Monday, July 25, 2005

The Holy Trinity

It's probably the best thing to come out of the Apple-Intel announcement. The Holy Trinity of operating systems. Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. All installed on a single machine. Trial-boot, triad-boot, whatever the "3" version of the word "dual" is. One of the biggest reasons I'd buy an Intel-powered Mac.

Well, someone has already done it. Ross Carlson and Joel Wampler setup a Mactel with OS X Intel, Win XP SP2, and CentOS 4.

Now, I'd prefer FC4 as my Linux. Appearantly they had problems with it. And I'm fully confident that the Fedora team will have that one figured out by the time Intel Macs are available to the public.

These are the types of things that made me fall in love with computers in the first place.

Sunday, July 17, 2005

If you give a mouse a cookie...

...he's going to want a glass of milk.

Similarly, if you gave me a copy of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", I'm going to read it. Try as I might with all my will power, once the book was in my possession, I'd use nearly every free moment I have to enjoy Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts.

How'd I get charmed by the young wizard's spell? Good question. We're going back. Way back. Back into time.

It's August 2003. This was my last summer staying at my parents' place in the Marshall Islands. The Army Corps of Engineers had no need for me anymore, since they had managed to hold onto a secretary for the past year, and she would not be leaving on vacation at any time during the summer. So, I got stuck helping to watch kindergarters (and a few older kids in the late afternoon). On the shelf, lay that first Potter book.

So, what the hell? I was bored off my ass anyway. I started reading. I had already seen the movie (one of the perks of my dad supervising the video rental place and bringing home the newest DVD's before they were made available to the general public). Took me a few days to read it.

Then, my dad brings home two books. Numbers 1 and 4. Both hardcover. And of no use, since I had already, and only, finished the first. I needed another book. So, I bought the second one. Sadly, I was only able to find it in paperback. My goal was to read it on the plane trip back to Fargo. I finished the second one somewhere between Honolulu and Fargo, so I picked up the third in the airport bookstore (don't even remember what city that was). Then, the fourth. Finished all four with the month of August.

This was also the summer that #5 came out. I was having a little trouble finding it. So, my boss and friend Dave let me borrow his copy (or was it his roommates...?). During a Labor Day Weekend trip to a friend's cabin, I started the fifth book and finished it in about a week.

I wouldn't necessarily say that I enjoyed the books. Maybe more satisfied than anything else. Proud that I had actually read a book for the first time in years. What truly made the whole experience enjoyable was having someone to discuss it with. My friend Jim's girlfriend, Becky, was a big fan of the series. When she was at the lake cabin, and subsquently during her visits to Fargo, I would go off on what I liked and didn't like about the stories. Like my problems with Quidditch. Rowling's great writing style. Other things that I can't recall at this time.

In the day or so leading up to the release of this newest book, I thought it might be fun to go to one of the many local stores in Fargo for the midnight openings. Just to find amusement in saying that I was there when it went on sale. Kind of like Star Wars nerds lining up for weeks before the movie opens. Better yet, sell my spot in the line for a quick $20, then go to the end of the line and do it again. But I never acted upon this. I wasn't THAT desparate for it. Or bored for that matter.

So, I was in Target today, picking up a few things, when I saw that they still had like 40-50 copies on their shelves. I'm guessing they started with about 60 or 80. On sale for $17. What the hell. I'll eventually have to buy it and read it anyway (although I never got around to buying Order of the Phoenix yet).

Waiting for my favorite TV show, Stargate SG-1, to come on. I started reading it. And I fear I won't be able to put it down until I finish it. I'll reserve it for those moments when I'd normally read the paper at work during my lunch break. Or when there's nothing good on TV. Maybe a chapter before I go to bed. I just hope it doesn't interfere with anything else I need to do.

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Come down on the street and dance with me

A big thanks to Rivers Cuomo for unknowingly letting me use one his song lyrics for the title of this post.

You ever seen a shaving commercial? For shaving gel or disposable razors? The guys in those commercials always appear to be shaving with the grain. Now, I do it too. But aren't you supposed to shave against the grain? Tell me about it, 'cuz I'm questioning my own beliefs here.

I can understand not giving idiots who run out onto the playing area at a sporting event the satisfaction of appearing on television, but it's so entertaining when players start beating the hell out of them. Those moments give us some great highlights. Like that time Dick Butkus leveled an idiot at a Bears game. Classic.

Why do they even bother having refs in Pro Wrestling? No one listens to them. They serve no purpose. They can't keep order, especially when more wrestlers join the fracas.

