Actually Goodbye

Well, I've grown so attached to this machine that I had to make one more post before SHUTDOWN. I'm going to be away from technology, and you know how hard it is, letting go and everything...

Typewriter, Typewriter

Typewriter is the longest word in English typed only with the top row of keys. I had to share that.

With that, here's a strange poem involving this concept:

Only the top row

two petri typewriter writeup

Only the left hand

gassed were ed; fred were sad

Only the middle row

glad gas, salad lad's gal

Only the right hand

pin yip: kill

Only the bottom row

mxCCC

Reminiscent of my childhood, this ditty reminds me of the foolishness within us. And our computers. (yes, there is a secret in the last line)

Long Exposure Times

I've been playing around with long exposure times, enjoy.

foobar2000 review

Developers, this is how you kick ass:

Foobar2000 is the best piece of software since the launch of Apple Lisa. In short, it's a music player. In longer-than-short, it's the Firefox of media players. I know, that's what Songbird is supposed to be, but, let's face it, Songbird is the biggest failure since the invention of the steam turbine. Foobar offers the ultimate in customization, sound quality (gapless ftw) and equalizability. The 18 (?) band EQ is pretty kickass, allowing even amazing-er sound quality. Customizable hotkeys, with the ability to set them as global, rounds out the experience.

That said, Foobar is not easy to use. It is, in fact, very difficult to use and even harder to customize. It doesn't do syncing for MTP devices, but the library feature works great. For brevity's sake, I will truncate this review and say that it's a definite thing to try and see if you like it. If you need device syncing, get something else.* Overall rating: 936/987 stars. Could be easier to use for the old folks, but otherwise has solid features, great codec support, and customizability aplenty. Awesome software. Bookmark http://www.foobar2000.org/ now.

*Do not get MediaMonkey. MediaMonkey see, MediaMonkey bog down system resources and crash.

Crunchbang puts the L back in Linux...

...which is a double pun. Not only does LINUX stand for "LINUX Is Not UniX" ( = recursive on the L) but by "L" I meant "Life." Either way, this is a distro I can live with. Though it does not support the old-school graphics card on my craptop, nothing does, so no worries. Crunchbang uses Openbox + tint2 for an extremely lightweight (xfce status, people) experience that almost works with only 128MB of RAM. It isn't designed by the maniacs behind other distros who think that every goddamn package has to be open-source. This means that the app suite is actually kind of useful, including stuff like Skype, AbiWord (buggy as hell) and some random terminal apps. (Yes, ABW is open-source.) The web browser is Firefox, not crap like Iceweasel.


My review of Crunchbang would be something like 469/472 stars. Highly recommended distro, it's based off of Ubuntu Minimal which gives it that easy-to-install-ness and is fairly user friendly. For those seeking to convert from Windows, Fedora or Ubuntu might be a better choice, however, I would not leave out Crunchbang.

Waiting, Podcasts, and Polyhedra

Considering how long it has been since I've posted, I wandered over to my "Edit Posts" section to see all my rantings. I haven't posted since February. So here's a little post for the heck of it.

I've recently discovered this strange thing called podcasts. Just because I can, I'll list some of my favorites:

PC World - it's funny in that weird nerdy kind of way
The Linux Experiment - crazy dedication to trying to use Linux
And others.

Polyhedra - if you are ever bored, ever, then go to this website. This guy has made PDFs that you print, cut out, fold, and tape/glue to make 3-D shapes. Like the truncated icosahedron (soccer ball), dodecahedron, snub cube, and truncated hexagonal antiprism. It's addicting - trust me. I'm through two tape rolls and counting.

Timelapse Fish

I switched to Vimeo.


Timelapse Fish from Max K.

PSP Internet Review

2 reviews in a row! This time, I'll be complimenting the PSP's
NetFront internet browser. First, I'll mention everything I like about
it. Then, I'll go over some common criticism it recieves and shut it
down.

My #1 favorite thing about it is features. The PSP can do more than IE
and as much as much as Firefox, with great stuff like bookmarks and
tabs. Attaching to a network is easy and fast, thanks to the ability
to save configurations.

There are also a few common complaints I'd like to adress:

"Most sites aren't compatible."

That's an overstatement. Probably 60% of all sites work fine on the PSP. Of the remaining 40%, 50% have "mobile"  versions that work great. So, 80% of sites are compatible.

"YouTube doesn't work."

Not with the normal browser, but you can install PSPTube (Google it) which works great.

"Text entry sucks."

Text entry is like on a phone, so you'd press "6" three times to type "m." However, for the nitpickety, you can switch to a plain numpad, a full QWERTY keyboard, or a symbols pad. A touch screen would help, but I typed this whole post up to the start of the complaints on my PSP. Then, I reached the maximum amount of characters it would allow. "Text entry sucks" probably is the most true complaint there is.

All in all, the PSP makes a great web browser for on-the-go, but if you can use a computer, I recommend that.

