Linspire gets "thumbs up" award

A looooong time ago, I used to keep a list of what's hot and what's not - not that these lists had any real relevance as they were only how I felt about technologies at the time.

I've recently acquired a second-hand HP Pavilion Desktop PC that had a broken OS. Normally I would shy away from installing a Linux OS on a PC because, although I am a Linux advocate, I don't think Linux is mature enough for the regular end user. It has become a lot better in recent years as the Linux community realises that the regular users are going to be the masses that follow it as the seas part, rather than all those un*x geeks who run it to prove a point.

So anyway, rather than digging up my Win98 CD and installing that, I decided to give Linspire a go. The setup was flawless and didn't skip a beat. Once the installation was completed, I was left with an OS that seems to have full support for the network card I put into it (a generic PCI something or other), the modem (again, a rather generic PCI something or other I suspect), USB support for a mouse (with a scrollwheel that works) and no problems at all detecting possible video modes and refresh rates (which in my experiences, X can be very picky about). As a final test, I suspiciously plugged my SanDisk 256MB USB Key into the USB port and hey presto, an icon appeared on my desktop and the device was auto-mounted.

So Linspire five-oh, you are hereby appointed the Bob's Thumbs Up award for July 2005.

ps. Linspire is not free - standard RRP is US$49.95, but recently a promotional deal allowed me to download an ISO of it with a 100% discount - yup, that's right! Keep an eye out for promo codes for Linspire - search forums etc and you're bound to get a good deal (but not better than the 100% off deal ... probably!)

Pull that tooth

I'm bad. Well, no that's not quite what I mean. I'm bad at going to the Dentist. I last went to the Dentist back in 2002 for an emergency cap on a tooth, but prior to that I hadn't been since high school (about 10 years prior). Anyway, the long and short of it is that now we're back in Dunedin I decided it was time to sort it out.

I had gingivitus - that's gum disease - and it's caused mainly by not brushing properly, or often enough. My gums bled when I brushed and they were red and puffy. I didn't feel any pain though, but apparrently pain can be associated with gum disease. I'm now brushing twice a day with a soft brush (I figured a hard brush would be better because it would clean your teeth better but nope).

I'm at home today because I had one of my teeth pulled. It started hurting badly a couple of weeks ago. My options were to get it pulled or go for a root canal, and after the Dentist pulled the tooth he was relieved that he'd helped me make that decision as a root canal would have been very tricky (not to mention expensive). On the upside of the downside of post-local anasthetic, there's no way that bugger of a tooth is gonna cause me any more pain.

But, over and above all of the details the scariest thing is that I haven't felt a god damn thing in that chair, other than a slight twinge for anasthetic going in. Physically I'm quite relaxed in that dentists chair but the scary thing is no matter how much drilling or scraping and poking they do I don't feel a thing *shudder*

Anyway, if you're thinking that it's time for you to make friends with your local dentist, go now, and remember that it is not acceptable for you to feel any pain at all. If you do, tell him/her to stop and give you more anasthetic.

Fire - not good for Toast

In today's huge fire in Dunedin's CBD something more than a loss of property happened. Irony swiftly arrived on the scene and without regard for human endeavour ensured that Leggy & Tia's "Toast Bar" was indeed toast, not to mention several flats nestled on the upper floors of the Bracken Court Building on Moray Place.

The fire, which broke out today just after 3pm, pushed clouds of black smoke into the air over Dunedin City. It took several people by surprise, including the local police force who when interviewed by 3 News said something along the lines of "We could see the smoke from the station getting worse and worse and thought we'd better get down there".

Two local supermarkets, Centre City New World and Countdown both ran out of marshmallows within minutes of the area being cordoned off.

X2: General Aarghness

We recently had a house-warming and a 0x1E birthday party for me which was great because it was our first big social event that we've held since we got back from doing the whole OE thing. Amongst other things it was great to bump into old friends, in particular 'Bob Wise'. Being an avid game player it wasn't long before he started telling me about cool games and he mentioned X2. I thought 'Hang on a sec, I've got that game'. Indeed I do - legitimately I might add - but I've never really played it.

So anyway, I fired it up and got used to the controls and I'm having fun at the moment trading and exploring etc but I'm stuck on a few key points! I've searched the 'net and looked around, trawled through forums etc but my questions (which I'm sure are n00b questions) still remain unanswered!

So I'm going to see if I can together with Mr. Wise and see if he can give me some tutelage on the game.