The rate of smoking in Europe is higher than anywhere else at 33%.
So Europe might be wiser in some ways, like socialized health care, but they are behind the curve when it comes to tobacco.
Smoking is unnecessary, even for someone addicted to nicotine. There are two alternative methods of nicotine consumption that are far less harmful--nicotine gum (expensive) and vaporization, which has been widely adopted by health-conscious marijuana consumers. Why would anyone smoke the old-fashioned way, when a vaporizer can be purchased for $40? To use a computer analogy, it is like remaining with MS-DOS instead of upgrading to Windows or Linux Mint. Smoking is more expensive, more harmful, and obnoxious to everyone around. Vaporizing is cheaper, tastes better, is much easier on the lungs, and causes minimal discomfort to others.
I've known intellectuals that smoked, highlighting the difference between book-smarts and common sense. I am glad I have enough common sense not to play Big Tobacco's game. I don't use any tobacco products, but you know what, if I did, it would either be through the medium of gum or vaporization. Common sense, if you please. Smoke ain't good for your lungs. Ask a conscientious pothead where to buy a quality vaporizer.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Read O'Brian and Despair
As for writing a novel, I'd better put a cork on that. I finished Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander yesterday and observed I'd never write as well as he does, not even if I tried for a thousand years.
One thing about O'Brian is he's an artist, not your ordinary sort of writer. That is, he draws scenes, and the words serve as his paintbrush. As artists go, he's an impressionist. The reader must work to shake out what's going on. O'Brian won't pat your hand and say, "Now, now, we're getting up, dear old Sir, so please put your slippers on," none of that, he zips from point to point without very much in the way of transition. The reader's brain must work overtime, sometimes rereading to puzzle out what is going on in the story. One adjusts to this challenging style, because it has the advantage of compactness. O'Brian draws a scene in ten pages that would take another writer fifty, while imparting more nuance. He does not waste the reader's time and is never boring.
Of course O'Brian's a classic nerd, having devoured every single fact and legend concerning the British Navy of the 1700s-1800s, and he flaunts his knowledge until the reader is cowed into accepting the writer's indisputable authority. I don't know one sail from another, it's all Greek to me. I just marvel. I suppose that the gentleman must have spent a good chunk of his life reading naval histories and stories. I don't even like sailing, but I like Patrick O'Brian's novels about sailing. That's the mark of a great author, that he can hook landlubbers like me with his naval stories. I rank O'Brian up there with the best of the best, and I can only wonder why Gore Vidal never reviewed his books, but Vidal preferred dead authors to living competitors and probably found O'Brian reactionary, although I think O'Brian's personal views may be found in the speech of his character Stephen Maturin, who was liberal enough for me.
When I think of the times I wanted to write a historical novel, I blush in shame, because I know good and well my knowledge of times past is not one-tenth O'Brian's. My effort would turn out just like the ones of those historical novelists I read in the library and put down in contempt.
So read O'Brian and despair, ye budding writers!
One thing about O'Brian is he's an artist, not your ordinary sort of writer. That is, he draws scenes, and the words serve as his paintbrush. As artists go, he's an impressionist. The reader must work to shake out what's going on. O'Brian won't pat your hand and say, "Now, now, we're getting up, dear old Sir, so please put your slippers on," none of that, he zips from point to point without very much in the way of transition. The reader's brain must work overtime, sometimes rereading to puzzle out what is going on in the story. One adjusts to this challenging style, because it has the advantage of compactness. O'Brian draws a scene in ten pages that would take another writer fifty, while imparting more nuance. He does not waste the reader's time and is never boring.
Of course O'Brian's a classic nerd, having devoured every single fact and legend concerning the British Navy of the 1700s-1800s, and he flaunts his knowledge until the reader is cowed into accepting the writer's indisputable authority. I don't know one sail from another, it's all Greek to me. I just marvel. I suppose that the gentleman must have spent a good chunk of his life reading naval histories and stories. I don't even like sailing, but I like Patrick O'Brian's novels about sailing. That's the mark of a great author, that he can hook landlubbers like me with his naval stories. I rank O'Brian up there with the best of the best, and I can only wonder why Gore Vidal never reviewed his books, but Vidal preferred dead authors to living competitors and probably found O'Brian reactionary, although I think O'Brian's personal views may be found in the speech of his character Stephen Maturin, who was liberal enough for me.
When I think of the times I wanted to write a historical novel, I blush in shame, because I know good and well my knowledge of times past is not one-tenth O'Brian's. My effort would turn out just like the ones of those historical novelists I read in the library and put down in contempt.
So read O'Brian and despair, ye budding writers!