DVD Flick Review

Note how this is not a rant, but a review. DVD Flick is a free and open source DVD creator, if that's the correct term. Basically, it lets you put a bunch of clips together, save them as a DVD Flick project file (.dfproj) and burn them to a DVD using open-source ImgBurn. Or, for the more advanced user, it will create .iso files to be burned with any ISO burner (I like ActiveISO). But the interface itself is incredibly easy to use. Most software has a toolbar at the very top with options like File, Edit, View, and so on. DVD Flick has just 9 big buttons. Although this may sound like an app for 3 year-olds, the settings menu has a lot of advanced features, like creating ISOs, verifying disks, and more. Plus, when it's burning, you'll see a button: [Entertain me.] This brings up a very nice version of Tetris to amuse your soul, probably the nicest download version you can get.

LilyPond Rant

I love ranting. The other night, I was looking for some kind of free musical notation program, like Finale Notepad, but free. I googled it and came across LilyPond. It advertises itself with a warm (and false) slogan: "LilyPond...music notation for everyone." There are two things wrong it this statement. The first one is that it is music notation software. In reality, it is a program that allows one to print out sheet music which can be downloaded from their library. And by the way: "There are now 313 pieces of music avaliable!" In case you didn't catch it, that's nothing. That's only 28% of everything Bach ever wrote or half of all of Mozart's songs. But all that is naught compared to the true lie: "...music notation for everyone." After I downloaded it, it took well over 20 minutes just to install. This must be a nice application, or very graphically based, I think. So I open the folder I installed it to and I can't even find the app itself! I had to look online to find out that it was is ...usr\bin, buried amongst 50 or so .dll files. I open it up and...no GUI! The f***ing app that advertises itself as "...for everyone" has a command line interface! I promptly uninstalled it, a process which took 15-20 minutes. And even still, it didn't even delete anything. I deleted the folder myself, which took more like 15 or 20 seconds.

VLC Rant

I love VLC. It's the best cross-platform media player out there. Except, it sucks on Linux. If you don't have internet, then you can't get it. I know, duh. But what I'm saying is that you have to have internet on the computer you want to install it on. I want to put it on my pitiful laptop that doesn't get internet in order to play DVDs. Yes, it has a DVD drive. On the site, they have no downloadable versions, just how to tell the computer to go fetch it. Not even a URL. I'm in the forums (help if you can) but it could take a while.

I'll Tell You Why

There's a reason for everything. My not having posted in a while: I'll tell you why. Windows. These problems have yet to go away. Not that I'm surprised, or anything. And, the Dow is at it's lowest since '03. Right now, it looks like it's at 7552.29. And guess what: I'll tell you why. Windows. You see, Microsoft is in the NASDAQ, with pretty good stocks along with Apple. So what does the Dow have? Dowels. Bad pun. But still. And we all know that most car crashes are caused by younger people. I'll tell you why: (surprise!) Mac. You see, it works like this. College kids tend to get Macs more that old people, because they are smart. Sort of. They have awesome Macs, so they make some awesome home videos and show them to their friends. Their friends like them, so they decide to submit it to the movies. But, since they use Macs, they are obviously more educated, so they search for a way to stream their video to a bigger audience. And, with a Mac, they can get around the internet faster, so they do not grow impatient in their search and find instructions and software to help them hack into NASA's satellites. They then find directions on how to construct an ultra-powerful projector. Once they are done, they wait for a cloudy night. They set up their projector, followed by a pair of speakers directed creatively at an angled Mac Cinema Display, which directs the sound to the world. They start playing the video, both on the sky projector and the Cinema Display, then head to their computer. They tap the satellite, and stream the video to every internet-conncted 'puter in the nation, plus every TV. Meanwhile, John Smith, a really old dude, is driving 30 miles an hour on the freeway, thus slowing down the 927 cars behind him. His vision is distracted for a second, as he sees lights flashing in the sky and monitors lighting up in houses. Faintly, and then louder he begins to hear...the Pokemon theme song! Mr. Smith chuckles to himself, remembering that old show, before he realizes that he's stopped moving. The other cars pile up behind him. One of the radios in another car flies through his back windshield and he hears: On interstate 492 tonight, we have a 928 car collision. Officials are directing traffic onto the other side of the freeway. They have requested us to announce that kids using Macintosh computers for devious purposes are to be shunned.

Linux Rant 2 - What is the World Coming to?

Linux, as I've always thought, is very buggy. I'm trying Ubuntu because it's probably the most reliable, but just downloading it is impossible. I chose my mirror and it started doing 14 Kbps. Fourteen! It said something like 17 hours remaining. So I started over with a new, farther away mirror, and it's pushin' 160 Kbps. But either way, this is the second time I've had to complain about Linux. It's supposed to be awesome! Help!

