Archive for February, 2007
Playing/authoring DVD’s is so complicated in Ubuntu
Okay I have a second Ubuntu complaint, to add to my previous one about the slowness of Firefox. It’s about the complexity of doing anything DVD-related in Ubuntu.
First off is the playing–it took me quite a bit of installing and un-installing packages to get the DVD player in Ubuntu to work properly. There’s already several […]
Could I have Meniere’s Disease?
I woke up this morning much earlier than planned, around 5:30 a.m. The reason was an incredible attack of nausea and dizziness. I had to stumble to the porcelain throne and vomit. Of course since it had been almost 12 hours since my last meal there wasn’t anything actually in my stomach […]
Atlanta-Journal Constitution re-organizes for a 24/7 world
There was a massive re-organization announced yesterday at the Atlanta Journal Constitution. They’ll have a news-gathering department, whose job is to generate news content without regard for the eventual platform where it gets presented. Then there will be two departments aimed at creating that presentation from the content–one a print edition and one the digital online […]
Perhaps I’m too old to be in graduate school
I’m attending the University of Louisville part time, working slowly towards an MS in Computer Science. It’s only my second semester and in fact only my second class, since I’m only taking one class per semester.
Last semester was the Intro to Database class. I’ve done a lot of database stuff for work but everything was […]
Look at all the ads hiding the content on this CNET page
As part of my ongoing infatuation with Ubuntu Linux, I was doing some research to find a portable audio player I might be able to use with Linux. Specifically anything that could play Ogg Vorbis, the open source codec that was at one time vying to replace MP3.
About the only one I could find with […]
DaimlerChrysler should have picked a different day for this announcement
Today DaimlerChrysler announced massive job cuts, up to 13,000 people, at their US subsidiary Chrysler Group. On top of these job cuts they are reportedly considering the most drastic measure possible, selling off the Chrysler unit. Essentially un-doing the merger.
There’s no question something drastic needs to be done, they’re losing too much money and market share. […]
Trench-coats and crazy people
What is the connection between trench coats and crazy people? We all remember the Columbine shooters with their affinity for trench coats, and now this kid in Utah who killed five people was described as wearing a trench coat.
It probably shows my age but I remember when trench coats were cool, not crazy. Hard-boiled detective Mike […]
Firefox on Ubuntu can be soooo slooow
Even though I generally like Ubuntu Linux, I must say that Firefox has been a major disappointment. On this very same hardware, when it had Windows XP running IE 7, JavaScript-powered sites like Google Documents ran just fine. But now, running Ubuntu Linux with Firefox 2, those same sites are unbelievably slow.
In fact, Google Documents […]
I wish I could have been a better clarinet player
When I was growing up in Idaho about the only extra-curricular activity I did was concert band. I played the clarinet, probably not the smartest choice for somebody with asthma. I should have done percussion instead of a wind instrument. Maybe then I could have become good at it, instead of just mediocre.
I mention this […]
Obama’s in the race
Barack Obama formally threw his hat into the presidential race today. I managed to catch a bit of his speech on CNN and I must say he really does have a good public presence. Nothing in his speech was new or really innovative, and yet I came away with a very positive overall […]