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Stepping Into Her Bones
I've been reading about a page a day of a self-published autobiography about a straight, white, devout Christian woman of no special renown who grew up in America. It is the bathroom read. To my surprise, I have enjoyed stepping into her bones and seeing the world through her eyes. I am beginning to feel a desire to start a novel. There is nothing stopping me. Perhaps I will create a similar character.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Run Screensaver & Music Player from Thunar's File Manager
In my opinion, a screensaver begins and ends with a slideshow featuring beautiful specimens from the realms of art and imagination, nature, and science. I will never understand why so many people opt for alternative solutions such as using a non-slideshow screensaver (called a "visualizer") from within a media player. Configure the screensaver within the operating system but once, and it will function with and without the media player. Pictures appealing to one's personal taste may be obtained quite easily by anyone with Internet access, patience, and storage space. So why use anything else in a screensaver--ever?
When I play music on my media player, I want the desktop to display my slideshow. I do not want VLC to run a tacky visualizer. And I want to use nothing within VLC, but instead the regular desktop screensaver-slideshow, which can be easily deactivated by moving the mouse or pressing any key and which I have configured to my own preferences.
The following custom command, when selected in Thunar, passes selected files and folders to VLC and then, after a five second pause, activates the screensaver. I don't see any reason why this technique would not work in other Linux desktop environments, but I haven't tested it, so I will say, caveat emptor. My own desktop environment is Xfce running on Linux Mint Maya. I have VLC and xscreensaver installed and working, although the logic below could be adapted for other media players and other screensavers.
In Xfce's File Manager, Thunar, click Edit | Configure Custom Actions, and then choose the + icon to add a new one. For the name of the action, let's type "Play in VLC & Run Screensaver," and for the command, "/bin/vlcs.sh %F", which loads a shell script while passing a variable consisting of selected files and folders. Executing a script is indeed necessary, because Thunar seems to not permit multiple commands in a custom action. Perhaps in gnome or kde, the story may be different--experiment and see whether this is so. Of course one would rather not have to create a new batch file just to execute two or three commands.
The shell script, which I call /bin/vlcs.sh, consists of just two lines:
VLC and the sleep command execute at the same time. The sleep command waits for five seconds. Only after the sleep command has finished do I want the screensaver to activate and display my slideshow. I find the delay helpful, because without it, the screensaver executes with such alacrity that my hand cannot remove itself from the mouse fast enough to avoid deactivating the screensaver. Besides, I like to observe VLC's playlist for a moment before it runs. Many a time during testing, I passed an invalid variable to VLC, and it got stuck in an endless loop trying to load invalid file names, which is not very intelligent, to say the least. I tried to add some audits of the variable inside the script, but I cannot add any if...then commands to the batch, otherwise it won't work at all from within Thunar in Xubuntu 12.10. The batch must remain primitive for reasons that are unclear to me. I am sure the solution is something simple that the experts have neglected to mention because they feel it is obvious. At any rate, I was pleased to set this up, because it saves me a step during dinner parties.
When I play music on my media player, I want the desktop to display my slideshow. I do not want VLC to run a tacky visualizer. And I want to use nothing within VLC, but instead the regular desktop screensaver-slideshow, which can be easily deactivated by moving the mouse or pressing any key and which I have configured to my own preferences.
The following custom command, when selected in Thunar, passes selected files and folders to VLC and then, after a five second pause, activates the screensaver. I don't see any reason why this technique would not work in other Linux desktop environments, but I haven't tested it, so I will say, caveat emptor. My own desktop environment is Xfce running on Linux Mint Maya. I have VLC and xscreensaver installed and working, although the logic below could be adapted for other media players and other screensavers.
In Xfce's File Manager, Thunar, click Edit | Configure Custom Actions, and then choose the + icon to add a new one. For the name of the action, let's type "Play in VLC & Run Screensaver," and for the command, "/bin/vlcs.sh %F", which loads a shell script while passing a variable consisting of selected files and folders. Executing a script is indeed necessary, because Thunar seems to not permit multiple commands in a custom action. Perhaps in gnome or kde, the story may be different--experiment and see whether this is so. Of course one would rather not have to create a new batch file just to execute two or three commands.
The shell script, which I call /bin/vlcs.sh, consists of just two lines:
#!bin/shName this Linux shell script "vlcs.sh", place it in the /bin folder, and set the execute bit using "chmod a+x /bin/vlcs.sh" so that all may execute it. I'm not a big security buff, but if you are, then set the security however you like it, just so that it can execute from the File Manager.
vlc "$1" & sleep 5 && xscreensaver-command -activate
VLC and the sleep command execute at the same time. The sleep command waits for five seconds. Only after the sleep command has finished do I want the screensaver to activate and display my slideshow. I find the delay helpful, because without it, the screensaver executes with such alacrity that my hand cannot remove itself from the mouse fast enough to avoid deactivating the screensaver. Besides, I like to observe VLC's playlist for a moment before it runs. Many a time during testing, I passed an invalid variable to VLC, and it got stuck in an endless loop trying to load invalid file names, which is not very intelligent, to say the least. I tried to add some audits of the variable inside the script, but I cannot add any if...then commands to the batch, otherwise it won't work at all from within Thunar in Xubuntu 12.10. The batch must remain primitive for reasons that are unclear to me. I am sure the solution is something simple that the experts have neglected to mention because they feel it is obvious. At any rate, I was pleased to set this up, because it saves me a step during dinner parties.
