a113n’s daily dose

My wife recently commented
that my recent posts have been computer-oriented, which sparks no interest in her. And as I find her interest in reading my
blog appealing, I’m devoting this one purely to her interests: her.

href="http://www.hotels.com/hotels/IND_HYAT-exter-1.jpg">She and I are finally getting some thorough
relaxation time. Sure, we’ve had a break here and there, but this time we actually have the money to really enjoy
ourselves. She and I both deserve that at least every other year. Today I’ve setup reserverations at href="http://www.crackerscomedy.com/">Cracker’s and the href="http://indianapolis.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/entertainment/restaurants/index.jsp">Eagle’s Nest. Cracker’s I’ve
been too, but despite spending the better part of 2 years working href="http://www.donshula.com/steakhouse/indianapolis/index.htm">right across the street (and the money to attend) I’ve
never attended the Eagle’s Nest, which sits on top of the Hyatt Regency hotel on the west side of downtown Indianapolis.
What I like about the Eagle’s Nest is that every hour, it makes a full rotation; with a window seat, you get a panoramic
view of Indianapolis while you dine. In the photo to the right, the Eagle’s Nest is lit up in blue atop the
hotel.

Aside: Speaking of Shula’s, check href="http://www.donshula.com/48ozmember.asp?MemberID=B5BA8D171FB3E76D852569100054471E">this out. That’s what you get
for going for the 48 oz. porterhouse–I didn’t finish mine in one setting.

There will also be shopping, as we plan
to arrive in Indianapolis around 1ish, and we can’t check into the hotel (presidential suite at the href="http://www.choicehotels.com/ires/en-US/html/HotelInfo?sid=VTr2i.SM7Gigk3M.2&hotel=IN433&sarea=85421&sname=Indianapolis&sstate=IN&scountry=US&sradius=40.22&slat=39.76679992675781&slon=-86.15850067138672&schain=R&exp=&scity=Indianapolis&sort=&nadult=1&nchild=0">Clarion,
which includes a hot tub per my wife’s instruction ). I think there might be a movie thrown into the mix, but we’ll
have to look into what’s playing.

I got a call today just to say that she’s excited–and that’s what it makes it
priceless.

Someone please explain why
the “typical” installation of our HP all-in-one software is 550MB. That’s over half a GB of my precious precious space
that is precious to me. My precious bytes. The minimal (only drivers) is 75MB. I must’ve fell asleep for half a millenia
to see driver file size jump from the KB range (maybe ~1MB max) to 75MB! I find this even more ridiculous than having to
install HP software on my machine and using a HP printer combined.

alt="HP Sux" src="/images/HPsux.JPG" />Oh, and it gets better! I despise–absolutely
despise–installations that REQUIRE a reboot. Now, I’m not talking the Windows update
“Do you want to restart now or later” type of require, but I mean only one friggin’ button for Restart.
Of course, there is no red X to close the window (which wouldn’t work if there was!).

However,
there is still hope! CTRL+ALT+DELETE and End Task. The ever-trusting (most of the time),
never failing (usually), handy (though quite a few keystrokes) Windows task killer.

I am almost afraid to install the
software for the remaining printers…which are, of course, HP!

• Quote of the Day:
  
  My wife
  
  discussing films at the IMAX:
  
  "And they've had a lot of good films like "The Abyss" and the movie with Tom
  
  Hanks--"Apollo 9" or something"
  
  
• Current Location: Work
  
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A href="http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT8288296398.html">response has been released in response to ExtremeTech’s
article Why Vista Won’t Suck. Since I felt the
urge to comment and respond to the ExtremeTech article, I think I’ll tackle this opinion.

Firstly, I am a Linux
advocate. I dual boot XP/Gentoo, which the primary portion of my Inspiron’s 60GB HD for Gentoo, and I support open source
9x out of 10 for a variety of reasons, including just general support for the open source concept. However, this article
really got my blood boiling.

Granted, it was an opinion, but I consider it an opinion on the ExtremeTech article and
not on Windows Vista. Steven Vaughan-Nichols seems to believe the ExtremeTech article was parading Windows Vista as
Microsoft’s answer to the Linux/Unix movement or perhaps does any sort of comparision. Please show me where this
comparision is made. Maybe I missed whole sections or pages of the ExtremeTech article, but I didn’t see proof one that
ExtremeTech was doing anything more than highlighting intriguing and interesting features of Vista. Why, then, does this
author deem it necessary to enter a comparison? Is he really serving the needs of his readers (Linux users I presume) by
bashing an article with how Linux reigns over Vista despite no connection between Linux and Vista in the
article?

