here’s life

I like my car. It drives differently from my other car, but it is cool. I am now one of those single, well-paid, technical people who buy cars so that they can feel like they are important. Why do I need two cars? Even I can only drive one at once! Before you know it, I’ll be in my garage all the time, shining the hood ornament.

The world in round, but it is inside-out from what you were taught in school (unless you were homeschooled–we know they all think the world is flat, and PI is “about 3″). So, when you look up at the sky, and see a blue dome, what you are seeing is the Pacific Ocean. It is huge and has no visible continents on it. But, at night, you can see the lights from the ships and stuff. Oh, and the classic “proof” of the earth being convex and round—the fact that when you see ships in the distance, you can only see the tops of them? This is a mirage. The temperature differences between the sky and water make the air have a temperature gradient and an inversion layer forms that refracts the light, and makes it look like the horizon curves away. Plus, they can tell you whatever, because you’re never going to watch a square-rigger disappear over the horizon.

There is a billboard I’ve seen around town that has intrigued me. It has a picture of a baby, on whose forehead is printed a blank Nutritional Facts label. The billboard reads: “Everything comes with Nutritional Information. Except her.” And then there is some text that is too small to read without swerving off the road. If their message is what I think it is, I totally agree: don’t eat babies! I thought this was pretty obvious, but then I figured it was obvious that when you are turning, you should use your turn signals.

And here is a [rant] that I was sending to a friend instead of getting some sleep. I figured I’d just stick it here. He was asking me what I missed about Windows:

When I switched from Windows to Linux, it was while I was in college, about a year after getting my first computer (a cast-off I bought for a couple bucks or scavenged). So, I didn’t really miss anything from windows 98, other than a driver for my webcam. Now, what I have trouble with are: web-based graphics occasionally don’t work quite as expected. Also, there are no good CAD programs for Linux. In fact, there are very few “good” CAD programs in the world, and the only one that gets ten out of ten (that I have used) is SolidWorks, but that is another subject. (if you want a free, OK CAD program, try the free version of Alibre). If I used windows I would probably use the little, random programs that make some particular task easier. All those little downloads that fill up your desktop and Start menu.

What do I anti-miss about windows? Never having to worry about viruses. Never having spyware, or adware or even having to scan for it, or worry if it is slowing down my computer. The package manager for Linux/Debian/Ubuntu is hugely superior to anything you find in windows. In windows, when you want a program, you either, drive somewhere and buy it (it’s only 39.99!) or you find it, download it (only 19.99 or even free) then you save it to your desktop, Then you unzip it, run the installer script, tell it where to save it. It puts an icon in your start menu in a new folder along with some junk icons, it puts an icon on your desktop, and it puts an icon in your QuickLaunch, and it is always running on your system tray. Then you reboot, delete the zip file off your desktop, and you are ready to go! Until an update comes out, and you have to repeat the process.

In Linux, if you want a program, the easiest way to get it is using the command line: “sudo aptitude install program name” (and because you have tab completion, you only have to type part of most words, and it finishes it for you–including the program name). Then you hit enter, put in your password, it tells you how much space it will take, and asks if you want to continue. Hit enter and….in a moment, the new program show up in your menu (once). If you can’t type things for some reason, you can use a graphical interface, with search, and rightclick on one or many programs and check “Install” and push a button, and it will do the same thing as the command line. There are thousands of programs. Oh, and to update all of the programs on my computer, I run two commands (or click a couple buttons) and it will go download and install all of the updates. All of my operating system’s updates. All the updates to the little programs I’ve installed. Everything. (unless I installed something using the primitive download-unzip-install method—which is rarely worth doing) And, you have to reboot for: updates to the hardware, updates to the kernel. (or if something locks up too bad, which does happen to me).

And, I never have to worry about Genuine Windows Advantage. Nobody turns off my security if I replace some hardware and don’t call up MS and beg them to let my computer work. Everything on my computer is there because I want it to be, and because I can choose what goes and what stays, the people who develop stuff make sure that they are working in my best interest. If it looks like they are pawns of some company that wants control over the users, the community moves away from them. There is incentive to make their system replaceable, rather than locking in the user—because the community cares about choice.

For only the low, low price of $29.99 a month, you too can have this freedom! Just send us your firstborn as a deposit–to make sure you don’t use my system in the wrong way, and we will get you signed up. And for complete functionality, “your” computer must always be connected to our server, and don’t put tape over the webcam at any time. We hope you enjoy the music we have selected for you. This month’s theme is “Why you should buy a Toyota”….

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 15th, 2007 at 12:18 am and is filed under no category. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.