Flirtations

There are some chicks outside my room; as in baby birds. They're in a nest built behind something that looks like an alarm. And earlier, I noticed the parents flying in an out, and the chicks being very noisy. It was quieter today. In part this may be because of the death of one them. It fell out of the nest, and is now lying prone and covered in ants. Kudos to the circle of life.

Sticking with this nature theme, the other day, I watched a spider, that lives under a hummingbird feeder outside the window of the trailer that I work, eat a insect that was buzzing about. It grabbed for it several times before the two of them finally met. Then it quickly wrapped the bug in its web and proceeded to feast.

Penguin Toss

Linux rant follows. coherence... level unknown. proofreading... none.

I've been spending most of the past week trying to get Fedora Core 4 then 3 to install on two hard drives with a few software packages. Most of it is pretty straightforward, and works without difficulty. But when Linux decides not to work, it really doesn't want to work. Some examples of the difficulties I've had.

Sound:
I installed FC4 on a computer without problem. I installed FC4 on the other computer... no sound. They have different sound cards. The former an SB Live! and the latter and SB Audigy.
I installed FC3 on the the latter computer, and sound works! I installed FC3 on the former computer. No sound. The audio device seems to be constantly under someone's use.

Software Packaging:
Fedora Core comes pre-installed with GStreamer, which I'm trying to use to create a really simple MPEG-4 Player. Fedora Core 4 does not come with the C libraries pre-installed, and after trying yum several times, I finally figure they didn't have it either. The sample code in the documentation did no work, and it took an additional download in order to get a sample code in download to work. I just installed FC3, and similarly, the documentation's sample code didn't work, which maybe be a version difference, until the sample code in the documentation on the computer also didn't work.

These problems don't really occur in Windows or Macintosh. Windows is the dominant powerhouse, and most of the time, people have built binaries for it already or easy setup files not revolving around dependency hell, and the same with the hardware. No consumer PC hardware would survive without being able to work on Windows fairly easily. Maybe a new driver install. Mac, of course, controls most of it's own hardware, so drivers are less of an issue. And the software mostly comes prepackaged and ready to install with a simple drag.

This concludes this Linux rant. If you read any of the content since the first sentence, I pity you and would give you a cookie, but I suggest you not as for one, as I might lace it with something (maybe accidentally).

The Waiting Game

Well, the Powerbook deal I was waiting for finally came in. They're now offering a qualifying Mac with a $179 rebate if you also buy at least an iPod mini. This saddens me, even in light of the fact that I don't really need an iPod of any size; I don't listen to that much music. However, I do need a good pair of headphones: good, inexpensive, and portable. I don't know if that means I should get earbuds or the slightly larger ones. Any thoughts?

Tricks are for kids

A while ago I was talking to someone about the future. This lead to the following quote, which I find hilarious.

> i'm going to try so hard to turn my kid(s) into nerd(s)!
> that way, they'll repel the bad kids away from them

I'd like to experiment on children. It would make life interesting for them.

Triton the Sun God

This post is coming straight to the internet from San Diego, CA, well, La Jolla, actually. It would be the first time I've been here in about 10 years. It's been a nice opportunity to see some sites and catch up with some college friends.

The sites were kicked off with the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International in Hollywood. It may be the first time I sat through a conversion attempt. It certainly was the first one that was so long. It was highlighted by an informational video to Scientology. Much of this video contained funny moments, but one quote stands out. "If you wish to leave the room after seeing this film, walk out and never mention Scientology again, you are free to do so. It would be stupid, but you are free to do it. You can also dive off a bridge, or blow your brains out; that is your choice." They are right, though. With a quotel like this, it would be stupid never to mention Scientology again. But they never said I had to say good things about it.

Otherwise, we saw Point Loma, UCSD, and La Jolla Shores, including at UCSD a tour of the new CSE building. UCSD has some nice modern looking buildings. At some point we'll hit the roads again, and I'll hopefully catch the SPARKLE show on Santa Barbara's West Beach.