Duke basketball is going through a dry spell this year, which should please everyone in the country who doesn't root for the Blue Devils. Anyhoo, I've got February 7 and March 4 marked on my calendar. I'm certain that Cal Tech Girl does, too.

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Well, since my previous posts on brewing were so widely read, I've decided to post more stuff that will be of interest to one person only. Fortunately, that's the only person whose opinion I care about so, you know, I've got that goin' for me.

Anyway.

I just received the ingredients to make two batches of beer. One will be a clone of Breckenridge Brewery's Christmas Ale which, I expect, many of you have not tried as yet. I highly recommend it. Hopefully, my batch will turn out alright; I have no desire for more Swimming Pool Ale. The other batch will be a Fosters Lager clone, albeit one brewed at ale temperatures because no lagering ability at my house. I think that I'll call it the Fosters Steamer, in reference to brewing lagers at ale temperatures, a method popularized by Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco in the production of its fabulous Anchor Steam Ale.

Which one will I brew first? It's hard to say, but I'm leaning towards the Steamer because it will become drinkable more quickly, giving me plenty of homebrew to drink while the Christmas Ale ages. Regardless, I'll post my recipes and brewing logs as I go along. Feedback and/or questions are welcome.

See y'all soon.

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Peter Coffee has compiled a list what he considers the top 25 Killer App's of All Time. Wanna know something scary? I was familiar with all of them- except Electric Pencil- and used all of them when they came out. Truly, I am a geek god.

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A one terabyte hard drive for $399.

Full disclosure: my first computer didn't even had a hard drive, as I couldn't afford one. I had two floppy drives and used one for my OS. I then stripped a lot of application software to their barest minimums to run on a 1.44Mb floppy. Wordperfect 5.1 for DOS worked great without a lot of the frills installed. Anyway, I might be looking at a new drive soon.

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One of the flaws of the Linux Live CDs to date is the lack of ability to write to NTFS partitions. For those of you not living in your parents' basement, that's the file system used by Windows XP. Most Live CDs have had read capability, but not write capability, which limited your ability to handshake Linux files with Windows files. However, ntfs-3g solves this problem and works with one of the more popular Linux distros, Ubuntu's Edgy Eft. Excerpt:

Normally Linux systems can only read from Windows NTFS partitions, but not write to them which can be very annoying if you have to work with Linux and Windows systems. This is where ntfs-3g comes into play. ntfs-3g is an open source, freely available NTFS driver for Linux with read and write support. This tutorial shows how to install and use ntfs-3g on a Ubuntu Edgy Eft desktop to read from and write to Windows NTFS drives and partitions. It covers the usage of internal NTFS partitions (e.g. in a dual-boot environment) and of external USB NTFS drives.

Some of the info is excessively geeky. However, you don't need to understand it much to be able to implement. Just read and follow the directions; you should be alright.

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It's a new year and all, which means that it's time for Andrea's annual blog move. For the first time since I've been reading her stuff, she moved back onto an old site: Victory Soap. Please update your blogrolls.

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Carnival of the Recipes #124 is being hosted at Elementary Chef this week. Go and check it out.

Good grief. When is the last time that I submitted anything? I've got a gajillion recipes- plus or minus- and I never seem to find the time to post one. Anyway, go here now.

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Okay, I'm only a month late, but Talk Like Jack Bauer Day is coming. Soon. And so is Jack Bauer.

You have been warned.

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Wanna see something really geekycool? How about a little tutorial so that you can build the Linux distro you the way you think it should be. Learn "how to" here. Excerpt:

The Dreamlinux Project addresses, as one of its main goals, the development of specific tools to allow anyone, despite his level of technical knowledge, being able to design and produce a Linux Distro that meets all his/her requirements . The Project also aims to research, learn and share all the knowledge produced during the Dreamlinux development process.
...
In order to turn the dream into reality, the MkDistro Tool was born. MkDistro has evolved to an excellent tool for building and remastering modules and whole Distros . It is developed by one of our co-founders, nelsongs (Nelson Gomes da Silveira), leveraging the Morphix approach of modules and his previous works on developing the HD remastering scripts for the Kurumin, Knoppix, Kanotix and Beatrix Live CD Distros .
...
MKDistro basic components

a) Mkdistro: it' s the basic tool responsible for launching, through its auto explained menus and dialog boxes, all the processes regarding the build of Distros. It's easy and intuitive to manage. Actually MkDistro so far comprises a set of 04 ( four ) scripts, mkdistro.sh, mkdistro_main.sh, mkdistro_clean.sh and mkcd.sh, with the main one (mkdistro.sh) using the others in some specific phase of the work.

b) Base-Module (BM): it's a slimmed down knoppix-like image comprising a Morphix patched Linux kernel, kernel modules and the whole set of applications and scripts needed to detect, configure and initialize the system hardware found in the computer.

c) Base Main Module (BMM or Working Module): it's a complete debian file system made up via a debootstrap procedure and the addition of very basic and essential applications designed to serve as a baseline for the full development of the Distro's Main Module.

d) Distro Main Module (DMM): it's the final module of the Distro you developed. In other words, it's practically the whole Distro, made up on top of the Basic Main Module chosen . This module will be later combined with the Basic Module in order to become the final iso image of your Distro.

e) Iso Image: it's the resulting image from the union between the Basic Module and the Distro's Main Module . So, this image is your final operating system which, after burned onto a CD, will become your new Live CD Linux Distro, capable of not only be run directly from the CD (provided you have set up your Computer's bios) as well as be installed onto your computer's HD.

There's a lot more there. Suffice it to say that you can do your own thing. I might start working on PhysicsGeeknix.

