I've moved! You can find my new blog at EricMartindale.com.

Remaeus' shared items

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Elation Insomnia

There's an amazing feeling you get when you know there is a robot in your kitchen sweeping the floor for you.

So, I get in from gaming at about 3AM this morning, and on my table is this box that my roommate brought in, because it had been delivered. I knew immediately that it was my Roomba Discovery. I have charged it up for a bit, tested it out, watched it, and now I trust it not to get stuck or break anything. Problem is, I'm way too excited to get to sleep. Hello, 5:07 - I'm going to sleep now.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Linux Mobile Phone

Oh, yes. I think I will.

FIC has announced an on-sale date for its Neo1973, expected to be the first low-cost, high-volume phone with a user-modifiable Linux-based operating system. Additionally, the OpenMoko project building open-source software for the phone has published a wealth of technical resources.


See the link for more information. This is a huge step towards my dream phone.

Mac versus Linux

I had a pleasant conversation with a Mac fanboi, this morning.

(08:51:01 AM) Linux User: Do Macs come with an SSH server by default?
(08:51:12 AM) Mac User: bluh...huh?
(08:51:19 AM) Mac User: just woke up
(08:51:22 AM) Linux User: Oh, lol.
(08:51:26 AM) Linux User: Good morning, sunshine.
(08:51:30 AM) Mac User: lol
(08:51:40 AM) Linux User: I've been at work for an hour. ;P
(08:51:57 AM) Linux User: Anyways - does the default Mac have an SSH server?
(08:51:57 AM) Mac User: now...what are you babbling about?
(08:53:25 AM) Mac User: no, but ssh is supported for X11 apps
(08:54:22 AM) Mac User: ....x11 being the x window environment in the Mac OS
(08:54:47 AM) Linux User: Right.
(08:55:22 AM) Linux User: So - X11 applications can SSH to other locations?
(08:55:58 AM) Linux User: And - what's the Mac equivalent of a repository, and/or aptitude/apt-get/yum?
(08:56:01 AM) Mac User: I really don't know, I haven't messed with it
(08:56:12 AM) Mac User: what the fuck are those?
(08:56:46 AM) Linux User: I can go to the command line here, and say... "apt-get install " and it'll download and install that program from the repository.
(08:57:53 AM) Mac User: ...99% of Mac users don't go "Command-Line Commando" on their system....
(08:57:59 AM) Linux User: Also, if the program has any dependencies - it'll get those, too.
(08:58:00 AM) Mac User: so...enjoy that....
(08:58:11 AM) Linux User: Oh, it has a GUI, too.
(08:58:22 AM) Mac User: website?
(08:59:02 AM) Linux User: It's a core component, it doesn't particularly have its own site.
(08:59:22 AM) Linux User: Mac doesn't have an application finder and installer type thing?
(08:59:24 AM) Mac User: of what?
(08:59:27 AM) Mac User: no
(08:59:30 AM) Linux User: Weird.
(08:59:38 AM) Mac User: OMFG!!!! NO!!!! WHAT WILL I DO!???!?!?
(08:59:51 AM) Linux User: I was trying to install openssh-server on a friend's mac...
(08:59:57 AM) Mac User: y'all pc ppl always find the weirdest off-beat shit to pick at
(09:00:05 AM) Linux User: Mac's are PCs to, ho.
(09:00:16 AM) Linux User: Understand the word Personal Computer?
(09:00:21 AM) Mac User: uh, by the definition "personal computer" only
(09:00:38 AM) Linux User: PCs also don't have to run Microshaft.
(09:00:43 AM) Mac User: but be it known that a pc is a pc and a Mac is a Mac
(09:01:01 AM) Linux User: Considering Macs aren't "Macs" so much anymore, without the kooky PPC crap.
(09:01:10 AM) Mac User: ?
(09:01:42 AM) Linux User: They're regular PCs, now. I can install Windows on a Mac, I can install Plan9, MacOS, Linux.
(09:01:52 AM) Linux User: They don't use PPC anymore, right?
(09:02:05 AM) Mac User: you can't remove the Mac OS, though
(09:02:10 AM) Linux User: ...want to bet?
(09:02:13 AM) Mac User: yup
(09:02:16 AM) Mac User: go ahead
(09:02:20 AM) Linux User: LOL.
(09:02:31 AM) Mac User: remove the Mac OS, and then lemme know what you plan to do
(09:02:35 AM) Linux User: Anyways - MacBook pro - does it have more than one button?
(09:02:45 AM) Mac User: FUCK NO!!!!
(09:02:49 AM) Linux User: Alright, nevermind then.
(09:02:58 AM) Mac User: now, shoo
