Today, I received a notice from Ubuntu that a major upgrade was ready. Specifically, the system was ready to upgrade from version 9.04 (called "Jaunty Jackalope") to version 9.10 (called "Karmic Koala"). Being the trusting type, I hit the "Upgrade" button. As the upgrade progressed, I received a few errors, namely that "OpenOffice" was running. I managed to kill the processes, though for some reason it kept coming back. Anyway, there wasn't anything that said, "This is a MAJOR error! ABORT! ABORT! ABORT!" Two hours later, it finished. I restarted the computer and thought, "Hey! Looks great!" Wanted to go on about my business. Just before the upgrade finished, I was listening to some music. So I wanted to continue listening.
Only problem is my sound wasn't working. And still isn't working. Also, every time I reboot my computer, the icons on my desktop all shift back to the left side of the screen. (I have certain ones that I explicitly put on the right side of the screen.) And sometimes Skype doesn't start up. And also when I reboot or shutdown, I get a pop-up window that says an "unknown" process is still running.
Suffice to say, I'm far less than thrilled. I went to the Ubuntu forums and found someone else with a similar problem on the sound. He managed to get his problem resolved. I didn't. That was topped by someone called "lovinglinux" who came on and told me tersely that I was on the wrong thread. It was a kubuntu thread, and I was ubuntu. Despite the fact that the original creator of the thread was actually helping me. At the time, I was thinking, "Well, bite me, "lovinglinux", you arrogant, kubuntu prick!" I've calmed down since then and realized he was trying to save me from possibly getting bad information. But as mad as I was at the time, he was "wrong thing to say at the wrong time".
I've scoured the internet (both Ubuntu forums and non-Ubuntu ones) hoping, praying to find a fix. Somewhere. Somehow. And I've come up empty. Seems that a LOT of people are having similar issues. I'm now backing up all of my data on Ubuntu because. I. Am. Going. To. Have. To. Start. Over.
No, waiting is not an option. I need sound NOW. I need Skype to work reliably NOW. I need the sound because I use it with Skype. And I need both of them NOW. So, as I'm typing this, I have data backup in progress. Once it's finished, I'm going to start over with a fresh install, which seems to work better for most people. Still, this will be 6+ hours out of my life, not to mention the future time to re-install much of the software I've come to rely on. Freemat & Octave. Google Earth. Wireshark. Wine. Crossloop on Wine. Paint Shop Pro on Wine. And the list goes on. And this is time that I could have been spending doing real work.
Does this mean I'm dissuaded from Linux? Hardly. But if you're considering making the switch, wait a few more weeks.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Loading Digital Images under Ubuntu Linux
After loading Ubuntu Linux (ver 9.04, aka Jaunty Jackalope), one of the things on my list that I needed was the ability to download images from my two digital cameras. One was an older Sony Mavica CD-R camera. The other was a newer Canon Powershot SD870. Under WinXP, it was pretty much plug-n-play.
The good news was that it was just that easy with Ubuntu. I literally plugged them into the USB cord I keep on the desktop for just such a purpose, turned on the camera, and voila! I'm downloading pictures. After plugging in the camera and turning it on, a new folder popped up on the desktop. It was as if I'd plugged the digital storage card (for the Canon) or CD (for the Sony) into the computer. All I had to do was to select the pictures I wanted to copy then paste them into the folder on the computer where I wanted them to go. Now, it didn't pop up a "wizard" of any kind. So you have to know how to do basic copy-&-paste operations.
The even better part was that downloading them from either device seems to be as fast, and probably faster, than under Windows.
I consider this one less thing off of the list before Windows can go "bye-bye" for good.
The good news was that it was just that easy with Ubuntu. I literally plugged them into the USB cord I keep on the desktop for just such a purpose, turned on the camera, and voila! I'm downloading pictures. After plugging in the camera and turning it on, a new folder popped up on the desktop. It was as if I'd plugged the digital storage card (for the Canon) or CD (for the Sony) into the computer. All I had to do was to select the pictures I wanted to copy then paste them into the folder on the computer where I wanted them to go. Now, it didn't pop up a "wizard" of any kind. So you have to know how to do basic copy-&-paste operations.
The even better part was that downloading them from either device seems to be as fast, and probably faster, than under Windows.
