Okay, so the release of Fedora got pushed back... probably doesn't matter to anyone, since lots of people who care are running rawhide anyway. Everyone else is probably still running Ubuntu. Heh.
Anyway, I'm still psyched, because the tools in the distro let you make a live USB stick. The details are in the wiki, but since I can't remember the command line tools, and don't have the Windows tools at my disposal (they really need a graphic utility for this on Fedora) I just do a google search for Max Spevack's old article I am Fedora, and so can you!.
USB persistence for the live images is awesome, but I only use a couple of 1 GB sticks, so it isn't that important to me. I still burn and print CD/DVD media anyway.
So, I torrented the x86_64 and i686 live images, and I guess I'll do a wipe and install. For some reason, the upgrade doesn't appeal to me at the moment. Probably something to do with F-spot not starting. and the fact that I never got that Prerlease feature working...
Friday, April 18, 2008
writers block
I think I may have discovered why I don't write as often as I like (besides the fact that blogging at work isn't appropriate for me). I think that a blog post needs to be some major production... as if there needs to be a picture and a long description.
I think random, short posts about what is going on, or what happened each day is probably better. I'll blame Kacie. She inspired me, but man, her posts about her family are pretty hard-core... in a good way, totally.
So, today, I talked to my mom on the phone. I had to confirm her zipcode, because I can never remember. I sent out some framed pictures (from christmas) and a couple of DVDs full of digital pictures (completely unsorted, dupilcates, some she won't care about, etc.)
I guess that means that I need to get on the ball and start organizing my photos. I plan on using F-Spot. But, in a panic, I thought I lost the DVDs that I had already made, so I started to try to at least eliminate duplicates to get the files down to one DVD. GQView worked awesome for that. Then I found the DVD's and shipped it off. Unfortunately, I used a Flat-Rate USPS box, so I probably spent an extra $5.00 sending it. Oh well.
There we go... one post done... tagged up, and ready to roll out.
I think random, short posts about what is going on, or what happened each day is probably better. I'll blame Kacie. She inspired me, but man, her posts about her family are pretty hard-core... in a good way, totally.
So, today, I talked to my mom on the phone. I had to confirm her zipcode, because I can never remember. I sent out some framed pictures (from christmas) and a couple of DVDs full of digital pictures (completely unsorted, dupilcates, some she won't care about, etc.)
I guess that means that I need to get on the ball and start organizing my photos. I plan on using F-Spot. But, in a panic, I thought I lost the DVDs that I had already made, so I started to try to at least eliminate duplicates to get the files down to one DVD. GQView worked awesome for that. Then I found the DVD's and shipped it off. Unfortunately, I used a Flat-Rate USPS box, so I probably spent an extra $5.00 sending it. Oh well.
There we go... one post done... tagged up, and ready to roll out.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Media Center Madness - Part Infinity
So, I got rid of my fast Socket P4 chips for cash, or donated them to family members. My two 3.0 chips are gone. My 2.8 GHz chip is gone. My 2.53 GHz chip is with my sister-in-law, leaving me with a 2.0 GHz, 1.5 GHz, and a 2.30 GHz Celeron. What am I going to do now?
I also sold the motherboard I used with an AMD Athlon 3000+ to a friend Meatloaf, who's media center motherboard died. I took the two 1 GB sticks of RAM in there and donated them to my mom-in-law, who's computer is "slow". (Athlon XP 1800+ @ 1.53 GHz w/1 GB RAM and Windows XP, and a ton of startup programs. *Then* I deleted some extra cruft from her startup programs. Hope that helps!) I really don't know what I'm going to do with the 3000+, but if I find a motherboard, I think I'll upgrade her computer with that.
I got an ATI X300SE PCI express video card with passive cooling and DVI/VGA/composite ports. Traded my old PCI FX 5200 for it to Fodeesha. He also had a 8400GS PCIe card with DVI/HDMI/S-Video ports. I plan on using that for something HTPC-related, for sure. I snagged that for a stick of RAM.
I did snag an AMD BE-2300 chip, from my friend, ScootZilla, because his motherboard died, and I have a few sticks of DDR 2. Natrually, I'm thinking about building a 780G-based media center PC with that. A NewEgg search for "AM2 HDMI" lead me to this full-size ECS A780GM-A Motherboard. I might take a chance with it.
I also picked up a couple of Vista MCE remotes at Fry's, after returning a remote that didn't really meet my needs. Thinking I really got violated by buying locally, I was pleased the SIIG CE-000022-S1 Vista Infrared MCE Remote for $12.00 more on NewEgg. Hopefully, I'll get a box set up to test this thing out soon. It should compliment the Media Center Keyboards that I have as well.
