Size does matter
Posted by Steve | Filed under General, Technology
I couldn’t take it anymore. I adjusted the Wordpress theme I’m using to fit a 1024×768 window. The default 800×600 window size left the post column so narrow my posts all looked a lot longer than they really were, plus I just hated that the display wouldn’t adjust to take advantage of a larger monitor.
Yes, I know most people still design for the lowest common demoninator monitor size but I put it off as long as I could. I even looked for other 1024×768 themes but I never came across any as nice as the one I have now. I emailed the author hoping he might have (or create for me) a larger template. He responded by saying it couldn’t be adjusted easily because of the images. Of course to me that was a challenge I coudn’t refuse. It was actually fairly easily and the web guru Ladyann helped me with a few bits to put the crowning touches on it. I think it came out pretty good.
I say screw anyone still using a 15″ monitor; they probably have a 486 and 14.4 modem to go with it. GET WITH THE PROGRAM, PEOPLE!
Good Karma
Posted by Steve | Filed under Amore & Vita, General
This is a nice reading, but short. Enjoy! This is what The Dalai Lama has to say for 2006. All it takes is a few seconds to read and think over. Do not keep this message. The mantra must leave your hands within 96 hours. You will get a very pleasant surprise. This is true for all – even if you are not superstitious… or of whatever religious belief… Faith…
INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIFE
1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three R’s:
- Respect for self,
- Respect for others and
- Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a
wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate
steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and
think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for
your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the
current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your
love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
No way? Way! Way cool too!
Posted by Steve | Filed under General, Technology
I found a very neat solution to negate having to reboot into Windows. It is possible to login into a VMware guest OS in full screen directly from the GDM login screen. I can now log into Gnome or Windows XP after I boot up Linux. After using Windows XP I shut down the VMware guest OS, close VMware and I’m right back at the GDM login screen in about 10 seconds or so. Here is a link to the howto.
Resisting the Evil Empire
Posted by Steve | Filed under General, Technology
Four weeks ago I reformatted my Windows XP installation by accident. I had been running Ubuntu Linux thru a vmware guest and thought it was okay if not a bit sluggish. Since I had most of my data files on another disk it wasn’t as big a loss as it initially sounds. When it was time to rebuild my computer I decided to go for it and install Ubuntu instead of Windows XP or Vista beta 2.
I have tried to get away from using Windows several times in the past and I’ve always gone back for one reason or another. Whether it was an inability to get my GDI printer working in FreeBSD, OpenOffice failing to properly render my MS Word resume, or experiencing random system instabilities that I was unable to decipher there was always something that I just couldn’t get done in *nix to force me back to Windows.
Let me state that I am neither anti-Microsoft nor an open source zealot ala Richard Stallman. The truth is I make my living, meeger as it may be, as a Windows Network Administrator. I simply want to ensure that Microsoft has enough viable competition to keep them honest. So far IBM, Novell and Apple have proven not up to the task. I do believe that, if left to their own devices, Micro$oft would happily charge us all $750 apiece for the latest & greatest versions of Windows and MS Office. At those prices we’d still only be permitted to install them on one computer. That’s money I put back in my pocket (translation – spend on something else).
I’ve installed Ubuntu Linux 6.06 on my main workstation, which has dual 1.8ghz Xeon processors, 1.5GB RAM, Radeon 8500 video, a 36GB SCSI disk for the OS and a 250GB IDE disk for storage. It’s now over five years old but still pretty responsive. I can see myself using this box for another two years or so.
Damn Injuns
Posted by Steve | Filed under General
Since the NCAA forced all schools to drop native American mascots (unless you’re loaded with dough like FSU), UWG has changed theirs from the Braves to the Wolves. The 2006-2007 season will be the first under the new nickname. I hate it vehemently. They debuted a new website this month. Check it out. Go Braves!…..err Wolves!
UWG Wolves