I consider this one less thing off of the list before Windows can go "bye-bye" for good.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Thursday, October 08, 2009
The Realization
Many have said it, but it's rare when I agree. I'm an idiot. In one of my previous posts ranting about Linux, I was comparing it to Windows. I knew (and still know) Windows fairly well. The problem was that I was upset with Linux, of which I knew (and know) little, against something I knew well. Not a fair comparison.
Now that I have Linux to play (and learn) from, I've found that Linux has much more to offer than Windows. One of the best things is transparency. Linux does not try to hide anything. On the contrary, it gives you the opportunity to see everything. By way of analogy, imagine buying a car and having the hood welded shut. That's Windows. Linux is just the opposite. It not only has a transparent hood, the hood can be opened and the different parts examined to whatever degree you like. A further analogy is what is provided on the dashboard. A Windows dashboard would have the basics (speedometer, perhaps a fuel gauge) whereas a Linux dashboard would look like that of a 747. Gauges, dials, switches and levers everywhere.
So, those are my realizations. Now that I have my head out of my... motherboard, I can see that Linux will allow me far greater opportunities than Windows ever will.
Now that I have Linux to play (and learn) from, I've found that Linux has much more to offer than Windows. One of the best things is transparency. Linux does not try to hide anything. On the contrary, it gives you the opportunity to see everything. By way of analogy, imagine buying a car and having the hood welded shut. That's Windows. Linux is just the opposite. It not only has a transparent hood, the hood can be opened and the different parts examined to whatever degree you like. A further analogy is what is provided on the dashboard. A Windows dashboard would have the basics (speedometer, perhaps a fuel gauge) whereas a Linux dashboard would look like that of a 747. Gauges, dials, switches and levers everywhere.
So, those are my realizations. Now that I have my head out of my... motherboard, I can see that Linux will allow me far greater opportunities than Windows ever will.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
The Beginning of the End
I realized that, in a previous post, I'd ranted about I'd ranted about problems I was having with Linux. Specifically, I was using a version of Linux called Ubuntu. I'd tried Ubuntu and found it wanting.
Not too long ago, I started a new job that required me to having a much deeper understanding of programming. Frankly, that was one thing I remembered that Linux did real well. Perl, C, C++, you name it. Long story short, I wound up loading Linux onto a hand-me-down computer. After playing with the latest version of Ubuntu (9.04, the Jaunty Jackalope), I was pleasantly surprised. It did much of what I needed it to do right out of the box. Therefore, I've decided to make this permanent. I'm not going to make the leap completely. I've found that I still need Windows because there are still some things only it can do. But the transition has begun.
I plan on keeping a running log of my transition to Linux (and away from Windows) on this blog. Future posts will go through the various steps (loading Linux and adding functionality).
Not too long ago, I started a new job that required me to having a much deeper understanding of programming. Frankly, that was one thing I remembered that Linux did real well. Perl, C, C++, you name it. Long story short, I wound up loading Linux onto a hand-me-down computer. After playing with the latest version of Ubuntu (9.04, the Jaunty Jackalope), I was pleasantly surprised. It did much of what I needed it to do right out of the box. Therefore, I've decided to make this permanent. I'm not going to make the leap completely. I've found that I still need Windows because there are still some things only it can do. But the transition has begun.
I plan on keeping a running log of my transition to Linux (and away from Windows) on this blog. Future posts will go through the various steps (loading Linux and adding functionality).
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Yeah, I'm Ashamed About the Last 8 Years... NOT!
BUMPED: The update explains why.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I originally published this one, then a friend from Texas (who is a much better writer than I) got ahold of it and polished it. Therefore, this has been slightly modified. The intent remains the same. Only the smackdowns are more well written.
I popped on over to Skippy's List and checked out the latest posting from Michiel, who went into a rather quick discussion of why he's happy that Bush is leaving office.
In a word, "Gack!"
It leads with
Michiel, if you want to rant about how much YOU think Bush sucks, have at it. It’s your opinion and you’re entitled to it. You’re even entitled to say it aloud and in print, but what gets to me is the "I'm ashamed to be an American." statement you made, then dittoed time and again in the comments. This gets to sounding like a therapy session. "Hi, my name is Michiel, and I'm ashamed to be an American." followed by a chorus chiming in, "Hi, Michiel. I’m ashamed, too!"