One caveat: the process needs to be performed on a Linux system. I haven't tried it while running a Live CD, but I bet that an external hard drive and a second CD burner are all that's required. I'll provide an update when my children are out of college which, by my reckoning, will be in about 20 years.

Ehh, I'll find the time soon enough.

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Found via Neal Boortz:

Update: I see that Ace liked the picture, too.

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Go here to find out what it is. And then offer your congratulations, if you so desire.

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A store that sells husbands has just opened in New York City , where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates. You may visit the store ONLY ONCE ! There are six floors and the attributes of the men increase as the shopper ascends the flights. There is, however, a catch: you may choose any man from a particular floor, or you may choose to go up a floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!

So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband. On the first floor
the sign on the door reads:

Floor 1 - These men have jobs and love the Lord. The second floor sign reads:

Floor 2 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, and love kids. The third floor sign reads:

Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, and are extremely good looking. "Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going. She goes to the fourth floor and the sign reads:

Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop-dead good looking and help with the housework. "Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it!" Still, she goes to the fifth floor and the sign reads:

Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop-dead gorgeous, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak. She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads:

Floor 6 - You are visitor 4,363,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. Watch your step as you exit the building, and have a nice day!

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Thanks to the breaking of copyright laws everywhere magic of YouTube, someone has compiled the Top 12 Band appearances in movies. Very, very cool stuff.

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I first saw this on rec.humor eons ago. Not exactly sure what made me think of it, but I couldn't resist posting it.

By the way, don't take too seriously the "it's real" part.

Tandem Writing Assignment

The following is a true story received from an English professor.

You know that book "Men are from Mars, Women from Venus"? Well, here's a prime example of that. This assignment was actually turned in by two of my English students: Rebecca (last name deleted) and Gary (last name deleted).

First, the Assignment:

English 44A
SMU
Creative Writing
Prof. Miller

In-Class Assignment for Wednesday:
Today we will experiment with a new form called the tandem story. The process is simple. Each person will pair off with the person sitting to his or her immediate right. One of you will then write the first paragraph of a short story. The partner will read the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on back and forth.

Remember to re-read what has been written each time in order to keep the story coherent. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been reached.

And now, the Assignment as submitted by Rebecca & Gary:

Rebecca starts:

At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The camomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked camomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her asthma started acting up again. So camomile was out of the question.

Gary:

Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A.S. Harris to Geostation 17," he said into his transgalactic communicator. "Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far...". But before he could sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit.

Rebecca:

He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel." Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth -- when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspapers to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. "Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully.

Gary:

Little did she know, but she had less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty through Congress had left earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them, they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion which vaporized Laurie and 85 million other Americans. The President slammed his fist on the conference table. "We can't allow this! I'm going to veto that treaty! Let's blow 'em out of the sky!"

Rebecca:

This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic, semi-literate adolescent.

Gary:

Yeah? Well, you're a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium.

Rebecca:

Asshole.

Gary:

Bitch.

My guess is that they have 5 children now.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 12:34 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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The world is full complete, absolutely retarded, knuckle-dragging imbeciles. Excerpt:

Motorists who seem to turn off their brain when switching on their car's satellite navigation system have had a number of spectacular crashes in the past year -- but occasionally they're right to blame the machine.

Drivers obeying directions given by a sultry satnav voice have crashed into rivers, construction sites and roadside toilets in Germany, and had similar accidents in Britain.

"It's hard to understand how these things can happen," said Maximilian Maurer, spokesman for the German motoring club

ADAC.

"It's not as if people are driving in a tank with only a small slit to see out. You'd think they have their own eyes and brains engaged to make decisions and not rely on the satnav. I used to think satnavs were 'idiot-proof', but perhaps not."

In October a 53-year-old German, obeying his satnav's command "Turn right now!" jerked the wheel over and crashed into a roadside toilet hut 30 metres (yards) before the crossing he was meant to take, causing 2,000 euros ($2,600) damage.

A few weeks earlier, an 80-year-old motorist also followed his satnav instead of common sense and ignored a "closed for construction" sign on a Hamburg motorway. He hit a pile of sand at high speed but was not hurt.

Holy shit. George Carlin once quipped that "The average person is pretty fucking stupid, and half the people are dumber than that." I think that he understated a bit.

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All you have to do is accept a bribe from Microsoft.

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Want to know what the 50 greatest cartoons of all-time are? And more importantly, do you want to watch them? Then go here to see them all, as ranked by the animation industry.

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Excellent blog for your viewing pleasure as you make the transition away from Microsoft Office: Open Office Training, Tips and Ideas. And here's a terrific post on how to create multiple pages of mailing labels without using a mail merge, which is information that I could have used about 24 hours ago. Sigh. In any event, I'll keep checking her blog for more useful information. I suggest that you do the same.

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Sorry for the non-existent posting lately. I've been training like crazy, working like crazy and my kids have been sick. Add in the required family get togethers and the quality of this blog has simply skyrocketed by the sheer absence of my postings. Anyway, thanks for everyone who has been checking in periodically. I dig all you folks in a big way.

General crap to resume in short order. I've got a bone to pick with some of the effete Linux snobs in the "help" forums and I'm getting ready to start brewing again. Maybe a few unlucky people can help me taste the results. And yes, Harvey, you're still on the list, as is our former Alliance mistress, assuming that she wants to be. Anyway, see y'all very soon.

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I noticed that Jonah had posted some circumcision poems and thought that I'd get into the act with one of my own:

There was a Rabbi named Keith

Who circumcised young men with his teeth.

It wasn't for pleasure,

or want of some treasure,

but to get at the cheese underneath.

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