If I go with that full-size motherboard, then I'll need to choose an appropriate case. I'm still pretty torn about that. I have a hard time justifying $200 on something, but you certainly can't have a beige tower sitting next to the TV. Cutting mATX out of the equation should at least narrow the choices down... maybe I can get a case tall enough to accommodate my Scythe Ninja tower and run it totally passive, which would rock.
I also sold the motherboard I used with an AMD Athlon 3000+ to a friend Meatloaf, who's media center motherboard died. I took the two 1 GB sticks of RAM in there and donated them to my mom-in-law, who's computer is "slow". (Athlon XP 1800+ @ 1.53 GHz w/1 GB RAM and Windows XP, and a ton of startup programs. *Then* I deleted some extra cruft from her startup programs. Hope that helps!) I really don't know what I'm going to do with the 3000+, but if I find a motherboard, I think I'll upgrade her computer with that.
I got an ATI X300SE PCI express video card with passive cooling and DVI/VGA/composite ports. Traded my old PCI FX 5200 for it to Fodeesha. He also had a 8400GS PCIe card with DVI/HDMI/S-Video ports. I plan on using that for something HTPC-related, for sure. I snagged that for a stick of RAM.
I did snag an AMD BE-2300 chip, from my friend, ScootZilla, because his motherboard died, and I have a few sticks of DDR 2. Natrually, I'm thinking about building a 780G-based media center PC with that. A NewEgg search for "AM2 HDMI" lead me to this full-size ECS A780GM-A Motherboard. I might take a chance with it.
I also picked up a couple of Vista MCE remotes at Fry's, after returning a remote that didn't really meet my needs. Thinking I really got violated by buying locally, I was pleased the SIIG CE-000022-S1 Vista Infrared MCE Remote for $12.00 more on NewEgg. Hopefully, I'll get a box set up to test this thing out soon. It should compliment the Media Center Keyboards that I have as well.
If I go with that full-size motherboard, then I'll need to choose an appropriate case. I'm still pretty torn about that. I have a hard time justifying $200 on something, but you certainly can't have a beige tower sitting next to the TV. Cutting mATX out of the equation should at least narrow the choices down... maybe I can get a case tall enough to accommodate my Scythe Ninja tower and run it totally passive, which would rock.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Blogging... for serious, mate.
Wow, having a blog is hard work, for serious. My wife started a blog, and asked me about it. Then my friend Nuno IMs me, asks how my family is doing and then wondered if I had any pictures. My mom has been asking for more pictures of the kids, and I'm not doing my job well enough on that. Then my wife really needs a way to get the pictures she's taking for her weight loss organized and online.
So... I think it's time to make a formal commitment to my blog, and get my digital pictures up and organized. I'm going to stick with LIveJournal, and probably pay to get rid of ads. I'm also going to start using my enhanced Flickr account, that I get for being an AT&T Yahoo! DSL subscriber.
I burned a couple of DVDs to send to my mom, since her Internet situation is spotty, and she should be able to grab those pictures and be inspired and use them in her poetry. We also have some framed pictures to send her as well. Soon, we're going to have to go out and visit too.
Here's to a more regular schedule of updates, and installing more tools on my phone and computer to get content posted. Don't worry, I'll still post up sexy pictures of my computer hardware adventures, as well as those wonderful kids too. It won't all be little posts about my blog, and what I decided to do about it. I was telling Kacie Weldy the other day... "I just have a blog so that I can use it to test out blogging tools, I don't really use it."
So... I think it's time to make a formal commitment to my blog, and get my digital pictures up and organized. I'm going to stick with LIveJournal, and probably pay to get rid of ads. I'm also going to start using my enhanced Flickr account, that I get for being an AT&T Yahoo! DSL subscriber.
I burned a couple of DVDs to send to my mom, since her Internet situation is spotty, and she should be able to grab those pictures and be inspired and use them in her poetry. We also have some framed pictures to send her as well. Soon, we're going to have to go out and visit too.
Here's to a more regular schedule of updates, and installing more tools on my phone and computer to get content posted. Don't worry, I'll still post up sexy pictures of my computer hardware adventures, as well as those wonderful kids too. It won't all be little posts about my blog, and what I decided to do about it. I was telling Kacie Weldy the other day... "I just have a blog so that I can use it to test out blogging tools, I don't really use it."
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
LogJam Test
Well, my wife started a blog based on her weight-loss surgery, so I figured I should get back into my blog too.
For some reason, I think using a blog client is better than just logging into the web site and posting. GnomeBlog worked, and now I’m going to try out LogJam. A quick “yum install logjam” on Fedora got me here to this post.
