:deuceweb.blog

snark is the word of the day.

Wayside was unbelievabley cool last night. Pat had some friends in town, so that was the start of the party. Mike, Jared, and Matt were also there. My favorite moment is when Pat had a quotable saying, and we talked for like 10 minutes on how cool it was. Then we proceeded to not write it down, and forget what was said. So the quote for the night ended up being “Do you want my donut?” Of course, this was after many drinks, and we were all at Sweetwaters getting donuts. If you can’t make sense out of what was just said, or for some strange reason are trying to find logic in our evening at Wayside, don’t bother :-) 50 cent drafts tend to cause all logic in Joe’s universe to become non-existent.

So I think that I’m going to go do some work now. I have to image a laptop for this new CIS instructor thats coming in for the Fall semester. Symantec Ghost Enterprise makes my life so much easier here….

No Comments

Well, Lindsay finally took off on a plane for Thailand…but don’t think that was what’s “SWEET!!!” for this entry. I’m very sad, and I’m going to miss hanging out with her. We always had a good time, and could talk about basically anthing.

The really cool thing is that my brother is going to come visit me this weekend. We are going to have such a blast; it’s not even fair to the rest of the world. I’m thinking I’ll tap the other Molson mini keg that I have for when he comes. We are going to have such a good time. I only wish that Pat could come out with us…

Work is unbelievably productive this week. I love my job. I get to do work, when I want, where I want. However, it is getting down to wire, so I do have to get some things done. Sometimes, at least to me, it’s amazing how much I have to explain to people with doctorates.

Other than that, scotch is the best drink known to man.

No Comments

Well, my friend Lindsay is leaving the United States on Tuesday at 1:32 PM. She’s going to be working in Thailand as a teacher. It’s sad I won’t get to see her for a long time, but we’ll keep in touch. Last night was the going away party. We all went to Wayside, had some drinks and laughed a lot. The moment of the night came when Lindsay told a girl “Your shorts to skirt.” It left us all in the “wtf” frame of mind, and the girl she said it to was too drunk to care.

Everything is basically coming to a culmination point in all our lives at this time. Lindsay got a really cool job where she can travel, Lisa just had a baby, Brooke moved to Arizona, and Hillary is moving in with her boyfriend. Everyone is moving on with life. I’m trying to do the same; only four more months left of college. And then it’s off to the real world.

Do we ever get into the real world? I mean, everything up to this point has been “preparing you for the real world.” But what if the real world is just that; preparing you for the next step in your life? If thats the case, then I feel a whole lot better about everything.

I’m not sure, but I think I might try to start a freelance tech support business by myself. Of course, this is after graduation and after I find somewhere to move to. But the market seems to be able to bear it. I got the idea from an article that I found on Slashdot. It has some really good pointers and justification for this line of work being a good job to have.

No Comments

Whats my latest thing? Well, I’m going to be implementing a commenting system here on the blog, so look forward to that. I don’t know how long it will take, but I hope to have it up before the Fall semester starts. You’ll be able to get a username and all that happy stuff.

I don’t think I’ve written about this before, but one of the funniest things I’ve seen on the net in a while is the Star Wars Kid videos. You can find all of them here: http://www.jedimaster.net/swk_videos.htm. Most of them are in Windows Media format (grrrr), but they are hilarious. Definately worth the time to download.

Little bit of advocacy here…I think that people need to start looking at moving away from Microsoft Office for everything, and look at a more open standard for document creation. A great article by the god-like Richard Stallman about this is “We Can put an End to Word Attachments.” Definately worth a read.

I really can’t wait for school to start. Classes will be fairly easy (i hope), and I’ll be looking forward to graduation. Then who knows where my life will lead…

No Comments

Man, lots of links today… :-)

First off, I just watched this very schweet flash animation about Napster. It’s going to be a weekly cartoon I think, so I’ll be looking at it over the next few weeks. Check out the first two episodes at napsterbits.com. Very funny, and very cool.

Secondly, I figure I kind of went off on a tangent in my “site faq” about how someone can learn to develop web sites. But, I found even greater wisdom to impart upon budding web designers: Your site may suck if…

If I were you, I would definately be checking fazed often. Funny, humorous, boobie-full goodness for all your websurfing needs.

Pat and I were talking about holding a lecture on “How to succeed in slacking.” It might go something like this…

Me: So class, does anyone know what the correct thing to do is when your boss gives you an assignment?

