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GRAFFITI -- November 24, 2008 thru November 30, 2008>> Link to the Current Week <<Last Week << Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun >> Next Week Welcome to Orb Graffiti, a place for me to write daily about life and computers. Contrary to popular belief, the two are not interchangeable. About eMail - I publish email sometimes. If you send me an email and you want privacy or anonymity, please say so clearly at the beginning of your message. |
 
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November 24, 2008
No Post.
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November 25, 2008
No Post..
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November 26, 2008
1225 - Whoops! I've got a lunch break, so ... We've got people out on vacation and people out on required training, while the phones and email requests seem to be running at about double normal rate. Probably that's because some of the folks who normally do stuff in other departments are out, too. Doesn't make it easy for those left, grin. Monday and Tuesday were much like that. It's ramping down a bit now, as perhaps enough more of the staff is out, travelling for tomorrow, that we're into a holding action, rather than trying to get anything done.
I use Mac and Linux at home, Linux and Solaris and Windows at work. Every time I start to think about going all-Mac at home, I remember that there's stuff that's trivial to do under Linux that's more ... challenging ... on the Mac. The occasion behind this topic was ruminations on a new system over the weekend. I was looking at iMac, the Mac Pro, and more ... comparing them to a system that I might build for myself, running Linux. The Mac Pro is pretty, and powerful, and starts at a loony price then heads into the stratosphere. I can buy or build an equivalent system for 50% of what Apple wants in Recession Dollars. The iMac 24" is a sight more tempting. 24" glossy 1920x1200 screen, "small" footprint (no tower, everything's in the monitor chassis), Core 2 Duo, 2G of RAM, 320G HD, decent ATI video card. All that and it runs a very nice operating system, for $1,800.
The problem is that I can do better. If I want to run Linux, I can build an extraordinarily nice system, with a fast Quad Core 2 chip, 4G of faster RAM, room for way more storage, and an equivalent monitor from Samsung for about $1500. But then, I really don't need that. Not "need", as such. While the AMD 64 X2 system is no slouch, it's a fair sight slower than a new quad core box would be. Probably my best user-experience choice would be to just go for the nicer, bigger monitor at the moment — that'd be useful for now and for whatever system comes next. Certainly cheaper than any of the other alternatives. Of course, cheaper still (and more pruduent for the time being) would be to make no change at all. For Bog's sake, I certainly don't have a need.
We'll be keeping an extra eye out for the next few days, since neighbors often travel over the holidays. Linda's watching Pogo for a few days, and we've got a turkey breast to roast. Not a whole bird this year, I think. Anyway, this is enough for a midday post on a working day. Ciao!
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November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! And we have an immense amount to be thankful for, so I'm gonna get to it. Ciao!
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November 28, 2008
No Post..... for reasons that will become obvious.
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November 29, 2008
1951 - Bob was right. It was a very strange week. Yeah, we made the pilgrimage to Chez Thompson for the Thanksgiving holiday. While it is always relaxing and very pleasant to visit with Bob, Barbara, and the boys (this visit being no exception), the oddity was that there was virtually no day that someone wasn't sick or immediately recovering therefrom. A rampant virus (my guess) with a 4 day incubation period and two days of contaigous pre-symptomatic cycle (resulting from Bob and I trying to figger it out) whipped through the house. I was the "lucky" one - I have such a cast iron stomach that while both Marcia and I came down with it in the middle of the night between Thursday and Friday, I was able to scrape by with just some lower GI issues. The good thing was that as it was such a fast mover, I got Marcia taking water and crackers by mid-morning on Friday, and graduated her to soup by evening. That enabled us to make the trip safely home today, instead of imposing on the Thompsons for another recouperative day. Still, we had fun with systems, got in a bit of shopping, at some good food and enjoyed the holiday meal with Barbara's family, and watched some of the Roy Marsden Inspector Dalgliesh things (from the P. D. James novels).
Today's drive home was uneventful, neither our best trip-time nor our worst. We were home before dark. Now, the dogs are telling me that it's almost time for their evening treat. Can't disappoint 'em, can I? Ciao!
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November 30, 2008
1921 - Slow Sunday... While I didn't catch that bug full force, I do feel as if I'm fighting something or other. So I wasted essentially the whole day after shopping was done - I played World of Warcraft. Now I've got some comfort food heating - chili from the summer garden stock. Yum, in advance. But there's still something to do here.
Our hats are off to the finest men and women in the universe: the United States Armed Forces. Their sacrifices, principled honor in service to our nation were near the top of my list as I gave thanks for many things this year. Y'all are awesome! Our condolences to the family, friends, and units of the fallen.
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Visit the rest of the DAYNOTES GANG, a collection of bright minds and sharp wits. Really, I don't know why they tolerate me <grin>. My personal inspiration for these pages is Dr. Jerry Pournelle. I am also indebted to Bob Thompson and Tom Syroid for their patience, guidance and feedback. Of course, I am sustained by and beholden to my lovely wife, Marcia. You can find her online too, at http://www.dutchgirl.net/. Thanks for dropping by.
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