Were you ashamed when Al-Qaeda tried to blow up the World Trade Center the first time (1993), and Clinton did... nothing? When they blew up Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia and Clinton did... nothing? When suicide bombers blew up the USS Cole and Clinton sent... a couple of missile strikes? When bombers blew up the embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam I didn't hear much talk about shame then. All of these, by the way, happened on Clinton's watch. Did he have anything to do with them? Nope. What did he do about them? Next to nothing, which Al-Qaeda saw as, "Hey, we can kick the living piss of out these people and they won't do anything. What a bunch of pussies! Let's kill more of them!" This is what happens when you do nothing in the face of evil.
You talk about Dubya "being on vacation". Yeah. Vacation. The last sitting president to get a vacation was somewhere in the Coolidge or Roosevelt I administrations. Okay, sure, George W. Bush had absolutely no access to any of his senior staff when he was in Crawford. Nope, none. Completely isolated. No access to phones or e-mail because, well, Texas is obviously a technologically challenged backwater. Right? Hardly - the President of the United States is surrounded by the most extensive and redundant communications system known to man and he literally cannot get away from it.
Regardless, when did the President become the be-all, end-all of this country, and when did we expect the government to come to our aid when things were going wrong?
Since when did this country become a cult of personality? Is the President the only reason to love or hate this country? Apparently so. When Clinton's presidency ended,Alec Baldwin Eddie Vedder stated, "If Bush wins the White House, I'm leaving."
Alas, he didn't follow up on his promise.
When I was growing up, my family expected the government to stay the hell out of our lives, not get more involved. And certainly not to the point where we expect them to hover over us. The people I grew up with called that concept "socialism". We were expected to get through puberty, then move out. We were expected to work our own way through the world, and watch out for ourselves. Which reminds me of Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans. Hey, couldn't have seen that coming. It appeared suddenly out of nowhere with absolutely no warning whatsoever. Just suddenly whacked New Orleans. Everyone's dancing in the bayou one second and underwater the next. No warning messages saying "Leave Now!" All the fault of that EVIL Army Corps of Engineers, no doubt.
And when people DIDN'T leave (you know, on any of those buses left to wind up underwater), then they started screaming for government assistance. When the call comes out, it falls to the government to do, well, everything. The Mayor of New Orleans sat on his hands waiting for the incompetent Governor of Louisiana to do something. But who took the blame when neither did anything? FEMA and George W. Bush, who simply did nothing more than follow the law.
A couple of months later, a flood hit the Midwest. I don't remember hearing about people dying in their homes or looting. Nor did you hear of the National Guard having to be mobilized to handle the populace.
Another one that really gets me is
Oh, and you might want to hold that thought while you’re there, as you might not like the Mexican response.
But, wait, "Fortunately, I haven’t traveled to other countries". Fortunately! FORTUNATELY? So, you've never been anywhere but here but you're willing to throw your entire country under the bus simply because of the President? Yeah, you're truly a proud American. "Proud" in the same way that the President-elect's wife was "proud" to be an American. Well, I have traveled to other countries and have always been glad to be back. And, Texas – what a great place so long as you’re not subjected to the vagaries of Baghdad on the Brazos.
"And since we are on the Texas thing, what the hell is up with your accent?" Yeah, America isn't a melting pot at all. Can't have different dialects merging. That would never do.
In your closing, you stated "I would like to express my feelings by quoting your eloquent Vice President, Dick Cheney..." (It’s a bit lost out of context to its original utterance, by the way.) Instead, I'm going to quote another, eloquent American, Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post.
"Now, please respond with that biting sarcasm for which you are so well known, and bite me."
UPDATE 2009/07/05: Mike the Marine provided a much more curt appraisal of those who would turn this great country into a cult of personality.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I originally published this one, then a friend from Texas (who is a much better writer than I) got ahold of it and polished it. Therefore, this has been slightly modified. The intent remains the same. Only the smackdowns are more well written.
I popped on over to Skippy's List and checked out the latest posting from Michiel, who went into a rather quick discussion of why he's happy that Bush is leaving office.
In a word, "Gack!"
It leads with
"I think about 70% of us can agree..."Well, many of us believe that 50% of all statistics are made up, but I digress.
Michiel, if you want to rant about how much YOU think Bush sucks, have at it. It’s your opinion and you’re entitled to it. You’re even entitled to say it aloud and in print, but what gets to me is the "I'm ashamed to be an American." statement you made, then dittoed time and again in the comments. This gets to sounding like a therapy session. "Hi, my name is Michiel, and I'm ashamed to be an American." followed by a chorus chiming in, "Hi, Michiel. I’m ashamed, too!"