(09:02:59 AM) Linux User: I was going to buy one, because they're sexy.
(09:03:01 AM) Mac User: go buy a dell
(09:03:22 AM) Linux User: Dell is increasing their Linux support.
(09:03:23 AM) Linux User: :)
(09:05:19 AM) Mac User: that is to say that they now have some kind of linux support?
(09:05:52 AM) Linux User: They've always had Linux support, but it's been somewhat hidden.
(09:06:00 AM) Mac User: pphhhht
(09:06:12 AM) Linux User: They're increasing client awareness of the option, now.
(09:06:29 AM) Mac User: ya know, it really doesn't mean anything to me
(09:07:11 AM) Linux User: I was considering purchasing a Macbook and installing Ubuntu on it, for my laptop.
(09:07:25 AM) Mac User: I can run any other OS I want, should I happen to have a sudden drop in IQ, and my machine is pretty awesome.....so....
(09:07:55 AM) Mac User: why would you buy a Mac to run something you can run on a dell?
(09:08:01 AM) Mac User: why?
(09:08:04 AM) Linux User: Because Macs are sexier?
(09:08:08 AM) Linux User: I don't want an ugly dell.
(09:08:23 AM) Mac User: uh, yeah, and at least half the "sexier" is in the GUI
(09:08:28 AM) Linux User: Not at all.
(09:08:35 AM) Linux User: My GUI is 100% more teh sex.
(09:08:45 AM) Mac User: ......wow
(09:08:47 AM) Mac User: um
(09:08:48 AM) Linux User: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzb3MSp82Vs
(09:08:49 AM) Mac User: no
(09:08:51 AM) Linux User: :)
(09:09:05 AM) Linux User: You can't install Beryl or even Compiz in MacOS, can you?
(09:09:46 AM) Mac User: ooh....pretty....gimmicks.....
(09:10:08 AM) Linux User: Oh, is there an equivalent of workspaces in MacOS?
(09:10:17 AM) Mac User: in Leopard, yeah
(09:10:24 AM) Linux User: That's this next version, right?
(09:10:30 AM) Mac User: yizzur
(09:10:34 AM) Linux User: Awesome.
(09:10:43 AM) Mac User: "Spaces"
(09:10:49 AM) Linux User: Lol.
(09:10:59 AM) Linux User: We Linux folk have had that for years.
(09:11:00 AM) Mac User: http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/spaces.html
(09:11:01 AM) Linux User: But anyways.
(09:11:15 AM) Mac User: again....I don't care, and you're the only one who noticed
(09:11:34 AM) Linux User: LOL. Awesome argument. :x
(09:11:43 AM) Mac User: I don't argue anymore
(09:12:03 AM) Mac User: If you've bigoted yourself into using PC
(09:12:10 AM) Mac User: s, thats ur own fault
(09:12:44 AM) Linux User: Well, if I can't "uninstall MacOS" - or heaven forbid, order it without MacOS, like I can order most PCs without any OS, for a significant price reduction...
(09:12:49 AM) Linux User: It's not worth getting a Dell.
(09:12:52 AM) Linux User: Or any "PC".
(09:13:02 AM) Linux User: Or an Apple, for that matter.
(09:13:08 AM) Linux User: Dell, I can do that with, though.
(09:13:17 AM) Linux User: I share your Microsuck hatred.
(09:13:18 AM) Linux User: I really do.
(09:13:23 AM) Mac User: you make that sound like a feature
(09:13:24 AM) Linux User: But I also hate MacOS with a passion.
(09:13:32 AM) Mac User: for no reason
(09:13:37 AM) Linux User: No, for full reason.
(09:13:42 AM) Mac User: there's 2 sides of the fight, dude
(09:13:46 AM) Linux User: It's a *nix OS, without all the good stuff.
(09:13:48 AM) Mac User: Apple, and mico$ith
(09:13:57 AM) Linux User: Then there's Linux. ;D
(09:14:05 AM) Linux User: We're not part of the fight, we've already won.
(09:14:06 AM) Mac User: you're out in the woods trying to be a nonconformist
(09:14:22 AM) Linux User: Not at all, actually, I started using Linux because most of my friends were.
(09:14:23 AM) Linux User: :/
(09:14:28 AM) Mac User: yeah, 2% market share. WOO HOO!!!!
(09:14:36 AM) Linux User: 55% of the server share. :/
(09:14:48 AM) Linux User: I think it's above 60, actually?
(09:14:58 AM) Mac User: http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/
(09:15:01 AM) Mac User: > you
(09:15:16 AM) Linux User: Why, exactly, would I run MacOS as a server? When I have Linux?
(09:15:23 AM) Linux User: You don't have a package manager (apt)
(09:15:40 AM) Linux User: apt-get install apache2 php mysql
(09:15:42 AM) Linux User: Done.
(09:15:48 AM) Mac User: you wouldn't
(09:15:58 AM) Mac User: and that's your business
(09:16:04 AM) Mac User: why are you talking to me again?
(09:16:20 AM) Mac User has signed off.