For once, Windows seems nice

So... to avoid the wrath of Windows lately I've been trying out various other operating systems (it's nice to have a junk laptop that you can do whatever you want with, eh?). So yesterday, I'm cycling through all kinds of Linux distros, trying to find one I like. I started with kUbuntu Hardy Heron, 8.04. It's cool and all, but it doesn't work with wireless internet. And since my laptop has no ethernet port, that doesn't work. Next I try DSL (Damn Small linux, 4.4.8). The scariest part was probably the command line hard disk installation, but I pulled through. I even got the 'net working... for a few hours. Then I spent 2 or three more hours (I was bored, okay?) installing xUbuntu, with Ubuntu's finicky install GUI. So that gets all up and running. I had high hopes for this one, because it already had my WiFi card's drivers and immediately detected our network. I entered the password and it said I was online, with 2 out of 4 bars. But I open Firefox, and it can't connect, despite still having 2 bars. So, I figure, it must be just Firefrox, so I try ping, and (oh, snap!) no response. Software communication failure? I may never know. So today I shift into a new gear: Unix. Not Unix-based Linux, but plain ol' Unix. I go download the "boot only" FreeBSD ISO, burn it with never-failed-me-before Active ISO, pop it in and reboot. I select the kernel and all that, and it starts booting, then prints a peculiar error: "GTX halted." Whatever that means. Which puts me here: all I have to work with is Windows, one blank CD, and an operating system choice.

How to Tell if You're Running Windows

Here are a few ways to tell if you are running Windows:

-Computer has many unpractical names for various applications and components. 

-Computer takes more than 15 minutes to start up.

-Computer uses strange metaphors like "Desktop" and "Menu".

-Computer's "Help and Support Center" has bookmarks.

I invite anyone else to contribute.

Random Realization

I just noticed this and I had to put it somewhere. Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs, and Microsoft's, Steve Ballmer, have the first name. If Linux had a CEO, his name would be Steve Smith. No joke. Oh, and happy Halloween! (I know, Halloween ended 2 hours ago, but still).

When Windows Meets Anything

Brace yourself for another Windows rant. Since we purchased a new, widescreen, 1680 by 1050, 19 inch monitor, everything in Windows has gone down. I'm not much of a gamer myself, although the 2 games I have, Microsoft Flight Simulator X and Sim City Societies, have both ceased to work. FSX died before this transition, but it's still worth mentioning. It worked fine, but now crashes whenever you start a mission. Naturally, I tried reinstalling it on the new monitor, but it just opens a black square. Then, it crashes. Sim City had some graphics related issue once we got this monitor, probably because it was configured for a fullscreen resolution. Reinstalled, and now I get the same "black square of death" from FSX.

I wish I could afford a Mac.

When Mac Meets Windows

Mac is a good operating system. Windows is a mediocre operating system. But if one tries to put a good operating system's programs (hint: iTunes, Quicktime, and Safari) on a mediocre operating system, stuff screws up. iTunes is alright, assuming your fine with RAM crowding, skippy cover flow, and slow syncing. Quicktime is great, provided you never try to play anything. Only Safari can keep its head above water, actually outstriping the speed of Firefox, IE (duh), Opera, and depending on the page contents, even Chrome. If you notice, the comparison tests on Chrome and Safari's sites both don't mention the other browser, because they run neck and neck. The pages I load have lots of images and minimal flash/java, and Safari seems the fastest. For some reason Chrome tends to crash with Youtube. But anyway, I'm straying off topic. These programs that Apple generously made for Windows are almost all pitiful as far as performance goes, except for Safari, a gem in a coal mine.

So, here's what I've decided: it's best to use the applications that are included with your operating system, as there are deigned by the programmers of that OS. The only exception is you web browser, because something went terribly wrong in the development of Internet Explorer, and your media player only, I repeat, only, if you must because you mistakenly bought an iPod, or you need a quick one that launches fast for just playing single audio and video clips (try VLC, it's pretty nice), and don't need to organize a library of music.

Ok, so Windows' problems are fixable with time and effort

I've found two ways of tackling my internet problems. One is to restart the computer and go through the whole ordeal described in my last post. The other is to get as far away from the router as possible, and that usually fixes it. That's what I'm doing now. I can't contemplate how hard it must be for the poor folks with Vista.

Windows Rant

I hate Windows. Not that I didn't always. But this computer has the worst everything in the world. It takes ten full minutes of the computer not appearing to do anything before it even starts to load Windows. That takes only two. It takes about thirty seconds to log on, but if I try to do anything in the two minutes following log-on the computer freezes. So, if the computer's off, it takes almost 15 minutes just to get ready to start doing things. And the internet is a whole other story. Plugged into the ethernet, with a cable, mind you, it says I have limited or no connectivity. It comes on and off totally spontaneously, so much that I have to have a ping utility running in the background. And if you're using a Dell (Microsoft's brand, the same company that makes Windows), then you can't update Windows XP to SP2 without crashing the thing.

I hate Windows.