Ubuntu
Because it's good for you.
That is all.
Edit: I have been using Ubuntu almost exclusively since starting my new job, 2 months ago. I love it. It definitely requires a little bit more comfort with the way computers work than a cotton-candy operating system such as Windows or OSX. However, once you get over the intimidation of a black terminal (and practice a little with vimtutor) it's really a very nice operating system for the up-and-coming technical elite. I'm sure once I get more comfortable with it, I may find that I enjoy some of the more "Hard Core" Linux flavors, as I believe Ubuntu is considered "cotton-candy" in the Linux world. However, for someone who is just getting their feet wet in the Dark Side Hot Tub, I'm quite pleased.
The Egg
Recently, dracoling shared with me The Egg by Alex Weir. It's a very interesting and thought provoking story and has done a lot to make me much more comfortable with some of my non-Christian theories of the universe. I believe very strongly in morality, ethics, laws of nature and the like which govern every living creature. I call these "hard limits", and whatever may have created them: "God". However, in American society today, it's rare to have a belief in God "accepted" unless it's the God defined by one of the Big Three. I'm so glad to have my mind opened to an alternative way of looking at life and the world.
I'm in no way saying I consider this story to be truth or reality. However, it certainly is nice to see a "viable" alternative to the imposed doctrine of the ruling class.
Give it a quick read. What do you think?
[EDIT: 2011-02-17]
I think many people would agree this could be an awesome movie twist that would blow Inception clean out of the water. Here's Andy's policy on films based on his work.
Recording a Skype Call using GarageBand
Recently I was asked if it's possible to record from Skype using Apple's GarageBand software that comes with OS X, even though I knew it was possible I couldn't find any tutorials on how, so here's what I did.
- Because GarageBand only takes input from devices and soundcards, not applications, we're going to download and install SoundFlower for OS X.
- Once SoundFlower is installed, it creates a virtual sound card that can be used by any application on your system, lets select it to be our input source in Garage Band. In your project go to Garage Band -> Preferences, choose the "Audio/MIDI" tab and select "Soundflower (2ch)" as our Audio Input.
- Looking at the Instrument panel, we see that our Input Source has changed, lets go ahead and set up the Monitor to On or On (no feedback protection). This will let us hear the output from Skype through our default output (speakers, headphones, etc) while we record it with Garage Band. IMPORTANT: If Monitor is not enabled in GarageBand you will not hear anything on the Skype call.
- Now that GarageBand is configured, lets set up Skype. Open up the Skype menu and go to Preferences. On the Audio tab, we want our call output to go to SoundFlower, so change "Audio output" to "Soundflower (2ch)".
- Now go into GarageBand, click on record, and make a call. Insert Happy Dance here.
Hobbies
As my friends will be happy to tell you, I have WAAAAY too many hobbies. This is a list of the ones that I've touched just this week. If you're ever wondering why I have no time... wonder no more!
- software development (yeah, I class this as a hobby. I don't have time to do it at work anymore)
- video gaming (Halo: Reach is pretty good)
- paper geometry (its awesome to make stuff out of stuff)
- chainmail (I need to go back to making pieces)
- sketching (its hella bad but I have fun with it sometimes)
- poi (next month I'm either going to be really good or my arms are going to fall off!)
- learning guitar (I don't have enough going on, now I'm going to try this again)
Things that I want to do again but haven't done recently:
- play flute
- play piano
- go biking
pointless post is pointless!
The happiest time of the year
Tastykake pumpkin pie is back!
This is one of my favorite reasons for never moving out of the greater Philadelphia region. It's like a birthday present that lasts for 3 months of the year and I get to share it with my friends.
Om nom nom nom.
Thoughts on a sleepy morning
Last night I made a whole bunch of paper stars. Paper stars are awesome. They're cute, simple, easy to make, and yet for some reason people get happy just playing with them. I love crafting things, for some reason just following some simple instructions and making something out of something else impresses the hell out of certain people.
Today's shirt: Nuclear Physics (from shirt.woot!)
Morning, Sunshine!: Experiment #001
Welcome to the Morning Sunshine Experiment. I'm going to try every energy drink I can get my hands on... one at a time and rank them (primarily based on taste).
The first contestant: Full Throttle - Citrus Flavor
The following are my quotes on IRC while engaging in this experiment...
12:32 < dracoling> oh my god12:32 < dracoling> how the fuck do they get the taste of "FML" in a can!?
12:34 < dracoling> NewsFlash12:35 < dracoling> Full Throttle "Citrus" flavor still tastes like distilled self-hatred with a mild carbonation kick12:35 < nullren> dracoling: that sounds like some cheap, prison hooch12:36 < dracoling> prison hooch tastes better
12:43 < dracoling> AGH@#!$ this fucking eviljuice is attacking my heart12:43 < dracoling> why does this always happen when I drink this shit?12:43 * dracoling drinks more12:43 < nullren> because you do that12:43 < nullren> most people, when something is attacking their heart, they stop it12:44 < dracoling> this needs vodka12:44 < dlz> not dracoling12:44 < dlz> he's hardcore12:44 < dlz> HARD12:44 < dlz> CORE12:44 < dracoling> xxHARDCORExx12:44 < dlz> HAR DUH12:44 < dlz> KOR EH
12:45 < dracoling> 'panthothenic acid'12:45 < dracoling> does that mean acid of the gods?
12:46 < dracoling> man, I hope the other can I bought tastes better
12:49 < dracoling> ow. goddamnit... fuckow...12:50 < dracoling> must. finish. energy. drink. before. dying.
13:05 < dracoling> I was just told I look mad strung out13:05 < dracoling> fuck yes13:05 < dracoling> lol13:05 < dracoling> "dude, you're drinking that full throttle shit again? You may as well just do an 8-ball!"
14:24 < dracoling> hokay so14:24 < dracoling> I'm fecking tired now14:24 < dracoling> stupid energy drink
I give this horrible taste abortion -100 points. It feels like I'm paying for my sins or something and I didn't even get a good buzz.
Book: For the Win
I read this just before last WildFire, saw it on the shelf on the way out this morning and decided to read it again.
termcap/terminfo on FreeBSD
aka: why doesn't it like my rxvt?!
copy your termcap info from the computer running rxvt to your server for great justice!
local# infocmp -L rxvt-unicode > ~/rxvt-unicode.termcap
local# scp rxvt-unicode.termcap user@server:rxvt-unicode.termcap
server# su
server# portmaster devel/ncurses
server# tic rxvt-unicode.termcap
server# infocmp -C rxvt-unicode >> /usr/share/misc/termcap
server# cd /usr/share/misc
server# cap_mkdb termcap
Just do it.
Feel like your life is boring? Your friends don't share your interests or you don't know anybody to hang out with? You go home from work, lock yourself in your room and wait for morning to do it all over again?
I was like that for years. Then one day something changed everything, and part of that something was me developing my new personal mantra... Whenever I'm feeling down or misunderstood or alone, it helps to remember this simple phrase.
Fuck you guys, I'm awesome.
Now go out there and do something that frightens the shit out of you, just because you can!