Scalia Plays the Prude
Supreme Court Justice Scalia is not wise based upon his remarks at Princeton, but he thinks he is wise, and that's the most dangerous sort of fool that there is. His arguments against any and all rights for gays are illogical and reflect his own personal hangups.
Since his arguments have nothing to them, one looks at the man. One look at Scalia and all thought of sex goes out the window. Maybe that's his problem--nobody would ever want to do him. Such a specimen finds it easy to play the prude. He can pretend that his "morals" keep him from accepting all the offers that would otherwise flow his way.
Since his arguments have nothing to them, one looks at the man. One look at Scalia and all thought of sex goes out the window. Maybe that's his problem--nobody would ever want to do him. Such a specimen finds it easy to play the prude. He can pretend that his "morals" keep him from accepting all the offers that would otherwise flow his way.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Ars Technica Needs to Learn
Ars Technica needs to learn that not everybody has the time to play password games with their site. I am not going to spend all evening devising a password that has a percentage, an underscore, an uppercase, a lowercase, ninety-nine characters, and a logarithm. I'm just not going to do it. I don't know, do they think we are registering for a lottery prize? More like registering for spam from Ars Technica, sounds like. Do they think somebody is going to try and crack their passwords with brute force? Ridiculous. Note to Ars Technica: you are not a bank.
Ubetatest
Hm. I don't like the sound of this. Canonical is committing errors in judgment. They need money, so while asking for donations, they intend to spy on their users in order to earn money from Amazon, which has ethical problems of its own. Well, perhaps I will not be using anything Ubuntu-related after 2012.
Out of curiosity, I installed both Xubuntu 12.10 and Linux Mint 13 Xfce, and Linux Mint Xfce is better, easier to use, despite being based upon older code (ubuntu 12.04). Xubuntu 12.10 is unstable, makes crash reports all the time, and the updates that Ubuntu releases don't fix the problems. I send crash reports, and Ubuntu ignores them, and instead issues updates for things that are irrelevant to me.
Xubuntu also is difficult to customize. Last night, I spent an hour trying to install new themes in the ~\.themes directory, because the default themes in Xubuntu are all unpleasantly bright. Xubuntu basically offers the user one theme and one theme only, a bright white background that will burn the eyes of any heavy user. This one theme has twenty different names, so it may appear there are twenty themes, but they are similar. Xubuntu does not offer even one theme with a dark background. Not so with Linux Mint Xfce, which at least offers dusk, a true dark background. I tried for an hour last night to install some new ones, but the archive manager crashed repeatedly. Even when I succeeded in extracting the themes into the .themes directory, after rebooting, they did not appear in the Appearances list of styles. In the end, I gave up. My solution will be to remove Xubuntu at some future point in time. I require a distro that does not require hours and hours of research and experimentation in order to change the background.
I'm glad there are options for Linux users. I'm definitely going to stick with Linux Mint for the time being while keeping an eye on other distros such as OpenSuse, which doesn't rely upon anything *buntu. I hope that Linux Mint finds a way to wean itself from Ubuntu, because I think Canonical has strayed into error and its usefulness may be coming to an end.
Out of curiosity, I installed both Xubuntu 12.10 and Linux Mint 13 Xfce, and Linux Mint Xfce is better, easier to use, despite being based upon older code (ubuntu 12.04). Xubuntu 12.10 is unstable, makes crash reports all the time, and the updates that Ubuntu releases don't fix the problems. I send crash reports, and Ubuntu ignores them, and instead issues updates for things that are irrelevant to me.
Xubuntu also is difficult to customize. Last night, I spent an hour trying to install new themes in the ~\.themes directory, because the default themes in Xubuntu are all unpleasantly bright. Xubuntu basically offers the user one theme and one theme only, a bright white background that will burn the eyes of any heavy user. This one theme has twenty different names, so it may appear there are twenty themes, but they are similar. Xubuntu does not offer even one theme with a dark background. Not so with Linux Mint Xfce, which at least offers dusk, a true dark background. I tried for an hour last night to install some new ones, but the archive manager crashed repeatedly. Even when I succeeded in extracting the themes into the .themes directory, after rebooting, they did not appear in the Appearances list of styles. In the end, I gave up. My solution will be to remove Xubuntu at some future point in time. I require a distro that does not require hours and hours of research and experimentation in order to change the background.
