy head. Ick! (And wow I have a lot more gray now than I'd realized.) #
13:35 feeling mostly better, though some lingering sinus infection. More Garlic!! #
15:56 Went to the Easton bookstore for one book, and discovered the existence of too many must-have books. Decisions... #
17:20 another nice thing about the Easton bookstore experience: the goth sampler CD playing throughout the store. Followed by Nick Lowe. #

11:51 still not feeling great, but slightly better. Unleashed the big guns: garlic and cayenne. Should probably buy more drugs though. #

09:10 Cold or nasty allergies? Whichever, it's rather miserable. I feel like a sinutab commercial. #