Back on Dec 1 I mentioned the rift between linuxgazette.net and linuxgazette.net - basically SSC (who hosted the linuxgazette.com site for years) is trying to take over the site content, copyrights and all, so the original founders and most of the contributors moved to the .net site. In that Dec 1 blog entry, I posted links to several pages on the .com side that showed the reactions of the public and documented the lack of care of SSC. Now, most of those links are either neutered (no more comments allowed) or the comments have been deleted completely. They have closed down the forums as well.

Bye-bye, Forums

They are apparently hoping that if they hide the public reaction, then post something positive, that people will stop caring and just accept the changes.

I again suggest that everyone bookmark the new site at The REAL Linux Gazette, and if you wish to, cancel subscriptions to the Linux Journal, as well as tell all of your linux friends about it.

posted by MikeM at 4:14 PM    

 
Merry Belated Christmas!

Didn't get a chance to post for the past few days - been traveling and such.

Got to see my mother and father and all of the other family members I haven't seen in a long time! I have 2nd cousins that have gotten married & had children since I last saw them - 4 years or so ago. Glad to see everyone is doing well.

Today I visit with some old friends I haven't seen for a while, relax and eat and talk computers!

I've been doing a fair bit of computer work over the holiday - complete check of Mom's system, remove ad-aware, install pest-patrol - update same. Patch & update Windows ME and MSIE as far as I could, manually remove gator and a few other undesireable programs that crept in (and that ad-aware missed, of course), and otherwise clean it up and get it back into top shape. I also checked out Dad's new computer - it was basically clean, and since he won't need the modem/internet connection, all I did was hook up a new printer and set up a document for his address labels. Happy all around.

Grandma got a new marble mouse, so I hooked it up and it just started working - XP isn't ALL bad. (But I still don't want it on my machine...)

Mom got a new all-in-one printer/copier/scanner - HP psc 1110 - worked like a champ - the software just installed correctly with no problems, and this on an ME system. $68 - I may have to look into that myself.

I got to play a little bit of Black Mirror when left to my own devices, and so far it is similiar to Syberia, decent graphics, plot seems OK, and reminiscent of Phantasmagoria in that it is an old house/mansion with a history and evil lurks, etc. I love that sort of thing.

More tomorrow, perhaps!
posted by MikeM at 12:44 PM    

 
here's an older link to a blog entry called Microsoft Officescam 2003. This fellow is talking about Microsoft's new Office package, and why they are spending so much money trying to push it onto us. Makes me want to convert to linux completely...

Of course, until Linux can emulate DirectX 9.1 well enough to run my various games on, I'll be using Windows 2000. :)
posted by MikeM at 10:40 AM    

 
Saturday we had Brian and his lovely wife Marsha over for dinner and a movie - Scrooged. Christmas classic - Patty & I watch it several times a year. Brian and Marsha are great - and even Maggie & Toby liked them! Once I think Toby had about enough of these very tall males around him, but he behaved himself and we gave him some space to relax. Overall - a great time was had by all!

We had a lovely ham, which was finished off Sunday night while watching the extended version of Terminator 2 - this version has 16 minutes of footage never shown in theatres - some of them were quite good, and I can't see why they would cut them. 16 minutes isn't a long time, and one scene (where they extract the T-101's CPU, enable learning mode, and reinstall it) was crucial to a better understanding of later comments, and yet was cut. *sigh*
posted by MikeM at 9:51 PM    

 
Tonight we went food shopping - went out for a few simple ingredients and came home with a cart full - figured while we were out, we may as well stock up on a few essentials!

Then we worked out again - I started some leg work as well. Nice Weider machine has been sitting in the purple room for years now, unused for the most part. Now we will be using it three times a week. Hopefully, I can get into shape within a few months, and maybe lose some weight at the same time - get rid of my spare tire.



Tomorrow we have friends coming over for dinner, so tomorrow morning is cleanup time! We get to make the house look like a house once more - means every room needs to be touched - at least to tidy the piles. :)
posted by MikeM at 11:03 PM    

 
Wednesday night I had a big bowl of ice cream - finished the container, actually. Then added a lot of chocolate syrup - finished that container as well. Mixed it up a bit, took a great big bite.

Howled so as to alarm the dogs and tried not to pound the table too hard.

You see, Tuesday I went to the dentist, remember? She said 'It was pretty close to the nerve, so that tooth will be a bit sensitive for a few days.'

Understatement. I had felt a bit of discomfort when drinking ice cold beverages and the like, but nothing like this. Apparently ice cream is so much colder, and lasts so much longer, that it had QUITE an effect.

But my problem now was that this was the last of the ice cream. and the last of the chocolate syrup! I HAD to eat it! So, I took a drink of my cold soda - let it linger on the tooth until it stopped throbbing, then did it again, then added some ice cream.

With a few minutes of self-inflicted pain, I desensitized the tooth enough to finish off the ice cream. How wrong is that?!?
posted by MikeM at 10:58 PM    

 
It turns out that I was mistaken about the DVD set of the Two Towers - the 4-DVD set has completely different special features from the 2 DVD set. Wow. I have a lot of watching to do!