I'm glad there are options for Linux users. I'm definitely going to stick with Linux Mint for the time being while keeping an eye on other distros such as OpenSuse, which doesn't rely upon anything *buntu. I hope that Linux Mint finds a way to wean itself from Ubuntu, because I think Canonical has strayed into error and its usefulness may be coming to an end.
Friday, December 7, 2012
Massive File Copies--Not for the GUI
There are some tasks at which both the Windows and the Linux GUI stink, and I mean like rotten eggs. I'm not taking sides here. Both operating systems stink at massive file copies. Woe betide the user that tries copying tens of thousands of files from one directory to another directory on the network. This is the single best way to get an unresponsive desktop. In Linux Mint Xfce, Thunar blanked, the "File Progress" window blanked, and on one occasion all my desktop icons disappeared. In Windows XP, I waited. And waited. And Windows XP will also become unresponsive. It's not any stabler than Linux. I've learned. From now on, command-line copy all the way. xcopy *.*, my friends. That's the way to go.
And if only I could figure out a way to bypass the accursed trash can in Xubuntu. Linux Mint Xfce offers an option to permanently delete files, rather than spending several hours, or all day, transferring them to the Trash Can, which does not delete them. Overall, Xubuntu's designers don't seem to give too much thought to usability. Instead, they are concerned with protecting the user from himself. I don't think I will install another *buntu distro again. Instead, my choice will be Linux Mint. Linux Mint is just nicer, friendlier, that's all. Linux Mint adds another ten to twenty per cent to the usability quotient. That's not to say there couldn't be improvements, but when is that not true?
Neither the Windows nor Linux GUI have any conception of batch mode. If a user begins another copy while a copy is being performed, each OS will choose to copy everything simultaneously, a disastrous behavior which means it will take much, much longer to complete each copy task. Why not finish one copy, then begin the next one? That is known as "batch mode." Copying in batch is far more efficient.
And if only I could figure out a way to bypass the accursed trash can in Xubuntu. Linux Mint Xfce offers an option to permanently delete files, rather than spending several hours, or all day, transferring them to the Trash Can, which does not delete them. Overall, Xubuntu's designers don't seem to give too much thought to usability. Instead, they are concerned with protecting the user from himself. I don't think I will install another *buntu distro again. Instead, my choice will be Linux Mint. Linux Mint is just nicer, friendlier, that's all. Linux Mint adds another ten to twenty per cent to the usability quotient. That's not to say there couldn't be improvements, but when is that not true?
Neither the Windows nor Linux GUI have any conception of batch mode. If a user begins another copy while a copy is being performed, each OS will choose to copy everything simultaneously, a disastrous behavior which means it will take much, much longer to complete each copy task. Why not finish one copy, then begin the next one? That is known as "batch mode." Copying in batch is far more efficient.
Respect for Nurses
There should be a rule that no one should mess with nurses. I can testify that nurses work harder than anybody else. The stress level of their job is through the roof. I couldn't do it. I don't have the stamina. I'd never hassle a nurse, and the Australian DJ's who hoaxed a nurse over in London ought to be sacked for doing so. Hoax a banker, politician, or businessman, but never anyone in the medical profession or for that matter, law enforcement or firemen. I understand humor and fun and games and enjoy a good hoax myself, but some people work in uncommonly high-stress jobs and should be given a little bit of slack by the public, and in particular radio DJ's, who are dispensable to begin with, let's face it. Everybody needs a nurse. A DJ, we can do without. I don't know whether some people understand just how difficult it is to become a nurse in the first place.
I could care less about the royalty / Kate Middleton connection. Even though I'm liberal, I'm not particularly anti-royal. I'm a pragmatist. If royals conduct international diplomacy, support charity and worthwhile causes, and use their position as a bully pulpit to support worthwhile and humanitarian causes, then royals might actually do some good in the world, more so than some of our wealthy who inherited their fortunes and do nothing. I think the question of whether royalty is good or bad depends upon the words and deeds of the royals.
I could care less about the royalty / Kate Middleton connection. Even though I'm liberal, I'm not particularly anti-royal. I'm a pragmatist. If royals conduct international diplomacy, support charity and worthwhile causes, and use their position as a bully pulpit to support worthwhile and humanitarian causes, then royals might actually do some good in the world, more so than some of our wealthy who inherited their fortunes and do nothing. I think the question of whether royalty is good or bad depends upon the words and deeds of the royals.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
How to Make Firefox Load the Home Page in a New Tab
I found the way to make Firefox load the home page in a new tab, which used to be Firefox's default behavior back in the good old days. (The suggested solution at Mozilla.org does not work for my purposes.) The user must install a new add-on called "New Tab Homepage" to force Firefox to behave in the way it used to behave.
