Cat listening to HOUSE music

Posted by: Physics Geek at 09:40 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Oh joy, someone else wants to ban/burn books.

Douchebag.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 07:26 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Although I'm not certain that it would be sufficient punishment for the asshat in this article. Excerpt:

Thornton was charged in August with felony animal torture for pulling the head off a kitten owned by his girlfriend, a 30-year-old woman who lives at the same address.

Thornton and his girlfriend had a fight the night of July 28, and she left the house. When she returned, she saw the animal's head and body in the front yard.

A veterinarian documented that the head had been forcibly ripped off.

Are you fucking kidding me?

Posted by: Physics Geek at 07:43 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Did you remember that today was Talk Like A Pirate Day? Arrrgghhh!

Posted by: Physics Geek at 02:02 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Let me flog the horse a little bit longer, in the hopes that its corpse will magically reanimate: start the transition from Windows to Linux. Soon. Claus Futtrup has a pretty good article detailing why the move shouldn't be painful. Excerpt:

There are many reasons for converting from another operating system to Linux. Each person has an individual relation to this, but typical reasons are:

1) I have old hardware and I want new software than runs well on my machine. Maybe Microsoft has quit their support of the OS installed on the computer from the beginning. Linux reduces the need to upgrade or replace hardware when upgrading to newer versions because it is very efficient and designed to be scalable.

2) I want to spend my money wisely, not on updating software (and my morals are too high to use piracy). Linux and much of the related software is available at no cost.

3) I have a political agenda when choosing free OpenSource software. You may not be willing to accept the constraints of commercial software (financially, regarding file formats, bug fix support is in the hands of some developers and it can be difficult to get their attention, etc). The most advanced form is GNU Copyrighted software (socalled GPL), as defined by the Free Software Foundation, but other standard copyrights exist as well.
...
Ready to move ahead? I have a big recommendation. You can jump directly from a commercial MS-Windows world with Microsoft Office and other commercial applications at your disposal into a free OpenSource Linux world. Chances are that this will be a very hard battle - maybe also unnecessarily hard. Since OpenSource software for Linux is usually also available for Windows you can make a smooth start by first familiarizing yourself with the software under MS-Windows, then later make the jump to Linux and be pleased that you know the applications already - being productive from the get-go and therefore have a more relaxed approach to understanding the underlying Linux system (if you like to). Software to consider for your MS-Windows computer is:

* Web browsing : Firefox
Make sure you can use your internet banking and check that other important sites works for you.

* Email : Thunderbird
Try to convert your emails in eg. Outlook Express into Thunderbird and work with Thunderbird. Later you can move your Thunderbird emails from MS-Windows to your Thunderbird in Linux (because the mailbox file structure is unchanged and can be copied directly between the two operating systems).

* Graphics : GIMP
If you like to work with Photoshop or other graphics (or image processing) software, try to familiarize yourself with GIMP instead. There are other options, but GIMP is a good choice.

* Office : OpenOffice
This office package is not as rich on features as Microsoft Office, but try to use it under MS-Windows. If you don't like it you can save your documents in eg. MS-Word file format and forget about it. If OpenOffice works for you, keep the files in the OpenDocument Format (and maybe also convert other documents to this format) before moving the files to Linux.

Ehh, you know what to do. If you're not certain which distro to pick, go here and see what's available.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 08:57 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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About a year ago, I posted an article containing info on how to build your own Personal Video Recorder. As usual, technology waits for no geekman. All About Linux links to a variety of Linux-based build your own PVR sites. Excerpt:

KnoppMyth : This is an attempt at making the Linux and MythTV installation as trivial as possible. This is a Linux distribution built from scratch using Debian GNU/Linux and the programs from Knoppix. KnoppMyth includes MythTV and all its official plugins as well as additional software such as Apache webserver, NFS, Samba and many other useful daemons. This GNU/Linux distribution is geared at setting up a PVR (Personal Video Recorder) in a quick and easy manner.Everything one needs to easily setup a power home entertainment system is included in this distribution.

MythTV for XBox - This is a project which aids in setting up MythTV on ones XBox gaming station with ease. Of course it is understood that you need to install GNU/Linux on XBox first as MythTV runs in Linux. This project requires that you first download and install a version of GNU/Linux called Xebian in your XBox.
...
Having dwelled so much on MythTV project, I might also add that there are two similar projects (though not as feature rich) which are taking shape to provide PVR functionality in GNU/Linux. They are Freevo and GeexBox.

