This past week has taught me a valuable lesson about not taking things for granted. I'm sure that not many people remember what it was like to have dial-up internet. As a matter of fact, I myself did not recall those sad times. However, for the past week, I have been forced to suffer the cruel internet speeds of dial-up. AT&T messed up my service and canceled my internet and land-line without informing me. Now, all I've done is live off of my neighbor's (unlocked) wireless internet which runs at dial-up speed! Oh how long it takes to get anything done...the once taken for granted wireless net I had will never again be taken for granted--that is, if AT&T ever fixes their mistake.
Until then, I will continue to suffer the indignity of "borrowing" my neighbor's wireless internet while being slowly tortured in a most cruel way.
Imagine having a luxurious sports car with unbelieveable speeds which let you do anything you can dream of. Now imagine having to give that up and replacing it with an old Pinto or something.... This is similar to what my loss of internet speed feels like. Simple tasks that would normally be done in minutes are now taking hours...
Why, oh why cruel fate...!!!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Sleep...
Do you ever feel like sleeping? I mean, JUST sleeping! That happened to me for the past week. It must be what it feels like to have narcolepsy I imagine. I must have been exhausted to feel like that every single day for the past week. It all culminated this weekend. I wanted nothing more than to sleep in yesterday (Saturday), and that's exactly what I did. I slept in to my heart's content. Only downside was that I slept the entire day away. I woke up to eat breakfast and then quickly dozed back off into wonderland. No complaints from my end except that my day was cut drastically short. I woke up at 3pm! Fortunately, I more than made up for it in increased productivity for what remained of my Saturday. I cleaned the house, did some homework, and even made it to Street Vibrations!
Speaking of which, Street Vibrations seemed very small this year in comparison to previous years. They did the main event over in Sparks on Victorian. Downtown Reno was like a ghost town compared to Sparks. Although, I did ride my bike into the parking garage at the Circus Circus to find the entire 2nd floor of the garage covered in motorcycles. That was pretty cool to say the least! (Oh, and very loud...)
Unfortunately, I did not manage to buy a funnel cake while I was there. It's okay though, because last weekend I had a giant one at the Air Races. :)
Today I woke up almost as late as yesterday, but not quite, and have been doing nothing but homework ever since. If only I had not slept so much starting Friday afternoon til today...I might have had more "fun" time before kicking off the week again.
This coming week in particular is not going to be a nice one. Starting Wednesday, I'll be having four midterms over the course three days...yippee! This is going to be oh so fun of a week!
Why in the world did I just write all this??? Even I don't know...
One last random thought...I LOVE Americanos from Starbucks...most excellent!
Speaking of which, Street Vibrations seemed very small this year in comparison to previous years. They did the main event over in Sparks on Victorian. Downtown Reno was like a ghost town compared to Sparks. Although, I did ride my bike into the parking garage at the Circus Circus to find the entire 2nd floor of the garage covered in motorcycles. That was pretty cool to say the least! (Oh, and very loud...)
Unfortunately, I did not manage to buy a funnel cake while I was there. It's okay though, because last weekend I had a giant one at the Air Races. :)
Today I woke up almost as late as yesterday, but not quite, and have been doing nothing but homework ever since. If only I had not slept so much starting Friday afternoon til today...I might have had more "fun" time before kicking off the week again.
This coming week in particular is not going to be a nice one. Starting Wednesday, I'll be having four midterms over the course three days...yippee! This is going to be oh so fun of a week!
Why in the world did I just write all this??? Even I don't know...
One last random thought...I LOVE Americanos from Starbucks...most excellent!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Epic Weekend!
Saying that the past few days was anything but epic would be a lie. Why? Because the past few days were truly something to remember. It all started after I finished with classes on Friday. Off to the Reno Air Races I went. I volunteered the entire weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) in the information and international visitors booth. I got the opportunity to meet people from all over the world! Apparently, the Reno Air Races are famous everywhere. I met a few people from Japan, from the Netherlands, Australia, Columbia, Canada, and many other parts. Everyone said they had a great time!
While I'm on the topic of the races, I noticed there was an iPhone app for that...heehee! Naturally I had to download it to try it out. Not a bad deal...it was truly worth my time!
Then, after the races ended on Friday, I drove back to Reno just in time to catch the football game vs. Cal.
The entire area surrounding the university was packed to the max with vehicles. The cars were parked almost all the way to the Casino on way N. Virginia St. I drove my Tahoe home and picked up my motorcycle. I rode like the wind to UNR. Once there, parking was a breeze. Hee hee!