I see it's time for... Firefox developer training time!
FF dev: So tell me, what is a home page?
igor: A home page is where the user wants to begin browsing the Internet.
FF dev: But when the user opens a new tab, surely he wants to see a bunch of windows thrown together in a big pile, right? That's what I like!
igor: No, the user wants to view his home page when a new tab is opened.
FF dev: But home page is boring...for me. I want to code a bunch of windows and show off what I can do.
igor: Why not use all that energy to figure out a way to integrate flash in Firefox, like Google did with Chrome? Then Firefox might regain some market share.
FF dev: Uh... too difficult!
igor: Thought so.
I see it's time for... Firefox developer training time!
FF dev: So tell me, what is a home page?
igor: A home page is where the user wants to begin browsing the Internet.
FF dev: But when the user opens a new tab, surely he wants to see a bunch of windows thrown together in a big pile, right? That's what I like!
igor: No, the user wants to view his home page when a new tab is opened.
FF dev: But home page is boring...for me. I want to code a bunch of windows and show off what I can do.
igor: Why not use all that energy to figure out a way to integrate flash in Firefox, like Google did with Chrome? Then Firefox might regain some market share.
FF dev: Uh... too difficult!
igor: Thought so.
Harmlessness
There is something to be said for harmlessness. I believe that seeming harmless is an art form, requiring patience, imagination, mindfulness and discipline. My blood runs as hot as anyone else. At times, I get angry. On rare occasions, I thirst for vengeance. Then I think, Wait. No. This is not the way.
One can't please everyone, so there will always be a detractor here or there, and occasionally a detractor devolves into an enemy for reasons of their own, misapprehensions, defects in their temperament. Yet even an enemy is inclined to ignore the harmless and the quiet, those that do not appear to oppose their will, so there is an answer. After early experiments, I decided long ago that it was better to lose or appear to lose and let the ugly soul celebrate its dark victory than to waste time and energy upon pointless petty battles that no one else cares about. This strategy not everybody follows, which gives insight into the tragic headlines one reads in the daily news. Vengeance remains popular. So why then should I seek it? I will cede the field, knowing that the one who wronged me will wrong others until their luck runs out and they encounter one that requires vengeance at all costs, and then woe for them.
One can't please everyone, so there will always be a detractor here or there, and occasionally a detractor devolves into an enemy for reasons of their own, misapprehensions, defects in their temperament. Yet even an enemy is inclined to ignore the harmless and the quiet, those that do not appear to oppose their will, so there is an answer. After early experiments, I decided long ago that it was better to lose or appear to lose and let the ugly soul celebrate its dark victory than to waste time and energy upon pointless petty battles that no one else cares about. This strategy not everybody follows, which gives insight into the tragic headlines one reads in the daily news. Vengeance remains popular. So why then should I seek it? I will cede the field, knowing that the one who wronged me will wrong others until their luck runs out and they encounter one that requires vengeance at all costs, and then woe for them.
System Builds
My ideal job would be to build and configure desktops. I have probably built about a dozen desktops over the years just for my own household, never buying from Dell, Gateway, Best Buy, or Staples. I like to choose every part from the case up. I've even grown quite opinionated about the power supply, something a lot of builders ignore. I'm all about efficiency. I like the idea of a computer using a minimal amount of electricity, especially a computer that's on 24/7. For my part, I cannot justify using any processor that consumes more than 45 watts, not for today's applications. Of course, if everyone used efficient computers, then our energy crisis would be that much less.
In the olden days, I was a Windows XP diehard, but now I'm coming around to appreciate the Linux point of view a bit more than I had before. Most of the credit goes to Linux Mint and Ubuntu, distros that made things easier on new users (with considerable help from Debian and Linux itself, of course).
The biggest problem with Windows, as I see it, is the restrictive licensing. Just because a new Windows is released doesn't mean I'm happy to drop $300 for the dubious privilege of doing a complete reinstall requiring many hours of work on three different desktops. Linux offers freedom in more ways than one. And while I'm not as fluent on the command-line as a Linux guru, I grew up using MS-DOS and am not afraid to type commands. I prefer GUI, because it's faster, but will use the command line if needed. My hope is that Linux becomes easier to use and that customization becomes easier using GUI tools. Already I can testify to the fact that Linux is much easier to install than it was several years ago. I have been able to get Linux Mint installed with little effort. When I last tried Linux, I experimented with Mepis, Open Suse, PCLinuxOS, and Ubuntu distros, and I ran into various issues such as mouse not working, display not working, or sound not working. I soon went back to Windows XP. With Linux in 2012, installation is a breeze, with the exception of exotic hardware like S/PDIF sound output. It's just the customization and optimization that takes some time, along with setting up the home network, something I found aggravating on my first try.