I was aware of all of the ones listed in the post except for GeexBox. That one caught my eye because it:

1. can be run off a Live CD
   
2. can run successfully on a 400-MHz machine
   

Since I've got a 400 MHz paperweight in the corner of my home office, GeexBox looks to be a good home project for me to tackle. All that I need is a digital TV tuner and a bigger hard drive. I won't be able to record and watch simultaneously, but I'm okay with that. YMMV.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 08:21 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I've got to admit: the first time I encountered Konqueror, I thought that it was a pretty good file manager(i.e., Windows Explorer), but only an average Web browser. Something about how Konqueror resolved text on my screen bugged me. However, that was several versions ago and Doug Roberts, in this article, goes a long way towards convincing me to give Konqueror another try. Excerpt:

While I liked Konqueror as a file manager I had actually never given Konqueror's web browsing capabilities much thought. I had recently begun using Opera 9.0. I felt at long last that I had found the browser I had been looking for to run on my Debian Sarge install.

But there it was, already on my system. With Mr. Kite having piqued my curiosity, I thought, "What the hell. Why not." And I started using it.

The first thing I noticed is that Konqueror is really fast as a web browser. No, I mean REALLY fast. It's faster than Opera, which is noted for its speed.

Let me elaborate. First, it loads faster, as it's part of the KDE GUI that's already loaded and running. It does a better job of loading recently visited web pages from its cache than Opera. It also renders web pages more correctly than Opera, though Opera is very good. Opera would force me to hit the minus key to downsize web pages too often, to make them fit the screen. A niggling point, I admit.

One of Konqueror's curious and powerful traits is that it is at once both a file manager and a web browser. You could think of it as a computer navigation device. It will quickly take you to any folder and file on your hard drive, or to anywhere on the Internet. It does either one, or both of those, so seamlessly that I marvel at how the KDE people did it.

Like all the newer browsers out now, Konqueror uses tabs. And yes, it blocks pop-ups. One reason why I had switched to Opera is because of its ability to selectively allow Java and Java scripts to run on only the websites that you choose. Konqueror does that, too.

Split screen browsing

One of the unique features of Konqueror that really is amazing is its ability to do split screen browsing. Right click on the status bar on the bottom of the screen and you get a menu allowing you to split the screen either horizontally or vertically.

This isn't just a "gee whiz" feature. It's actually very useful. Take shopping on line, for instance. My wife is very jealous of this feature. :-)

Take a look at the following screen shot, which shows me looking at two different tents and comparing their specs side by side.

Note the scroll bars for each window. You can navigate to any websites completely independently from either screen.

And get this: you can even use one side of the screen to navigate your hard drive and continue web browsing in the other screen, if your wish!! So, Konqueror can manage files and browse the web simultaneously. Who knew?

Anyway, you'll find a lot more detail here.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 07:18 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Today marks the 40th anniversary of Star Trek. What started as a scifi TV show that got kicked around on the schedule a bit before getting dumped morphed into a worldwide phenomenon, spawning numerous sequels/spin-offs and movies. In fact, the ST movies series is, I believe, Paramount's most succesful of all time. Not too shabby. Anyway, here's the link to a blog celebrating ST's 40th. It includes this post by scifi legend, Arthur C. Clarke.

Hat tip to Ith.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 03:12 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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You know how things work: someone doesn't post for a while and you start checking their site less frequently, even though you expect that something big is about to happen. Then you get caught up in your new job activities and forget to check in for a long time. When you(me) finally do check in, you notice that missed the notification of something special by almost a month.

Well, better late than never, I suppose. Congratulations, Kelley. I'm certain that Spiderman is looking forward to his new future playmate.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 01:18 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Don't believe it? Go here and check out Todd Stanton's tale of glory. Excerpt:

Some developers are also excited that this may increase their chances of getting lucky, but most are being realistic. Walker Crandall said, "We thought we'd all be doing the hokey-pokey after Bill Fitzsimmons got some during the LinuxWorld Conference in 1999. We were fooling ourselves. Nobody got nothing."

This is the third such occurrence for Linux developers since 1991.

Tripled. Yeah, that's right: tripled.

You wish that you were me right now.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 09:58 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Michelle Malkin joins the legion of folks like me by advocating that you should Brew Your Own Beer.

Oh wait, it's a political post that mentions Miller and Anheuser Busch's support of illegal immigration. Since I don't drink their beer anyway, my new lack of support will go largely unnoticed by the two brewing giants. But my point still stands: brew your own beer. If you want some info, this archive is as good a place to start as any, in my humble opinion.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 10:53 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I beat the Linux drum a lot on this site. Okay, more than a lot. But if you've experienced as many problems with Windows as I have, you'd be anxious to move along as well. However, I know that some of you don't really experience Windows problems. If you are one of the two manysatisfied Windows owners, you still aren't relegated to using only commercial/expensive software. I present to you Opensourcewindows.com, which contains a lot of free software that you can use in your current Windows environment. Excerpt:

Mozilla Firefox
The premier free, open-source browser. Tabs, pop-up blocking, themes, and extensions. Considered by many to be the world's best browser.
...