Given the length of the article, I would think the author would spend more time discussing Vista’s
drawbacks thoroughly or highlighting his experiences (which he does in a miniscule manner). Instead, the article is ladden
with Linux propaganda, such as

• “Mind you, it’s not enough machine for Vista. I could run any
  Linux with all the bells and whistles on it without a problem.”
• “Of course, Linux never had
  this kind of garbage to clean up in the first place”
• “What they don’t mention is that Linux
  and Mac OS X have both done that kind of thing well for years.”
• “You’ve been able to use it in
  any application written with the open-source GCC for years.”
• “It’s nice to know that they’ve
  finally done something with that href="http://www.kuro5hin.org/?op=displaystory;sid=2001/6/19/05641/7357">open-source BSD code that’s the basis
  of their TCP/IP network protocol.”
• “So, Linux desktop designers, it’s time to get cracking on
  audio support.”>
• “Be that as it may, as I sit here looking at my SUSE 10 Linux desktop, I
  can’t help but notice that I have, for free, every software application I could ever want. Advantage: Linux.”
• “What I do know, is that I really don’t see a thing, not one single thing, that will make the still undelivered
  Vista significantly better than the Linux or the Mac OS X desktops I have in front of me today. “

Now,
these comments may have been useful, pertinent, worth of reading IF the ExtremeArticle had in any way been
out to strike a comparison with Vista (if anything, the article only compares Vista to prior versions of Windows), but, as
stated, I did not see any comparision. Therefore, despite some good opinions on Vista’s features, the article is
overshadowed by propaganda and thrown in a pile of Linux advocacy that undermines the entire movement!

I also find
interesting the comment, “Vista will be better than XP, which has easily been Microsoft’s best desktop operating system
to date”, which falls under the “What was the author thinking” category. I agree that Windows XP has been Microsoft’s
best OS to date…and then I state that Windows XP is a GOOD OS for users. The average home user is able
to get more out of their PC in a stable environment thanks to XP. Guaranteed if I put Gentoo with X, OpenOffice, Firefox,
etc. on my wife’s computer, she would have me strangled by the end of the weekend. There are simply two different markets
(granted these differences are diminishing and I look forward to the day that a graphical Linux can stand on par to Windows
in terms of layman-friendliness) for the operating systems, and the comments that are strewn throughout this article
demonstrate the author is blinded by his Linux advocacy.

If the author really wants to post his thoughts on the web,
I suggest next time he go for an unbiased opinion (seems oxymoronic, doesn’t it, but I believe ExtremeTech achieved this as
much as possible) and stick to what’s pertinent to his opinion. No sense in getting wraveled up with extraneous details
misleading to the facts!

• Current Location: Work
  
• Daily Task(s):
  • Database optimization
  • Dreamweaver setup
  • Login errors

Last night I had a visit
from some government agents. You’d think they’d let me have my last day of peace, but nooooooooooo–I had to go and get
myself entangled in some deep $#%@. Well, I’m not really entangled in it, but they needed to know what I know, which I’m
not sure that I know anything that I think I know, so I’m not sure how they know what I know or at least what I think I
know, but maybe they know that I don’t know what I know and so they want to know. Yeh, that sounds more like
it.

Anyhow, Neoteric is in some trouble regarding an Iranian–an Iranian I was against hiring in the first place.
Not due to some bigotry or the fact that I didn’t want to hire the man, but we had too many other problems to deal with
aside from immigration acts! Since I was somewhat active in the acquistion of this employee, and I am well versed in the
company’s business practices, these agents showed up at my door at 9:30. I was a bit turned off by the fact that they knew
not only where my house was located, but also the color and size. Talk about nerve shattering.

So this is how I
spend my last day, wondering what these agents are compiling and whether or not I can just walk away from the situation.
Whatever happened to keg stands and sleeping where you fall…

• Quote of the Day:
  Boy:
  "What's a joint?"
  Lady: "Show me your hand. This bump on your hand is a joint."
  Boy: "I know another kind of
  joint."
  Lady: "What's that?"
  Boy: "It's what [name deleted] comes over and does with my mom."
  
• Current Location: Neoteric