In the olden days, I was a Windows XP diehard, but now I'm coming around to appreciate the Linux point of view a bit more than I had before. Most of the credit goes to Linux Mint and Ubuntu, distros that made things easier on new users (with considerable help from Debian and Linux itself, of course).
The biggest problem with Windows, as I see it, is the restrictive licensing. Just because a new Windows is released doesn't mean I'm happy to drop $300 for the dubious privilege of doing a complete reinstall requiring many hours of work on three different desktops. Linux offers freedom in more ways than one. And while I'm not as fluent on the command-line as a Linux guru, I grew up using MS-DOS and am not afraid to type commands. I prefer GUI, because it's faster, but will use the command line if needed. My hope is that Linux becomes easier to use and that customization becomes easier using GUI tools. Already I can testify to the fact that Linux is much easier to install than it was several years ago. I have been able to get Linux Mint installed with little effort. When I last tried Linux, I experimented with Mepis, Open Suse, PCLinuxOS, and Ubuntu distros, and I ran into various issues such as mouse not working, display not working, or sound not working. I soon went back to Windows XP. With Linux in 2012, installation is a breeze, with the exception of exotic hardware like S/PDIF sound output. It's just the customization and optimization that takes some time, along with setting up the home network, something I found aggravating on my first try.
Good Vs. Evil
I don't think there's any reward for doing good in the world. Do good anyway. Others have before us, and that is why there is good remaining in the world today. I think that evil isn't sustainable, and good wins the long game. Yet even if this were not so, still do good. Do it for the Mother. Have you felt her presence?
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Friday, November 30, 2012
Death of a Friend
I've sometimes fantasized about death and tried to imagine how friends and acquaintances might think of me after I'm gone. Never did I imagine one of my friends dying before me. My first reaction was shock, followed by annoyance. How rude! To go before me! I don't like someone dying before their time and without any warning at all. It is impolite. But who can control the body? For that matter, who can control the mind? One way or the other, we all will bite the dust. Precautions postpone, but don't prevent. Oh no. Death will take every jogger, every vitamin-gulper.
There's a sense of unreality when a friend dies. I saw her just two months ago. I'm going to see her again for Christmas, surely. What about our Christmas party? We always have a Christmas party together. My dear friend is not dead, no, this is all a terrible hoax, people are mistaken, they have gotten everything wrong. Silly people, always getting things wrong. I know better. I know she is alive, because she is strong and good and wise and would never go just like that, never in a million years.
Reality did not hit me until I saw the sign in front of the funeral home with her name on it. I blinked my eyes, as I used to do when I was a boy, thinking I could take a photograph that way, preserving the image in my mind forever. And you know what I was thinking? I wanted to go back in time a year and tell her what I foresaw this evening, that dreadful sign with her name on it. I wanted to tell her to go to the doctor before it's too late. Don't you see, you mad, mad woman? You dear, dear friend. I loved you so.
Had thou put thy hand in mine, I'd have preserved thee ten more years, my Valentine.
One afternoon when she was in my house, I gave her a gold ring with a four-carat sapphire and told her it was the color of her eyes. She never wore it, and years later gave it back to me when my finances were diminished and the sands of her hourglass had almost run out.
Not everyone wants to stick around in this old world of ours, and I understand that. She had her reasons to not seek cures, to not seek the advice of friends, to escape our nagging and tugging and pulling. If she had just told me what's what, I might have known what to say or do, but all that's over now. I suppose she knew quite well what I would say, what other friends would say, and that's why she didn't tell us.
What do we know anyway? Maybe we are wrong, and she is right. I do not know all the facts. I don't know all the factors. Her passing is shrouded in mystery.
I believe she did not wish to become very old, sick, dependent on others, confused, weak, falling into errors of judgment and understanding. Who can blame her? Not me. Not anyone. I have seen people in this state. I understand. I do not wish to become like that either.
I think it is an ill thing when a person lives alone. I think human beings should live together for the sake of well-being. I did share this with her once, asked her whether she might consider dating again, looking for a partner or even just a friend to live with. It's never too late. But no.
At the funeral home, I tried to get a sense of whether there was any vestige of her remaining in the world. The afterlife is an appealing notion to me. I would be delighted to entertain a ghost. I would be delighted to become a ghost. How I would love to pass invisible through walls and observe the doings of others and--hopefully--intervene for the sake of what's right.
I would not be afraid of a ghost. I would welcome one.
I only sense the material reality around me. I continue to believe that death marks the annihilation of the individual, that there is no soul. Yet it is also true that humans are alike and there will be others like her, like me, like you. Redundancy, that's the word. The human race has redundancy built-in, certainly, now that our population is in the billions. Boring, yes. A bit unpleasant, yes. But those characteristics correlate with reality.