Were you ashamed when Al-Qaeda tried to blow up the World Trade Center the first time (1993), and Clinton did... nothing? When they blew up Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia and Clinton did... nothing? When suicide bombers blew up the USS Cole and Clinton sent... a couple of missile strikes? When bombers blew up the embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam I didn't hear much talk about shame then. All of these, by the way, happened on Clinton's watch. Did he have anything to do with them? Nope. What did he do about them? Next to nothing, which Al-Qaeda saw as, "Hey, we can kick the living piss of out these people and they won't do anything. What a bunch of pussies! Let's kill more of them!" This is what happens when you do nothing in the face of evil.
You talk about Dubya "being on vacation". Yeah. Vacation. The last sitting president to get a vacation was somewhere in the Coolidge or Roosevelt I administrations. Okay, sure, George W. Bush had absolutely no access to any of his senior staff when he was in Crawford. Nope, none. Completely isolated. No access to phones or e-mail because, well, Texas is obviously a technologically challenged backwater. Right? Hardly - the President of the United States is surrounded by the most extensive and redundant communications system known to man and he literally cannot get away from it.
Regardless, when did the President become the be-all, end-all of this country, and when did we expect the government to come to our aid when things were going wrong?
Since when did this country become a cult of personality? Is the President the only reason to love or hate this country? Apparently so. When Clinton's presidency ended,
Alas, he didn't follow up on his promise.
When I was growing up, my family expected the government to stay the hell out of our lives, not get more involved. And certainly not to the point where we expect them to hover over us. The people I grew up with called that concept "socialism". We were expected to get through puberty, then move out. We were expected to work our own way through the world, and watch out for ourselves. Which reminds me of Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans. Hey, couldn't have seen that coming. It appeared suddenly out of nowhere with absolutely no warning whatsoever. Just suddenly whacked New Orleans. Everyone's dancing in the bayou one second and underwater the next. No warning messages saying "Leave Now!" All the fault of that EVIL Army Corps of Engineers, no doubt.
And when people DIDN'T leave (you know, on any of those buses left to wind up underwater), then they started screaming for government assistance. When the call comes out, it falls to the government to do, well, everything. The Mayor of New Orleans sat on his hands waiting for the incompetent Governor of Louisiana to do something. But who took the blame when neither did anything? FEMA and George W. Bush, who simply did nothing more than follow the law.
A couple of months later, a flood hit the Midwest. I don't remember hearing about people dying in their homes or looting. Nor did you hear of the National Guard having to be mobilized to handle the populace.
Another one that really gets me is
"I have never been so embarrased (sic) to say I am from Texas as I have been these last eight years."I haven’t read anything that leaves me with the feeling Texas is all that glad to have you. Tell you what. Head south. Seriously, hop in your jalopy, drive until you hit water, and then take a swim. That, if you'll pardon the cliché, will kill two birds with one stone. You'll no longer have to say you're from Texas OR from America. Instead, you can whine to the President of Mexico, [as world weary as you make yourself out to be, you know who he is, right?] about how he makes you embarrassed (note the spelling... "ss", two of them, as in "ass") to tell people you're from Mexico.
Oh, and you might want to hold that thought while you’re there, as you might not like the Mexican response.
But, wait, "Fortunately, I haven’t traveled to other countries". Fortunately! FORTUNATELY? So, you've never been anywhere but here but you're willing to throw your entire country under the bus simply because of the President? Yeah, you're truly a proud American. "Proud" in the same way that the President-elect's wife was "proud" to be an American. Well, I have traveled to other countries and have always been glad to be back. And, Texas – what a great place so long as you’re not subjected to the vagaries of Baghdad on the Brazos.
"And since we are on the Texas thing, what the hell is up with your accent?" Yeah, America isn't a melting pot at all. Can't have different dialects merging. That would never do.
In your closing, you stated "I would like to express my feelings by quoting your eloquent Vice President, Dick Cheney..." (It’s a bit lost out of context to its original utterance, by the way.) Instead, I'm going to quote another, eloquent American, Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post.
"Now, please respond with that biting sarcasm for which you are so well known, and bite me."
UPDATE 2009/07/05: Mike the Marine provided a much more curt appraisal of those who would turn this great country into a cult of personality.
Friday, May 01, 2009
Problems with Paperport 11 Not Responding
I've had problems with Paperport 11 freezing up (not responding, crashing, whatever). Turns out that my problem is that the thumbnail files (which Paperport names "PP11Thumbs.ptn" and "PP11Thumbs.ptn2") were corrupted. I exited out of Paperport (it was not responding anyway), went into the directory where those files were stored, and deleted them both.