One thing that I wish had been duplicated is "Gollum's Song" - it isn't on the 4-DVD set at all! The horror! Now I have to go buy the other one too. Evil merchandiserssss. I hates them! I hates them forever!
posted by MikeM at 6:59 PM    

 
Yahoo! News - Krispy Kreme Lights Up Hot Doughnuts Sign in Rockville. WOOHOO!
posted by MikeM at 5:54 PM    

 
Just got home from the dentist - numbed up and dreading the next 24 hours. I usually have some sort of reaction to the anaesthetic - basically just feel like crap for a bit. It will pass.

Hockey is on tonight - one of my new passions! Well, passion is a bit strong. Let's just say I like it, and I'll watch it instead of the standard sitcoms and such that are the alternative.
posted by MikeM at 5:42 PM    

 
Gollum's Song Lyrics - the melody is slow and haunting...
posted by MikeM at 4:29 PM    

 
We finally have the tree up and fully decorated, all of the miscellaneous christmas decorations unboxed and set in their rightful places, a couple of green rope trees outside and a couple of brightly-lit animated deer to set them off. Enough electricity being spent outside to cook a few dinners, but what the heck - it's Christmas!

I got all of Patty's presents wrapped and under the tree, she has most of mine wrapped, and we have even opened up a few of them. I know. Aren't we terrible!? Such fun! Why, we occasionally go out to dinner and get dessert first! Makes the young kids seated nearby ask awkward questions of their parents. ;)

One of mine was the Extended Version of the Two Towers - and we watched that Saturday - took about 4 hrs with breaks and food and such. Awesome movie, and far better than the theatre version. I know, 4 hrs in a theatre is NOT going to happen. But they could have a 15-min intermission at the halfway point - and find some way to guarantee everyone gets the same seat back again. heh.

The special features and such are identical to the old DVD - the only difference between the original DVD set and this new extended DVD set is the movie itself - the new DVD set has all of the cut bits back in the movie - and it is awesome!

As far as the special features go - I particularly like the video of "Gollum's Song". Haunting - Patty said it was depressing, and that I couldn't play it anymore. :)
posted by MikeM at 6:19 AM    

 
If you want a no-frills, stable, basic linux system, Slackware is the champ. Not for beginners, however - very little in the way of bells & whistles. Here is a great Slackware Installation Guide and Review, for those who may be interested.
posted by MikeM at 9:34 AM    

 
Well, it rained yesterday and last night, WOW did it rain. And melted all the snow. Created a pond in the backyard, which flowed oh so gently along the foundation and to the corner of the house where I dug that trench and installed a nice 4" drainpipe. Which worked, as far as that goes.

Yes, folks, the flood this time was not from that corner backing up over the level of the foundation.

This time it came from the other corner, apparently where the slope of the ground along the other side of the house guides the water into the foundation. *sigh*

I don't think I can fix that part. We tried with landscaping, had them pile dirt, etc - and re-grade away from the house. Didn't work. Woke up at 1:30 to the dulcet tones of the water alarm (cheap little portable box, I keep the wires dangling into the floor register in the sunken den) which let me know that water was in the floor vents again. While it did not come up through the vents to flood the room, as I have seen before, there was definitely a watery presence - the floor was about 50% covered by water which came in at the concrete/wall junction. I think we may have a serious problem here.

I'm thinking we need to have the floor vents completely filled in, dig french drains along two sides of the house, and build a new vent system for the 1st floor. Ah well. Hopefully someone more of an expert can tell us more.
posted by MikeM at 8:16 AM    

 
I may have posted this before - but this is a great site to start the day with. A new picture every day, most of which are unique and fantastic. Astronomy Picture of the Day
posted by MikeM at 3:13 PM    

 
Well, another asteroid went between Earth and the Moon, and was detected after it passed us...

Orbit Simulation Has a nice little orbital simulator to play with. Run it past this weekend and see how close it was.

Then run it forward by days, and check out what could happen to Venus on May 20, 2005; or Mercury on June 15, 2005; or Earth once more on Sept 5, 2011. Then 2021 looks bad for us as well. This asteroid is a busy little guy - threatening us fairly often. This is only ONE asteroid being watched, there are over 500 known ones that are this close, and of those, 6 are expected to pass within 5 Lunar Distances in the next 10 years.