Stupid Kid #1: Figure out how you can get it done quickest?

Pat: No no no…you’ve got it all wrong. First you check out your favorite websites, for instance fark, slashdot, fazed, along with assorted others. Then you check your e-mail.

Stupid Kid #2: So then you can start working on the assignment?

Me: You people are never going to learn, are you? No, you don’t start the assignment. While looking at your e-mail you might have missed a new posting on one of your favorite websites, so you have to check that again. And then it’s time to make a blog entry, or check e-mail again.

Stupid Kid #1: So the objective is to avoid the work until you absolutely have to get it done?

Me and Pat: Exactly!!!

Oh, two more things:

The blog Thoughts of a Smitty has been gracious enough to link to my site, so show some love and go visit him. Also, if you haven’t heard of Tucker Max yet, you are missing out on one of the funniest pages on the web.

No Comments

I thought that maybe, just maybe, the RIAA, MPAA, and Congress might get their act together and come up with a solution to the file-sharing issue that still respects the American people and allows for fair use. But no, we have radical idiots in all these groups trying to pass a bill (pdf or text) that makes file-sharing a felony offense. You can read a summary of the bill in an article here.

Now, I am all for protecting the rights of content owners or intellectual property owners, whatever you want to call them. But are we just allowing the government to start another War on Drugs? I mean really, if the average American doesn’t care that his neighbor is trading songs, then who gets hurt here? I’ve heard all the arguments about how record companies will be “put out of business” or whatever. Personally, I think that’s a bunch of bull.

What needs to happen is for these record companies to embrace this new phenomenon. If they can create some way to capitalize on the technology, then everything will be fine. The old business model just isn’t going to work for them anymore, I don’t care how many laws are passed. If John Doe can pay his few dollars a month to access a service that lets him have whatever music he wants, then everything will be fine.

You will never be able to get rid of people that can work around the system and find ways to pirate intellectual property. The best chance these companies have is to offer a service that the regular American finds is worth some of his or her hard-earned cash. That’s all I have to say about that…

1 Comment

Man am I having a rough day. Not really anything much to do here at work, and I’m tired. Talk about a combo that isn’t working out for me.

On the other hand, I saw what is likely the coolest video i’ve seen all summer. It’s this guy in his dorm room spinning CD’s with a dremel, and breaking them. Amazingly, he doesn’t get hurt. You can read about his “experiment” and get the video on this page:

CD Explode

I’ve been having random thoughts today. Like, what would happen if I traded my windows box for a linux only environment? Would I still be able to do everything I need to do? What about videos like the one above? Or typing a paper for class? Makes me think…

I’m working on getting this software for the blog commented and published. I’m not sure if I should release only the source, or maybe create a walk through of how I made it. However, I am going to show the code to doc rea and see if there are any security concerns. I’m getting to know PHP alright now, but I still need a little help.

Last random thought of the day…what would the world be like if the internet suddenly stopped working?

No Comments

Calculating dependencies

emerge: there are no masked or unmasked ebuilds to satisfy “deuceweb”.

ok, sorry for that gentoo reference…just trying to figure out what I’m going to do with this site. I’ve got so many ideas running through my head, I just don’t know which one to pick. The first idea is to just have this site be a site about me. Unfortunately, by myself I’m really not too interesting. Sure, some people might like to read about my life and thoughts (yeah right). But what about the masses?

What can I do that might really make an impact on this thing called the web? Not necessarily a huge impact, but maybe something that web surfers (or geeks or hackers) will like and want to use or get more of? My thoughts have strayed from writing articles about computer related topics, to writing comic strips or stories, or even publishing a blogging software package. Maybe I could use this site as a place of community, where many users can come and collaborate on different topics.

Obviously, I’m planning on keeping this blog. I like writing in here, and it’s fun to think that maybe someone will care about what I have to say. But what else can I do? I could do so many things…but how to decide? If you have any comments or suggestions, let me know.

No Comments

public service announcement

******************************

This blog entry is being done on a linux system.

******************************

I’m finally up and running with my gentoo linux system. I’m running Enlightenment for my window manager, and this entry is being done using Mozilla-Firebird v0.6. Right now I’m emerging/installing OpenOffice, and it’s been running since 4:45 on Saturday. This is one huge compile!!!