All that does is, when Paperport 11 starts up and you go into that directory, it will take a few extra seconds while it rebuilds the thumbnails. However, it won't freeze up anymore after that.
I have to agree with the many people who are very unhappy with the fact that the program crashes, but this is a work-around until Nuance fixes the problem. If that ever happens.
All that does is, when Paperport 11 starts up and you go into that directory, it will take a few extra seconds while it rebuilds the thumbnails. However, it won't freeze up anymore after that.
I have to agree with the many people who are very unhappy with the fact that the program crashes, but this is a work-around until Nuance fixes the problem. If that ever happens.
Friday, April 03, 2009
The US Patent Office's Secret Patents
I've come to realize that all of the patents currently held by the US Patent Office are secret. How do I know? Well, take a look at this screenshot from my computer (using Firefox Ver. 3.0.8 as my browser). I'm supposed to be looking at an image of a page from one of Edwin Armstrong's patents for frequency modulation. Instead, I'm looking at... nothing. Nothing at all. Why? It seems that the Patent Office, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to use Quicktime to display images. And Firefox appears to have, uh, *issues* with Quicktime.
So my question is simple. Why Quicktime? Why not simple images (JPG, PNG, whatever)? Even Internet Explorer can display those properly.
Sigh.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Respect Earned
I was teaching a small class on all things RF. One of the students was a Marine. He was quiet, but when I would ask general questions of the class, he was one of the ones who would proffer an answer. He also asked lots of questions. But one of the things that I noticed one day was that he was always 15 minutes late. That's unlike any Marine I've ever known. Marines are always punctual. Always. At first, it was annoying. Then I decided to confront him. Well, he beat me to it. On the third day, he came up to me during a break. Looking me straight in the eye, he quietly said, "Sir, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going through a divorce right now." My heart went out to him. Such a thing would be devastating to me. I blurted out, "I'm sorry."
He wasn't looking for sympathy. He was simply passing information. "I wanted you to know that because now I have to get my daughter off to school. So I can't get here til 8:15." I should have known. From then on, I always noted that, right at 8:15, we was walking in the door. But then on the last day, it's test time. Unfortunately, snow has caused a problem. Schools are opening two hours late. He has to stay home with his daughter because he has not been able to set-up childcare yet. We have two tests to get through. He's missed the first one, and we're well into the second when he finally walks... er, charged would be a more apt term... through the door. I handed him a copy of the second test and said, "We'll make up the other one later." Even though the second test is open book / open notes, he simply gets out a single sheet with some precisely written notes, a calculator, a pencil and an eraser. And everything is placed precisely on the desktop in front of him. He goes through the first test in brisk order. He hands it in and says, "Can I take the first one now?" I'm shocked at how quickly he's gone through the test, thinking, "He must have skipped some stuff." But I quickly drop the first test in front of him. He runs through it with the same, brisk pace. When he hands it in less than 15 minutes later (an hour was allotted for the test), I looked around. Despite the fact that he came in late, he breezed through both tests and still finished before several other students.
And how did he do? Well, let me just say that his grades would do ANYone proud, Marine or otherwise.
He wasn't looking for sympathy. He was simply passing information. "I wanted you to know that because now I have to get my daughter off to school. So I can't get here til 8:15." I should have known. From then on, I always noted that, right at 8:15, we was walking in the door. But then on the last day, it's test time. Unfortunately, snow has caused a problem. Schools are opening two hours late. He has to stay home with his daughter because he has not been able to set-up childcare yet. We have two tests to get through. He's missed the first one, and we're well into the second when he finally walks... er, charged would be a more apt term... through the door. I handed him a copy of the second test and said, "We'll make up the other one later." Even though the second test is open book / open notes, he simply gets out a single sheet with some precisely written notes, a calculator, a pencil and an eraser. And everything is placed precisely on the desktop in front of him. He goes through the first test in brisk order. He hands it in and says, "Can I take the first one now?" I'm shocked at how quickly he's gone through the test, thinking, "He must have skipped some stuff." But I quickly drop the first test in front of him. He runs through it with the same, brisk pace. When he hands it in less than 15 minutes later (an hour was allotted for the test), I looked around. Despite the fact that he came in late, he breezed through both tests and still finished before several other students.
And how did he do? Well, let me just say that his grades would do ANYone proud, Marine or otherwise.
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