Mozilla Thunderbird
Powerful spam filtering, solid interface, and all the features you need.
[note: Some people have complained about Thunderbird's lack of an Outlook style calendar feature. While there is a separate calendar tool that can be used, the Lightning project looks to incorporate that feature into Thunderbird, sooner rather than later. You might want to wait until that's done.]
...

Media Player Classic
Compact, but powerful media player. Plays anything under the sun. No install necessary.
...

OpenOffice.org
Big, full featured suite of tools for word processing and spreadsheets. Compatible with and a free replacement for Microsoft Word documents. Also supports OpenDocument Format.
...

SharpDevelop
Open Source IDE for the .NET Framework. Utilizes the multiple programming languages and Windows forms
...

Dia for Windows
Dia is a Visio type clone for Windows and UNIX/Linux systems. It has many templates included and very useful for flowcharting etc.

Did you find something useful there? If not, you might want to check out The OSSWIN Project: Open Source for Windows! page. Trust me: you'll spend a lot of time wading through that list of software.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 08:31 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I know that I've said many times that the Republicans deserve to lose their majority this fall. This editorial from Opinionjournal.com does give me pause, though. Excerpt:

Consider the man likely to run the Judiciary Committee, Michigan's John Conyers, from the Congressional class of 1964. He recently made his plans clear in a 370-page report, "The Constitution in Crisis: The Downing Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution and Coverup in the Iraq War, and Illegal Domestic Surveillance." The report accuses the Administration of violating no fewer than 26 laws and regulations, and is a road map of Mr. Conyers's explicit intention to investigate grounds for impeaching President Bush.
...
Ways and Means, the chief economic policy panel, would go to New York's Charlie Rangel (1970), who opposed the Bush tax cuts and recently voted against free trade with tiny Oman. His committee's crucial health care subcommittee would be run by California's Pete Stark (1972), who in 1993 criticized Hillary Clinton's health care proposal because the government wasn't dominant enough. Over at Financial Services, the ascension of Barney Frank (1980) would mean a reprieve for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, despite $16 billion in accounting scandals. His main reform priority has been to carve out a new affordable housing fund from the two companies' profits. And forget about any major review of Sarbanes-Oxley.
...
And then there's Alcee Hastings, who, should Ms. Pelosi succeed in pushing aside current ranking Member Jane Harman, would take over the House Intelligence Committee. Before he won his Florida seat in 1992, Mr. Hastings had been a federal judge who was impeached and convicted by a Democratic Congress for lying to beat a bribery rap. He would handle America's most vital national secrets.

I have nothing useful to add to this except ugh.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 07:43 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Today's Pig of the Day

It looks like we have a winner: Ted Stevens(R-AK), come on down! You're the final contestant on Who's a Whiny, Obnoxious, Petulant, Self-Important Senatorial Prick.

Actually, Senator Stevens has provided an invaluable service for me: I had promised to blog frequently pigs, if for no other reason than to aggravate the many jihadists who keep hacking Aaron's site. And I have to admit that I had fallen down on the job. Congratulations, Ted. You've just reminded me that the biggest oinkers feed at the federal trough.

Oh no, did I post this within 60 days on an election? No? Then I guess that I'll have to repost it on or after September 8 of this year.

I'd like to point out that I don't actually enjoy blogging about politics(and others do it much better). I started out blogging about the things that interested/entertained me: brewing beer, old(bad) jokes, technology/computer issues. But I will be damned if I let such a blatently unconstitutional law prevent me from blogging about whatever I feel like. Starting September 8, almost every post on this site will involve politics. I will post free political ads to whomever asks me(I'm not kidding myself- almost no one knows that this site exists); I will post commentary on the views/votes of politicians; and I will mercilessly mock those running for office. Will these activities run me afoul of McCain-Feingold? Good. I'll bet that I won't be the only one.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 11:46 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Received via email...
=================================================

A man was sitting on the edge of the bed, observing his wife, looking at herself in the mirror. Since her birthday was not far off he asked what she'd like to have for her Birthday.

"I'd like to be six again," she replied, still looking in the mirror.

On the morning of her Birthday, he arose early, made her a nice big bowl of Lucky Charms, and then took her to Six Flags theme park. What a day! He put her on every ride in the park; the Death Slide, the Wall of Fear, the Screaming Monster Roller Coaster, everything there was. Five hours later they staggered out of the theme park. Her head was reeling and her stomach felt upside down.

He then took her to a McDonald's where he ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a chocolate shake.

Then it was off to a movie, popcorn, a soda pop, and her favorite candy, M&M's.

