A Case of the Mondays

It seems like I have been hit with a case of the mondays.  My job (end user tech support at my school) sucks.  I don’t mind helping people — I love it in fact — but I feel like a trained monkey sometimes.  90% of my time is spent resetting passwords.

In any case,  I am usually able to combat this with some of my entertainment sites (see below for the curious), but lately I’ve been looking more for a project to work on.  My learning process is heavily tied to getting something done — I can read a book on Python (or whatever), but for me to understand it, I need a real-world project using it to work on.  No “hello world” application can grab my interest enough.  Perhaps it’s some form of ADD.

So what does this all mean?  I’m becoming restless.  I need a project.  I’ve tried looking into becoming a MOTU, but I’m not sure I fully understand the process (and it’s hard to fix bugs in apps I don’t even use).  Something practical and useful, but not so large as to stretch into months or years.  (At least, I’d like something I can make progress on before months or years.)

Any ideas on ways to combat this crappy boredom?

Mythbusters: Yes to Ubuntu, No to Vista

Jamie Hyneman of Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters (an awesome show) occasionally writes a bit for Popular Mechanics.  This time he’s talking about Technology Headaches.  One of those headaches, as most of the IT world has seen, is Windows Vista.  His solution? Ubuntu Linux.  Pretty awesome that one of the guys that can build ANYTHING chooses Ubuntu.  Now if only we could get a Ubuntu-powered robot out of him. 

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/upgrade/4243994.html?page=1

Gutsy is HERE!

Ubuntu Linux 7.10, the “Gutsy Gibbon”, has arrived!  The mirrors are being hammered, so please use the torrents if possible.  Downloads are at: http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download.  This version of Ubuntu Linux comes with several nice features in addition to the stability that Ubuntu is known for.

• 3D Desktop Effects
• Tracker Desktop Search
• Fast User Switching
• Dynamic X Configuration (Multi-monitor support, rotation, etc.)
• True Printer Autoconfiguration
• NTFS Write Support
• Encrypted Hard Disk Support
• Major Ubuntu Server Changes

iPhone Lawsuit: What are they thinking?

For anyone who knows me, they know I’m all for Open platforms and open source. So it probably comes as a surprise to hear me supporting Apple when they’re being sued over bricked iPhones. But I am.

When a customer buys an iPhone, they AGREE not to attempt to modify it. The warranty SPECIFICALLY excludes modifications, as does the software EULA. They also agree to a 2-year contract with AT&T.

Apple does not have a monopoly on the smart phone market, so this hardly amounts to an anti-competitive practice. You can buy a Treo, or any number of Windows Mobile devices, or even the upcoming Neo 1973.

These people make a mockery of the American civil courts system. Essentially, they agree to a contract, knowing the terms of the contract, and then they run to the courts asking them to invalidate the contract.  Perhaps some people are just too stupid to own an iPhone.  I hope they get kicked out of the courtroom with nothing but a bill for Apple’s attorneys.

Comcast’s Torrent Filtering: Criminal Acts?

According to an article on cnet.com, the manner in which Comcast is filtering BitTorrent traffic may, in fact, be criminal.  Comcast is sending forged RST (reset) packets to the end-user, which may qualify as impersonating with the intent to profit.  (Criminal Impersonation in the 2nd Degree).  Whether or not this plays out in court remains to be seen.

Windows Vista = BSoD

My brother just got a new HP notebook computer running (what else) Windows Vista. (Home Premium, if anyone cares.)  He was forced into the purchase after his previous notebook (and only computer) crashed on Sunday.  Within the first 24 hours of use, Windows Vista had already presented him with the infamous Blue Screen of Death.  Despite all of Microsoft’s best efforts, it would seem that Windows Vista (running on Vista-certified hardware) still has stability issues.

He’s since obtained a copy of the AMD64 build of Ubuntu Linux from me.  Seems like a decent solution to me.

AOL and KaZaA to blame for file sharing?

While I think that the RIAA lawsuits over filesharing are downright despicable, I also think that the Santangelo family really needs a reality check here.  According to this arstechnica article, they are alleging that the makers of KaZaA and AOL, their ISP at the time, are partly culpable for their file sharing.  They allege that Sharman Networks failed to warn them that using the application could allow them to violate the law and that AOL did not block the infringement.

Pirated Software — A problem for Free Software

According to ZD Net, Free Software (Linux et al.) may need to be worried about pirated copies of commercial software.  Apparently your average user would prefer to run an illegally obtained copy of a commercial application than run legitimately free software.  There’s an interesting discussion on this here.  My thinking: it doesn’t matter.  Linux isn’t terribly concerned (yet) about home market share: the business place is where it really excels.  The lack of games and completely legal MP3/DVD/etc. implementations is a bigger hindrance to Linux at home than the availability of pirated copies of Windows.

Linux Gaming

The Micahville blog has an excellent article on why Linux should not be dismissed as a serious gaming platform.  It lists 17 awesome games for Linux, many of which I have not even heard of.  I’m going to give some of them a try later.  I’d really like to hook up a joystick to my computer again to hit up FlightGear.

Windows Guy tries Ubuntu 7.04 — Part Deux

On July 17, I reported on the self-proclaimed “Windows Guy” giving Ubuntu Linux a try.  Well, it’s been two weeks and boy, does he have a lot to say.  Fortunately for the Linux community, it’s almost all good.

His experiences are summarized nicely:

“In the end I’ve been very impressed with Ubuntu. After two weeks of banging under the hood and using it as often as I can, it has shown itself to be stable, fast and customizable. Hardware support is solid and application support is good. It is a tweakers paradise. I can work at work and and home. If I had to I could use it as my day-to-day system and not have many regrets. I’m still not as comfortable with it as I am in Windows, but I’m getting there. I may not be a convert yet, but I am a fan.”