The perfect muffin would be large. Like a half pound or something. Crunchy texture on top, but light and fluffy inside. Sweet and buttery. Warm. And plain. If they make plain muffins... Fruit fillings, like blueberry, are OK if used sparringly. But they usually just get in the way and don't taste so great.

Speaking of which, I just found out that the state muffin of Minnesota is blueberry. Why, oh why, did they need a state muffin? If you're a Minnesotan, you should be ashamed of yourself. Damn kids.

God, they even have a state mushroom. Good lord...

Learn this and other fun facts at Wikipedia. I find it to be a very educational, interesting, and enjoyable site. Learning can be fun. And knowledge is power.

If I threw my unopened bottle of soda out the space shuttle's airlock, what would happen to it? Would it explode open because of the carbon dioxide gas trying to equalize the air pressure on the inside and outside, or explode due to the increase in heat. Would the side of the bottle not facing the sun cool off, like nearly freeze?

Ah, it doesn't matter. I prefer cans. Conversely, beer should be stored in glass bottles. It tastes better, and you'll never know when you need a weapon to defend yourself with in a bar fight.

The person who downloads the 500 millionth iTunes song will win, among other things, 10 iPods. Who came up with this stupid idea? Why would anyone ever need more than 1? Hell, why even give away an iPod at all? If you're buying iTunes, you've probably already got one to begin with. The winner would be better off with $5000 cash. Save him the time from putting them up on eBay.

No need to thank me, I'm just doing my job.

Friday, July 8, 2005

Transition offense

OK, let's start off talking about some summer movies...

Steve Buscemi is the perfect actor if you have a creepy guy role in your movie.

Scarlett Johansson is a beautiful young actress who carries herself with a lot of grace. You don't see that very often these days.

This movie Stealth, starring Jessica Biel and Jamie Foxx, is one of those movies that looks like it's so bad, that you just have to go see it to find out how really bad it is.

Making a new "Bad News Bears" movie seems like a terrible travesty and big hornets' nest, but if they must, I think Billy Bob Thornton was a perfect fit as the coach.

Almost as horrible: Mrs. Doubtfire 2. Are they totally out of ideas in Hollywood?

Speaking of rehashed garbage: Herbie is a VW Beetle. A classic one. Definitately not made in the U.S.A. Therefore, it could not be used to race in the NASCAR Nextel Cup circuit. Just like Disney to fuck up the world and write their own twisted reality to sell movie tickets.

DEI needs to add another team member if they want to find success in NASCAR's major league. Another experienced driver and crew. I don't think Martin Truex Jr. is there yet. Three or four cars would give DEI what it needs to achieve it's ultimate goal: a Dale Jr. championship.

Is it just me, or is Michael Waltrip the goofy, sidekick neighbor to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s leading man? Watching any commercial with the two of them... it's like they should be in a sitcom or something.

Saturday, July 2, 2005

Internet Beer!!

Visit the web site for a beer company, like Budweiser, Miller, or Coors. Notice how you have to put in your birthdate to enter? They're trying to keep out minors. Like how porn sites do (or so I've been told...).

I can understand why they would want to do so. You don't want to advertise to minors, contribute to underage drinking, yadda, yadda.

It seems so damn silly. Any kid who knows how to use the internet should be able to the basic math needed to determine what year they should enter to make them appear old enough to drink. Kids are also quite adept at obtaining alcohol. It can't be THAT much of a deterrent. Where there's a will, there's a way.

Oh, if you're interested, Heineken's Dutch site only asks if you're older than 18. The answer you're looking for is "DA". But don't drink it. It's a vile tasting beer and even worse when warm.

Friday, July 1, 2005

Get into the groove

Have you ever noticed that a TV show doesn't get good until its 3rd season? It seems that the writers and creators and such need those first two seasons to work out the kinks, develop the characters, get the right look, etc. And after a show does get good in its third season, I have a hard time going back and watching episodes from the first two. Especially the shows I like most; any Next Generation-based Star Trek, Stargate SG-1, Simpsons, Seinfeld.

Of course, some shows become unwatchable after further tweaking. Like Happy Days, after Richie and Ralph joined the Army and got stationed in Iceland. No good. I like the Fonz, but Henry Winkler couldn't carry the show by himself, IMO. And ER, after Green, Benton, Ross, and Hathaway left (and the death of Kellie Martin's character didn't help any either). I can't even tell you who's on there now. That 70s Show is going to be the same way once the new season starts. Some of those kids are leaving, and it's going to be way too different for me to continue watching.

Then you have shows that always work, no matter what season. M*A*S*H, Scrubs, South Park, The Red Green Show. Nearly any episode, any season, I'll watch it.
All page content ©PFritz21.NET 2004-2010