And that was him blocking me. Mac people really do think differently.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Friday, February 02, 2007

Progeny of Monotony

A big subject of contention in my life is my job. I work 60 hours a week, for less than minimum wage. I deal with clueless customers who are often surprised by my perfect greeting, as I am often complimented, sometimes chastised, on my well-rehearsed voice. Sometimes I think we lose call volume because I sound like an answering machine. Hah! It shall be no more, tonight was a successful night of Trixbox PBX goodness, our entire system is on the first run using the IVR answering. I digress.

My job sucks. I earn $5/hr, working what is supposed to be 60 hours a week, but is slowly dwindling downward. The stress of paying rent, utilities, and heaven forbid taxes on such a budget is indomitable: I can't imagine adding insurance and gas to this, when I get a car up and running. The love of my life chastises me for it, and I can't tell her enough how much I really do hate it. I do not have a working car, and I do not yet have insurance to provide the DMV with proof that I do have insurance, so I don't have a license. There are fast food places within walking distance, surely. Ideally, if I had a car, I could be an on-call Engineer and earn maybe an extra hundred bucks a week. Sure, I earn $33/hr as a consultant, but when business is the equivalent of dysentery on a hot summer day, I earn jack for nothing. Of course, in this scenario, it is difficult to find the finances to afford a car to begin with.

It's hard in these circumstances to even consider such things as school, a degree, or better living conditions. It's devastating to me, my life, my relationships, and everything that cascades on from such. It doesn't help when the doors in my house are left open, dissipating what little heat I've trapped in the kitchen into the other frozen rooms of my apartment. Piles of dirty dishes plague the sink, and I'm never home to wash them. Wait, remind me again why I'm washing someone else's dirty dishes? Oh, that's right - my apartment would be even dirtier if it weren't for the thirty minutes a night I spend after getting home from spending the remainder of my free time with Amber. Of course, directly after, shower and bed. Only to wake in the morning for work at 0800. Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. Friday. Saturday.

If only people were patient, if only I could let them into my world. Unfortunately, I'm expecting a box to be placed on my doorstep any day now, with all of the various items I've gifted out over the past year and a half. There's nothing I can do to stop it, as far as I can tell, except to go work at Subway. I wish I could tell her that it'd be by the grace of God if I got out of that position, once I went there. No, it's not understood. It can't be understood. How long can one love without being loved in return? The sad thing is, it is in both ways. How sick and maniacally twisted is that?