What a fabulous adventure! Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed exhausted. He leaned over his wife with a big smile and lovingly asked, "Well Dear, what was it like being six again??"

Her eyes slowly opened and her __expression suddenly changed. "I meant my dress size, you dumb ass!"

The moral of the story: Even when a man is listening, he is gonna get it wrong.

[Yes, I received this from a female. So what? It made me laugh.]

Posted by: Physics Geek at 02:17 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Paul at Wizbang has taken a beating from assorted bloggers for a variety of reasons, which I won't go into here. However, he's provided the best information related to New Orleans and its levees. This time, he's compiled all of the data into one post, which details where, when and why the levees failed. You might be shocked to learn that George Bush isn't to blame. Shocked, that is, if you're a complete frigging imbecile.

Kudos on a well documented post. It's the kind of work that actual reporters in the MSM could do if they weren't busy trying to shoehorn stories into the "Bush sucks!" template.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 09:47 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I am passing this on to you because it definitely works, and we could all use a little more calmness in our lives. By following simple advice heard on the Dr. Phil show, you too can find inner peace. Dr Phil proclaimed, "The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started and have never finished."

So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of White Zinfandel, a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream, a bottle of Kahula, a package of Oreos, the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos and a box of chocolates.

You have no idea how freaking good I feel. Please pass this on to those whom you think might be in need of inner peace.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 07:09 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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But it isn't enough

Here's a new game show that's specifically designed for modern day eunuchs.

I don't know any guy who would willingly subject himself to potential downside of being a contestant.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 09:51 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I believe in these difficult and mean-spirited times in which we live there needs to be a message of hope. Just a single image that speaks to us of love, harmony, peace and joy. An image that suggests the universal brotherhood of man. I have found that image, and I ask that all of you take a moment to be inspired by it. more...

Posted by: Physics Geek at 07:36 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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An oldie, but it still makes me laugh.
============================================

Q: My fiance still has feelings for his old girlfriends. I'm afraid he will not be faithful.

A: A man's capacity to love is boundless. It has been proven to increase with the number of sexual partners. Thus, by having a few other women, your partner is really increasing his love for you. Best thing to do is to buy him a nice, expensive present, cook him a nice meal and don't mention this aspect of his behavior.

Q: My husband has too many nights out with the boys.

A: This is perfectly natural behavior-And it should be encouraged. The man is a hunter and he needs to prove his prowess with other men. Far from being pleasurable, a night out with the boys is a stressful affair, and to get back to you is a relief for your partner. Just look back at how emotional and happy the man is when he returns to his stable home. Best thing to do is to buy him a nice, expensive present, cook him a nice meal and don't mention this aspect of his behavior.

Q: My husband wants to experience three-in-a-bed-sex with me and my sister.

A: Your husband is clearly devoted to you. He cannot get enough of you, so he goes for the next best thing - your sister. Far from being an issue, this will bring all of the family together. Why not get some cousins involved? If you are still apprehensive, then let him go with your relatives, buy him a nice, expensive present, cook him a nice meal and don't mention this aspect of his behavior.

Q: My husband continually asks me to perform oral sex with him.

A: Do it. Sperm is not only great tasting, but has only 10 calories a spoonful. It is nutritious and helps you to keep your figure and gives a great glow to the skin. Interestingly, a man knows this. His offer to you to perform oral sex with him is totally selfless. Oral sex is extremely painful for a man. This shows he loves you. Best thing to do is to thank him, buy him a nice, expensive present, and cook him a nice meal.

Q: My husband goes straight to sleep after making love - we have no time to talk.
A: Sex is an extremely difficult task for a man. Afterwards he needs rest. In fact, the more he loves you, the more hard work his lovemaking is, and the more rest he needs. Stop putting pressure on him. Best thing to do is to buy him a nice, expensive present, cook him a nice meal and don't mention this aspect of his behavior.

Q: My husband's efforts at lovemaking only last 30 seconds.

A: Your husband loves you very much. He is so turned on by you that he cannot control himself. In fact, the shorter the 'effort' the more he loves you. Return this love by buying a nice, expensive present, cooking him a nice meal and not mentioning his behavior.

Q: My husband is uninterested in foreplay.

A: Foreplay to a man is very hurtful. What it means is that you do not love your man as much as you should-he has to work a lot to get you in the mood. Abandon all wishes in this area, and make it up to him by buying a nice expensive present, cooking a nice meal and not mentioning this behavior.

Q: My husband has never given me an orgasm.

A: The female orgasm is a myth. It is fostered by militant, man-hating feminists and is a danger to the family unit. Don't mention it again to him and show your love to him by buying a nice expensive present ..and don't forget to cook him a delicious meal.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 09:31 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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