After the game, my nutty friends decided it was a good idea to walk over to the Wolf Den to grab a couple of beers. I was so tired by this point that I was literally dragged over there. Haha. I couldn't ride home by this point, so it ended up being a late night staying up and watching The Italian Job. In the morning, it was back to the races for yet another day of volunteering. I met one of the Canadian Snowbirds and he even gave me a Snowbirds Pin! Being a pilot, this obviously made my entire year!!!
Then after the races, I was tired and wanted to get home, but the traffic was so insane that I didn't know how to get around it...until I saw an opportunity I couldn't pass up: dirt! I 4wheeled my Tahoe through some undeveloped land from Lemmon Dr. to N. Virginia St. It was EPIC! Instead of sitting behind all of the traffic for hours, I made it home in less than 20 minutes! The off-roading was most excellent and I even almost got stuck, but with some quick thinking and manueuvering, I managed to get my truck out okay. How I found Virginia St. is beyond me. Haha! Lucky I guess.
Finally, come today, Sunday, it was the last day of the races and I, again, was volunteering. I got the opportunity to eat some 1st place ribs from a rib cook off and they were AMAZING! I have never had such yummy ribs...now I see why they took 1st! Unfortunately, the wind kicked up to the point of sandstorm and tents were being lifted and things were being blown away and knocked over. There was also a midair collision, but fortunately, the pilots were okay. On my way out to my car, I got a picture of me in front of a GIANT military cargo plane (see below)...the fun that I had this weekend is similar to how large that plane stands in the background...or even more! This weekend was EPIC!!!
While I'm on the topic of the races, I noticed there was an iPhone app for that...heehee! Naturally I had to download it to try it out. Not a bad deal...it was truly worth my time!
Then, after the races ended on Friday, I drove back to Reno just in time to catch the football game vs. Cal.
The entire area surrounding the university was packed to the max with vehicles. The cars were parked almost all the way to the Casino on way N. Virginia St. I drove my Tahoe home and picked up my motorcycle. I rode like the wind to UNR. Once there, parking was a breeze. Hee hee!
After the game, my nutty friends decided it was a good idea to walk over to the Wolf Den to grab a couple of beers. I was so tired by this point that I was literally dragged over there. Haha. I couldn't ride home by this point, so it ended up being a late night staying up and watching The Italian Job. In the morning, it was back to the races for yet another day of volunteering. I met one of the Canadian Snowbirds and he even gave me a Snowbirds Pin! Being a pilot, this obviously made my entire year!!!
Then after the races, I was tired and wanted to get home, but the traffic was so insane that I didn't know how to get around it...until I saw an opportunity I couldn't pass up: dirt! I 4wheeled my Tahoe through some undeveloped land from Lemmon Dr. to N. Virginia St. It was EPIC! Instead of sitting behind all of the traffic for hours, I made it home in less than 20 minutes! The off-roading was most excellent and I even almost got stuck, but with some quick thinking and manueuvering, I managed to get my truck out okay. How I found Virginia St. is beyond me. Haha! Lucky I guess.
Finally, come today, Sunday, it was the last day of the races and I, again, was volunteering. I got the opportunity to eat some 1st place ribs from a rib cook off and they were AMAZING! I have never had such yummy ribs...now I see why they took 1st! Unfortunately, the wind kicked up to the point of sandstorm and tents were being lifted and things were being blown away and knocked over. There was also a midair collision, but fortunately, the pilots were okay. On my way out to my car, I got a picture of me in front of a GIANT military cargo plane (see below)...the fun that I had this weekend is similar to how large that plane stands in the background...or even more! This weekend was EPIC!!!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Blog 3: The Cathedral and the Bazaar
The Cathedral vs. the Bazaar is actually a book titled, “The Cathedral & the Bazaar,” written by Eric S. Raymond. In this book, Raymond writes about “Musings on Linux and Open Source,” as the cover of his book displays. To put it in a nutshell, this book explains the different ways software and the internet are being developed. He researched the way that Linux was developed and the method behind the engineering. Raymond directed a similar project to Linux, developed in the open source fashion. Apparently there are two main methods of open source software design and between these two methods, there is some type of disagreement. In one method, the source code behind the project is available whenever the project software is released; however, if the project is not yet complete, then only a select few have access to the source code. In the other method, the source code is openly available to everyone via the internet through all stages of development. This second method is that with which Linus Torvalds created Linux.
Raymond’s argument for supporting the latter method is that if everyone is working on this one project, then the chances of there being mistakes is greatly diminished because someone is bound to catch the error.
The reason this book is important is because it is changing the way that software is developed. It is exposing the benefits of open source code, and as a result, is making better software for consumers. It is helping the public as well as software engineers realize that collaboration on a project in mass scale makes for a better product. But even beyond that, if this catches on, capitalism and consumerism could change face to employ efforts similar in other areas of technology, thus providing a major benefit to the greater good of society.