Don’t really know what else to say, but I’m having way too much fun with this gentoo linux system. It’s like I’m learning about computers all over again. It makes it exciting and worthwhile. I’ve even started migrating a computer at work over to gentoo. We’ll see how that goes with accessing my fileshares and e-mail there. Lots of configuration, but it’s worth it to learn something like this.

I’m also becoming unbelievably interested in learning more programming languages. It’s really hard to decide what to learn, I just want to know it all right now. Even harder is sticking with my plan to get an MCSE. It’s just so much more interesting to work with open source software and learn new things. I think that I’ll be trying to learn Java, a bit about Linux, and do my MCSE. Lots of reading and face time in front of a monitor, but oh well. It’s just too much fun.

No Comments

I’m looking foward to this barbeque that I’m having tonight at my place. Good friends, good food, and then it’s off to the bar. Wayside should be packed tonight, and 50 cent drafts means joe is going to be feeling good by the end of the night…

I read an article today that really irritated me. It’s about the cable companies and how their prices routinely outpace inflation. This is precisely why I don’t have cable tv right now. The cost for basic expanded cable (which gets me decent channels like ESPN, TechTV, and Comedy Central) after tax is a ridiculous 45 dollars and change. Essentially, the only channels I would watch are networks like Fox, ABC, etc. and the three listed above. On top of that, when I did have cable, i watched maybe 5 hours a week tops. grrr….

My basic complaint is that the cable companies charge consumers an arm and a leg for channels that no one is going to watch. The article states that the cost per channel has dropped…whoop dee freaking doo. When the cable companies give me more channels that i actually care about, then I’ll care about that number.

I think what needs to happen is cable companies need to start charging consumers for the channels they want to watch. I understand needing to charge an initial flat monthly fee for adminstration and delivering a signal to the residence, but after that, I would be more than willing to pay $1.00 per channel per month if I could pick the channels. As it is, the cable company charges $15-$20 on top of the base fee to deliver 50 extra channels to consumers that will likely never watch them.

Oh, and maybe the cable companies could offer a choice: you could have the current setup, or pay per channel. But no…cable companies can’t continue reaming consumers if this took place. ARRRGH!!! just makes me sick….

Whoa….long entry. Last thing, short and sweet. I’m beginning to play around with gentoo linux, and linux in general. Gentoo is very cool. Here’s an obligatory link to their site. The install is a lot more hands on than redhat or mandrake, which makes you learn more. very cool….

No Comments

Well, this past weekend was extremely long, and actually quite relaxing. I suppose that’s why I didn’t get around to throwing another entry on here until this morning. Oh well, the blog will live on. I’m working on getting an archives page going so I don’t have the whole blog on one page. Of course, this will only become an issue when I have that many entries (which is not now)…

I read the coolest book over the weekend, called The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Such a great thriller/mystery/supense book, I can’t say enough about it. Go read this book. I was especially intrigued by the number PHI (1.618 for anyone who doesn’t know it). Also called the Divine Proportion, and just in general a very cool number.

I hope that everyone’s fourth of july was fun and exciting. No one I know got their hands blown off or anything, so this is a good thing. However, some immature idiots in my apartment complex think that it’s fun to light firecrackers off on Monday morning at 3:00 AM. Ummm, the 4th of july was nearly three days ago, it’s 3:00 AM Monday morning, and I have to work in the morning!!! All I can say is grow up…

I really have to get my butt moving on my M$ certs and this distance ed course I’m taking. Oh, and I still have to comment the code for the blog, along with some of the rest of my site. Hopefully I can get some of all these things done this week…

No Comments

Well, I have quite a bit to write about today. I’ve read a couple really cool articles and played a neat game over the past couple days. So, here we go…

The first article is about the content that you should put on your website. I found it on A List Apart, and the article title is 10 Tips on Writing the Living Web. It talks about how you should have a consistent update, unique features, etc etc etc. I’m thinking a lot about all these things, so if you have any ideas or suggestions for me, let me know.

The second article is one about making a home network, and I originally found it linked on Slashdot. The actual site it pulls from is Tom’s Hardware, here’s the actual article. It goes through nearly everything that needs to be done to get a home network installed. I was practically drooling over the final setup. Very cool…

The game I found was linked from fazed.net, and it’s called Defend Your Castle. So addicting, it’s not fair. I’m up to something like level 35, and have a score in the millions. I don’t even really have to play the game anymore, i just sit back and watch the attackers get slaughtered. :-)

Off to get my hair cut now, so see you all later…

No Comments