Regarding the media center. I’ve certainly not made much progress. I did put a 250 GB SATA drive and a SATA DVD+/-RW drive into my Antec Minuet 350, along with a USB card reader, and “mounted” it vertically next to the 30-inch HDTV in our bedroom. It’s got a socket 939 Athlon 64 3000+ and 512 MB of RAM, and it is half-height. I could add a couple of tuners and a remote and upgrade the RAM and I should be set.
I tried the ClarkConnect home server idea I had, and totally failed. I couldn’t get my machines to log in to configure the server. I was doing 10 other things at the same time, so I probably missed something trivial. However, the Airlink 101 625 Wireless N router passed the “download a bunch of torrents and not die” test. So, I guess it can stay. I wish it were gigabit, but I suppose this will do, since I didn’t spend any money on this one. I do need to get it tidy and mounted under my desk though, while my kids are away with my wife’s dad and his girlfriend.
Oh, and since I’m just randomly posting... I think I’m going to stick with LiveJournal and upgrade to a Paid account. There’s been some recent controversial stuff with the sale and the elimination of the “Basic” account. I just have to decide where I’m going to host my pictures...
For some reason, I think using a blog client is better than just logging into the web site and posting. GnomeBlog worked, and now I’m going to try out LogJam. A quick “yum install logjam” on Fedora got me here to this post.
Regarding the media center. I’ve certainly not made much progress. I did put a 250 GB SATA drive and a SATA DVD+/-RW drive into my Antec Minuet 350, along with a USB card reader, and “mounted” it vertically next to the 30-inch HDTV in our bedroom. It’s got a socket 939 Athlon 64 3000+ and 512 MB of RAM, and it is half-height. I could add a couple of tuners and a remote and upgrade the RAM and I should be set.
I tried the ClarkConnect home server idea I had, and totally failed. I couldn’t get my machines to log in to configure the server. I was doing 10 other things at the same time, so I probably missed something trivial. However, the Airlink 101 625 Wireless N router passed the “download a bunch of torrents and not die” test. So, I guess it can stay. I wish it were gigabit, but I suppose this will do, since I didn’t spend any money on this one. I do need to get it tidy and mounted under my desk though, while my kids are away with my wife’s dad and his girlfriend.
Oh, and since I’m just randomly posting... I think I’m going to stick with LiveJournal and upgrade to a Paid account. There’s been some recent controversial stuff with the sale and the elimination of the “Basic” account. I just have to decide where I’m going to host my pictures...
Saturday, March 8, 2008
And we're back in 5...4...3...2...1
It has been quite some time since my last post. I sincerely doubt I have a legion of dedicated readers, but I'll apologize to anyone who was wondering what happened.
LiveJournal has been sold to another group, but my site is still here, so I guess I'll keep using it. I haven't decided if I'll go back to WordPress or if I'll even bother keeping up this little journal. Perhaps, I will at least find it therapeutic. Work and life have been way too busy for me to keep up, and I'm making some changes with both.
The media center... I finally picked up an Antec Minuet 350 and I got a FoxConn mATX motherboard with 4 SATA ports and DVI out. I'm going to find some half-height or USB HDTV tuners and a remote and get started on that. Analog TV expires in less than a year, I got to get on this. I'll probably just go with Vista and use the Media Center Keyboard and use a remote that works with it. I can't seem to get my heart into the whole Linux freedom bit with my TV. We've been so happy with a TiVo, which isn't "Free" as in freedom, but does use Linux. I dunno, there might be home for me yet.
Right now, I need to get some tuners, and an OEM 3-pack of Vista or something, and some video cards for my PC. Time to sell more old stuff!
LiveJournal has been sold to another group, but my site is still here, so I guess I'll keep using it. I haven't decided if I'll go back to WordPress or if I'll even bother keeping up this little journal. Perhaps, I will at least find it therapeutic. Work and life have been way too busy for me to keep up, and I'm making some changes with both.
The media center... I finally picked up an Antec Minuet 350 and I got a FoxConn mATX motherboard with 4 SATA ports and DVI out. I'm going to find some half-height or USB HDTV tuners and a remote and get started on that. Analog TV expires in less than a year, I got to get on this. I'll probably just go with Vista and use the Media Center Keyboard and use a remote that works with it. I can't seem to get my heart into the whole Linux freedom bit with my TV. We've been so happy with a TiVo, which isn't "Free" as in freedom, but does use Linux. I dunno, there might be home for me yet.
Right now, I need to get some tuners, and an OEM 3-pack of Vista or something, and some video cards for my PC. Time to sell more old stuff!
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