Since the website I originally got this from has dropped the story, here it is again:
ASTEROID FLYBY: Newly-discovered asteroid 2003 XJ7 flew past Earth on Dec. 6th only 150,000 km away (less than half the distance to the Moon). At closest approach, the 20-meter wide space rock was about as bright as a 13th magnitude star and an easy target for backyard telescopes.
posted by MikeM at 11:43 AM    

 
The new issue of Linux Gazette is out, #97 (the REAL Linux Gazette, at linuxgazette.net), and there is a very good article that further explains the issues and how SSC is attempting to bully and strongarm the .net folks, even to the point of trying to hijack their new domain name! Recent Events, and Trademark Actions by SSC, Inc. LG #97
posted by MikeM at 10:37 AM    

 
Stupid Criminal Files... Yahoo! News - Cop Impersonator Pulls Over State Trooper
posted by MikeM at 9:56 AM    

 
Well, this is funny, if nothing else.Not All Americans Are Stupid Quiz. I scored 16.
posted by MikeM at 1:32 PM    

 
Another article on the SSC vs LinuxGazette issue. Apparently SSC has issued a formal claim to the trademark and a cease-and-desist order to the linuxgazette.net folks. Damn shame - I was hoping SSC would doo the right thing. It's not like the linuzgazette is a money-maker for them - seems kinda silly to make all this trouble over a volunteer-run free magazine. Anyways, here is the link to the story : LWN: Will the real Linuxgazette please stand up
posted by MikeM at 7:16 PM    

 
Guess what? A Quantum Bigfoot IDE drive will not fit into the 5.25" drive slots of a Dell 500SC chassis. At least, not and have the front panel cover on. Screwing in the drive means that about 1/4" protrudes from the front, making it about even with the faceplate of the cd-rom. *sigh*

I just have it set inside for now.

Also, the Bigfoot drive causes a 'drive operating outside normal parameters' error on boot with the Dell. I think the Dell SmartDrive circuitry cannot detect the bigfoot - after all, we are talking fairly old tech with that drive. Several years old. I think the Dell simply cannot deal with the Bigfoot and thinks it is failing, when it is actually perfectly fine. ignoring the error every boot is a pain, but it formatted fine - no bad sectors at all.
posted by MikeM at 7:11 PM    

 
Wow. Just shoveled the driveway. Got about 25% of it earlier, and now got it all done except about 10% near the bottom and to the left. Room for one lane in, and then it widens so we can get to both sides of the garage. Good enough. I hate snow. I then came in the house, shed shoes and coat, and lay down in the floor while two cocker spaniels licked me until I moved. Took a while.

This snow is that heavy wet stuff that weighs a ton and snowblowers just can't move. Now, to my second hot bowl of grape-nuts today. Yum - good energy food! Tonight, meatloaf!
posted by MikeM at 4:21 PM    

 
Wow - we have 3" of snow on the ground and it keeps alternating with sleet and freezing rain. Lovely. I might end up taking today as a sanity/safety day, being an abject coward when it comes to ice on the roads.

We were supposed to go to a play last night - O'Henry's "Gifts of the Magi" - but we didn't go due to the snow. Hopefully we can attend another night - but they couldn't guarantee us seats. Ah well.

Perhaps I'll spend today on Rasputin - gotta yank the SCSI and put in IDE drives instead.
posted by MikeM at 8:54 AM    

 
A large part of yesterday was spent updating a very old Win NT 4.0 server to a reasonable level of patch-ness. It took over ten reboots to get everything patched, and that was just from the Windows Update site. Then we had to figure out why Norton Anti-Virus wasn't working, and fix it as well. We still don't know how, but it was manually turned off. If I catch the culprit... Well, it wouldn't be pretty. Anyway - fully patched & scanned & ready to go.

The rest of yesterday was spent at home, updating Patty's website. She has spent the last few days making chocolate things and not letting me have any. Pictures, pricing, etc on the website. She just re-stocked with chocolate, so let the orders flow!
posted by MikeM at 7:38 AM    

 
And still more!

LWN: The Linux Gazette forks

The Rick Moen article is a good one - history of the problem.
posted by MikeM at 10:49 AM    

 
More info on the Linux Gazette issue : LWN: Linux Gazette
posted by MikeM at 10:18 AM    

 
Gentle readers, I present a story about yet another big name company that is pushing around the little guys, claiming trademark on someone else's work, and generally being unpleasant. The Linux Gazette is a great little monthly magazine that started up several years ago. They eventually began working with SSC, who publish the Linux Journal, among other things, and the LG folks were happy for a few years being hosted by SSC.

Recently, SSC decided to implement a major change in Linux Gazette, and converted the monthly magazine to yet another public forum, like Slashdot or wiki. They did this pre-emptively and without getting permission or input from the owners and editors or Linux Gazette, who were somewhat upset, to put it mildly. The owners moved their content more or less intact to another website, the one mentioned above - the Linux Gazette.

Here is the simplified version from the editors themselves.

More information on this travesty can be found at :

The publisher's comments
Replies to the publisher's comments
Forum: Anyone prefer the old site?
Forum: New Site


As a result of this issue, I have CANCELLED my subscription to Linux Journal, and no longer subscribe to any SSC publications. I urge all of you that currently get Linux Journal to cancel as well, if you feel as I do.
posted by MikeM at 6:43 AM    

 
We had a nice Thanksgiving and a relaxing weekend - what more could you ask for?

We drove to New Jersey Thursday morning to have Thanksgiving with Patty's mom, visited with all her kin up there, came back Saturday evening, spend a quiet evening at home, then went to see 'Love, Actually' yesterday. Good movie - funny/sad/dramatic all at the same time. Definite chick flick, but still worth watching with your significant other.
posted by MikeM at 6:38 AM