This books is available to read for free on google books:
Raymond’s argument for supporting the latter method is that if everyone is working on this one project, then the chances of there being mistakes is greatly diminished because someone is bound to catch the error.
The reason this book is important is because it is changing the way that software is developed. It is exposing the benefits of open source code, and as a result, is making better software for consumers. It is helping the public as well as software engineers realize that collaboration on a project in mass scale makes for a better product. But even beyond that, if this catches on, capitalism and consumerism could change face to employ efforts similar in other areas of technology, thus providing a major benefit to the greater good of society.
This books is available to read for free on google books:
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Ode to My Monitor
Oh, new monitor of mine,
why must you spite me?
I delivered you home with
loving care
Only to have you laugh at me
With lines across your screen o' glory
I tremble at the site
For they should not be there...
They're causing me a fright!
You are LCD, and on top of that HD!
Why are there so many lines,
flickering across thee?
Alas, my friend, I don't know what to say,
for your spacey lines
have not ever gone astray.
I will try again tomorrow, and then again
day after that,
to remove these wiggly lines
that shall be forced to lie down flat!!!
why must you spite me?
I delivered you home with
loving care
Only to have you laugh at me
With lines across your screen o' glory
I tremble at the site
For they should not be there...
They're causing me a fright!
You are LCD, and on top of that HD!
Why are there so many lines,
flickering across thee?
Alas, my friend, I don't know what to say,
for your spacey lines
have not ever gone astray.
I will try again tomorrow, and then again
day after that,
to remove these wiggly lines
that shall be forced to lie down flat!!!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Blog 2: The Linux Kernel
What is the Linux Kernel? Many resources define what it does, but not what it is. In my opinion, the Linux Kernel can be personified as a military colonel. The Linux "Colonel" tells his men what to do, where to go, and logically delivers them to strategic locations so as to successfully complete the mission in the most expeditious and efficient manner.
All in all, the Linux Kernel is the brain behind the operations. It is the Colonel behind the multitasking abilities that Linux, as an operating system, provides. It is the man behind the counter that provides customers with their requests and completes service orders. It is the heart of the operating system...the guy that keeps everything organized and running efficiently.
The Linux Kernel is the reason behind your ability to multitask when using the OS. That is what the Kernel is....
Oh, and here's a funny picture to end this post:
It has the website from where it originated and a copyright with a name, so I didn't think I needed to site it. (I had no idea how to make it smaller...FYI)
All in all, the Linux Kernel is the brain behind the operations. It is the Colonel behind the multitasking abilities that Linux, as an operating system, provides. It is the man behind the counter that provides customers with their requests and completes service orders. It is the heart of the operating system...the guy that keeps everything organized and running efficiently.
The Linux Kernel is the reason behind your ability to multitask when using the OS. That is what the Kernel is....
Oh, and here's a funny picture to end this post:
It has the website from where it originated and a copyright with a name, so I didn't think I needed to site it. (I had no idea how to make it smaller...FYI)
Monday, September 6, 2010
My Best Friend Broke Up With Me...
...That's right. He dumped me for a solid TWO hours! I can't blame him, I deserved it. See, he usually has to wait a few weeks to a month between visits and he's always happy to see me. Today, however, I neglected to go see him as soon as I arrived. We have a strange relationship, he and I. We met about a year ago, maybe a year and a half--I don't quite remember. Anyway, it was love at first sight for both of us. We instantly became best friends and then he started seeing me as his girl. I can't say I minded one bit, and was glad to be his.
But today, I made the mistake that made him dump me: I visited with the new puppy my dad brought home instead of visiting with him. And for this, he gave me the cold shoulder. Can a dog become upset with one for such a travesty? YES, and today I learned first hand. When I did finally go out to see him (after having the puppy sleep on my chest), he snubbed me. Where normally he'd be overjoyed and overly excited to have me with him, I found the cold shoulder. It took me a solid two hours of begging his forgiveness before we became pals again. I guess I had to learn the hard way that dogs expect their royalties too. We're not very different after all...
But today, I made the mistake that made him dump me: I visited with the new puppy my dad brought home instead of visiting with him. And for this, he gave me the cold shoulder. Can a dog become upset with one for such a travesty? YES, and today I learned first hand. When I did finally go out to see him (after having the puppy sleep on my chest), he snubbed me. Where normally he'd be overjoyed and overly excited to have me with him, I found the cold shoulder. It took me a solid two hours of begging his forgiveness before we became pals again. I guess I had to learn the hard way that dogs expect their royalties too. We're not very different after all...
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