She endures in the memories of her friends. Based on my memories, I believe she was pleased with me. We were on good terms, always respectful, always friendly, cordial.
There's a sense of unreality when a friend dies. I saw her just two months ago. I'm going to see her again for Christmas, surely. What about our Christmas party? We always have a Christmas party together. My dear friend is not dead, no, this is all a terrible hoax, people are mistaken, they have gotten everything wrong. Silly people, always getting things wrong. I know better. I know she is alive, because she is strong and good and wise and would never go just like that, never in a million years.
Reality did not hit me until I saw the sign in front of the funeral home with her name on it. I blinked my eyes, as I used to do when I was a boy, thinking I could take a photograph that way, preserving the image in my mind forever. And you know what I was thinking? I wanted to go back in time a year and tell her what I foresaw this evening, that dreadful sign with her name on it. I wanted to tell her to go to the doctor before it's too late. Don't you see, you mad, mad woman? You dear, dear friend. I loved you so.
Had thou put thy hand in mine, I'd have preserved thee ten more years, my Valentine.
One afternoon when she was in my house, I gave her a gold ring with a four-carat sapphire and told her it was the color of her eyes. She never wore it, and years later gave it back to me when my finances were diminished and the sands of her hourglass had almost run out.
Not everyone wants to stick around in this old world of ours, and I understand that. She had her reasons to not seek cures, to not seek the advice of friends, to escape our nagging and tugging and pulling. If she had just told me what's what, I might have known what to say or do, but all that's over now. I suppose she knew quite well what I would say, what other friends would say, and that's why she didn't tell us.
What do we know anyway? Maybe we are wrong, and she is right. I do not know all the facts. I don't know all the factors. Her passing is shrouded in mystery.
I believe she did not wish to become very old, sick, dependent on others, confused, weak, falling into errors of judgment and understanding. Who can blame her? Not me. Not anyone. I have seen people in this state. I understand. I do not wish to become like that either.
I think it is an ill thing when a person lives alone. I think human beings should live together for the sake of well-being. I did share this with her once, asked her whether she might consider dating again, looking for a partner or even just a friend to live with. It's never too late. But no.
At the funeral home, I tried to get a sense of whether there was any vestige of her remaining in the world. The afterlife is an appealing notion to me. I would be delighted to entertain a ghost. I would be delighted to become a ghost. How I would love to pass invisible through walls and observe the doings of others and--hopefully--intervene for the sake of what's right.
I would not be afraid of a ghost. I would welcome one.
I only sense the material reality around me. I continue to believe that death marks the annihilation of the individual, that there is no soul. Yet it is also true that humans are alike and there will be others like her, like me, like you. Redundancy, that's the word. The human race has redundancy built-in, certainly, now that our population is in the billions. Boring, yes. A bit unpleasant, yes. But those characteristics correlate with reality.
She endures in the memories of her friends. Based on my memories, I believe she was pleased with me. We were on good terms, always respectful, always friendly, cordial.
Autism
Great article on autism in the New York Times.
I don't know where I rank on the autism scale, but some of the things mentioned in the article seem familiar to me. I never was interested in train schedules, but certainly when it comes to computers, chess, or any type of system, I'm interested where other people would be bored. And I guess it is unusual to be interested at all. But I think it is strange to not be interested. I think that the details are very interesting indeed. I'm not as fast as the neuroatypicals profiled in the New York Times article, though. Above average, maybe. I have more social skills than they do, by way of compensation, but I've never been great at social engineering, never had the desire to stand around talking instead of working, like I saw so many people do in the corporate world, standing around as the hour hand creeps from 8:00 to lunch time. I'm more of a worker bee, but I see where that work ethic has gotten me. Those who are skilled at manipulating others to do their bidding have greater success than those who work.
All my modest abilities are wasted for the most part. I have two college degrees, ten years of experience as a computer programmer, and I work for minimum wage, part-time, with no benefits, in a job that has nothing to do with any type of technology. Out at work, I did take the initiative to program our remote phone with the time, date, and important phone numbers, which was well-received, but the phone is the only electronic technology that we use, so that is about the only application that can be made of my skills. There are either too many programmers around, not enough jobs, or both, because I don't see any opportunities. I think the big shots decided to move the high-paying jobs overseas to save money, so Americans like me are left behind, with all our training and education wasted, but the big shots don't care because that does not impact their share price. The big shots don't care about their country. America may go the way of Ancient Rome, but they will fly over to Singapore or someplace else and live like kings. They made theirs, and f--- everybody else.
