Category: Coding

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Encouraged, Excited, Motivated, for more DIY

Yes. I’ve been made fun of for my interest in technology. The fact that I was networking PC’s and turning them into media servers, frontends…
basically the “smart sticks”/dvr’s of today, yet yesterday (almost 20 yrs ago). The difference between then and now, is there wasn’t so much bloatware, advertising, tracking, marketing. It was glorious, no one could even imagine a “data center” back then. What would we use one of those for?

Has anyone seen/used the current Pi? Stupid question. At some point they found it necessary to embed every new release with a wireless module. In my opinion, this is similar to phone manufacturers making it impossible to remove a phone battery. Furthermore, making a sim card/number “digital”.

At any rate, there is hope. And I realized something. There are still manufactures that are offering alternatives to popular products/brand names. Without the bloatware and onboard/loaded/embedded modules we’ve come to expect from more “commercial” offerings.

I’ve been talking about it for awhile, and it’s the only way I’ve learned in the past. So, I’m probably going to go back to DIY… nerdy stuff.

I’m thinking of you Lisa Loeb. And when those glasses were unique!

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Back to Reality

At this point in the year, we either continue or cancel. Cancel what? Rest easy young friends. Not friends, not family, not pets. I’m speaking of subscriptions. My team had a rebounding year, and it’s the only reason I pay for cable TV. Yes, I love Wolf Blitzer, Kasie Hunt (there’s something about her), Katy Tur, etc. There have even been times that I have binged off of Ari Melber.

Probably too much information, or at this point “tldr”. But I have to think about budget. Maybe, just me. No simile. And I’m thinking, that maybe, just maybe, if I make another move (location)…or set up a new (networked or not) cable/tv system it will involve roof antenna/mythtv (again) and possibly kodi (again). Restricting as much advertising and marketing as possible. Using vpn or otherwise.

Oh, you wanted Back to Reality in a song?

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Varsity Blues

Cinnamon. Pepper. Oregano. Several variants of all. Color, presentation, origin. How many of these factors do professional chefs have to maneuver to create their desired presentation or dish? Many items imported, a few substituted (if need be). Add to that the personal touch, or “special sauce” which creates the perfect flavor. (possibly imported, or with ingredients that are imported).

The idea of America being a “melting pot” is that we have many different cultures, flavors, and heritages. Colors, features, differences, that’s what makes us beautiful. Strong.

When we lose those identities we become weak, clones, at high risk of accepting a “one size fits all” mentality. Easily manipulated by a dictatorial driven media focused on “a strong man”, enforcing theocratic beliefs or an economic system determined to punish the least. And then we look in the mirror, how close do our enemies reflect our own? Values, oppenness to religious acceptance, and the core of our foundation…many of you carried in your pocket. The constitution. The Bible.

We are different. And difference is awesome. Color, belief, tradition, religion. When we become mindless simpletons marching in line to the beat of the same drum, we totally fail in creativity, purpose, and future.

100% Human (Feeling, Emotional)
0% Machine

LTC? Learn to human.

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Backups.

Distrowatch is still around, so is Gparted. And I’m mentioning this because a custom build, and a “deal” gaming PC remain dormant in my computer room. Linux Mint appears to be the winner in the most user friendly Linux operating system (believe it’s an ubuntu/Debian flavor of Linux). It reminds me of PCLinuxOS from years ago. NOTE: PCLinuxOS is back!

The question is, what do you do with two pretty damn nice pcs, after you realize a laptop is more than enough for your needs?

A: Backup (Windows)
A: Backup (Linux, for recovery purposes)

Gimp, Audacity, and even many competing video editors are always nice when proprietary software has issues…hell, many times, they are great alternatives.

Currently running Linux Mint on one of these PC’s, but very surprised to learn PCLinuxOS is back. Might have to check it out.