I don't know where I rank on the autism scale, but some of the things mentioned in the article seem familiar to me. I never was interested in train schedules, but certainly when it comes to computers, chess, or any type of system, I'm interested where other people would be bored. And I guess it is unusual to be interested at all. But I think it is strange to not be interested. I think that the details are very interesting indeed. I'm not as fast as the neuroatypicals profiled in the New York Times article, though. Above average, maybe. I have more social skills than they do, by way of compensation, but I've never been great at social engineering, never had the desire to stand around talking instead of working, like I saw so many people do in the corporate world, standing around as the hour hand creeps from 8:00 to lunch time. I'm more of a worker bee, but I see where that work ethic has gotten me. Those who are skilled at manipulating others to do their bidding have greater success than those who work.
All my modest abilities are wasted for the most part. I have two college degrees, ten years of experience as a computer programmer, and I work for minimum wage, part-time, with no benefits, in a job that has nothing to do with any type of technology. Out at work, I did take the initiative to program our remote phone with the time, date, and important phone numbers, which was well-received, but the phone is the only electronic technology that we use, so that is about the only application that can be made of my skills. There are either too many programmers around, not enough jobs, or both, because I don't see any opportunities. I think the big shots decided to move the high-paying jobs overseas to save money, so Americans like me are left behind, with all our training and education wasted, but the big shots don't care because that does not impact their share price. The big shots don't care about their country. America may go the way of Ancient Rome, but they will fly over to Singapore or someplace else and live like kings. They made theirs, and f--- everybody else.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
VLC Answers All Multimedia Needs in Linux
I dabbled in various music players in Xubuntu--Exaile, Rhythmbox, Banshee, and Audacious--but they all threw up errors or else didn't play quite right in my Xubuntu 12.10 install. In the end I decided to try VLC for playing music, and it plays music just as well as it does video. So there is no actual need for a separate music player in Linux. VLC answers all needs. I can even run xscreensaver while VLC plays music files. VLC apparently is smart enough to stop the screensaver from running while playing video, but it won't interfere if the user launches the screensaver.
Operating Systems
One thing that is really true about operating systems is that all of them take a lot of time and effort to research, configure and learn. Now that I've cut my teeth on Xubuntu, I'm loathe to install any other distro on a production computer. Just takes too much time and effort. I can understand why people feel loyalty to their particular OS, distro, or desktop. It's not just fear of change or conservatism, but fear of the amount of work involved learning a new bag of tricks. There are a lot of little configuration files spread all around the Linux file system that control this, that, and the other, and a lot of little components that need configuring or else they will cause strange errors and misbehavior and warning messages. All of that takes time to sort out. The result however is that in the end, one can achieve a desktop that is arguably superior to Windows both in usability (providing nothing breaks with the next release) and appearance. Windows may retain some advantage in speed, however, when it comes to things like games and HD video playback, although one's mileage may vary depending upon the hardware. I've been satisfied with standard definition playback. I haven't made the leap to HD video quite yet, and since I haven't done so, I don't know what I'm missing, and ignorance is bliss, so please don't anyone show me HD video on an HD monitor.
Linux offers a free OS in exchange for sweat equity. Windows requires purchase, and the purchase price can grow expensive, since it is per computer, rather than paying just once for an entire household or office. In exchange for money, Windows offers an easier solution requiring less configuration, but it is also less customizable and more rigid in its appearance and functionality. After all, in Linux, many desktops are available--Unity, Mate, Cinnamon, KDE, Xfce, and others. I use Xfce 4.10 in Xubuntu 12.10, and it works well for me, but I had to invest a lot of sweat equity to learn how to customize it the way I wanted. Also, I was interested in tweaking the OS to try to get better performance.
Linux offers a free OS in exchange for sweat equity. Windows requires purchase, and the purchase price can grow expensive, since it is per computer, rather than paying just once for an entire household or office. In exchange for money, Windows offers an easier solution requiring less configuration, but it is also less customizable and more rigid in its appearance and functionality. After all, in Linux, many desktops are available--Unity, Mate, Cinnamon, KDE, Xfce, and others. I use Xfce 4.10 in Xubuntu 12.10, and it works well for me, but I had to invest a lot of sweat equity to learn how to customize it the way I wanted. Also, I was interested in tweaking the OS to try to get better performance.
Adios, Google
Greasemonkey's script to fix Google broke tonight, so I've quit Google and am using Bing as my search engine now. I don't know why Google decided to hide the first 3-4 search results. It seems odd to me that the designers place so much confidence in a dropdown list. That dropdown list is the most irritating thing Google has ever put on its page. I never use it, it has never been helpful to me, and I have to click on the search button multiple times in order to get my results back and dispel the accursed dropdown list. There is no option to disable it that I can find after much searching. I've even Googled how to fix Google and get rid of this stupid "feature," but even the fix has broken.
So let's see how Bing is doing these days.
So let's see how Bing is doing these days.
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