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GRAFFITI -- July 05, 2010 thru July 11, 2010 >> Link to the Current Week << Last Week << Mon   Tues   Wed   Thu   Fri   Sat   Sun >> Next Week Search this site : 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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July 5, 2010

Wait for it ....

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July 6, 2010

Zucchini

2059 - Trying to drop back into the groove. I managed 470 calories on the elliptical tonight. Before that I went out into the garden and applied some extra water, since it hit 102°F today (tomorrow we're due for an extra couple of degrees). I looked once, then twice, and saw that while I turned my back for about 24 hours, the zucchini plants had gone wild. None of the pictured vegetables were of pickable size yesterday evening, and tonight they're at the top end of the range for steaming. Any bigger and they're casserole fodder (exactly like cannon fodder, except with food, instead of people - cassaroles are the shock troops of the culinary arsenal, ready to absorb the first attack of hunger, then leave the diner vunerable to precision recipes).

In lighter news, the only thing I really got done this weekend was to finish playing Half Life 2 through to the end. Yep, less than 6 years after the game launched, I finally beat the bloody thing. I think I'll go back and take on Pong, next. In reality, though, I continued on and played through HL2 Episode One. Not very useful preparation for returning to work, though. Unlike some corporate situations, I don't work with zombies or antlions. Now, for a late supper... Ciao!

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July 7, 2010

No Post...

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July 8, 2010

2108 - Somehow I manage to stay busy. One thing I re-learned recently is that when you choose to open a URL from a terminal window via the right-click context menu, there are a number of browsers that might open it. One was, Konqueror. Unfortunately, I really wanted to have the link pop up in a tab in the already running Firefox instance. What I relearned was the update-alternatives command. By typing sudo update-alternatives –config x-www-browser, I was able to select Firefox, and have that selection active immediately for activities that invoke the system's default web browser. Maybe I'll just remember this, next time, instead of having to spend valuable gtime on something I once knew.

Does this make everyone else angry, too: "...Obama ordered that [NASA Administrator Charles Boden's] "foremost" assignment was "to reach out to the Muslim world ... to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math and engineering." Um, WTF??? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

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July 9, 2010

No Post.....

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July 10, 2010

No Post......

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July 11, 2010

2132 - Busy on assorted projects. Also, I'm currently reading Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon The Deep. I would say re-reading, but it's been so long that, a couple of hundred pages in, I only recognize the major plot lines, and a couple of characters ... along with a pretty good sense of where the story's going to go. But then, I could be wrong about that. We had rain yesterday, the first of any substance in five or six weeks — about an inch or a shade more. No, I'm not keeping track with the rain sensor at the moment. The battery went flat, and I lost a bunch of data as a result. So, I'm thinking that I'll get something monitored by the computer, that'll tell me when the battery goes flat. But not this week, as we're still focused on keeping the coffers filling up, and personal automated weather monitoring is just too far down the disposable income list.

This evening, I helped Linda fettle her new laptop, and got several gigs of older data moved over from the 6+ year old {Com|HP}paq piece of poo. Stunning speed difference, needless to say. And, also computer related, I've been noted for repeating the phrase, "Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not watching." But why would Eric Cole start following me on Twitter? He's one of the really smart guys I should be (am, now) following.

In the week since America celebrated her 234th birthday, DoD reported the loss of thirteen more brave men, all in Afghanistan. Our condolences to the families and units of the fallen.

• Sgt. Louis R. Fastuca, 24, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, died July 5 at Abdulhamid Kalay, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
• Spc. Clayton D. McGarrah, 20, of Harrison, Arkansas, died July 4 at Arghandab, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device and rocket-propelled grenade fire.
• Pfc. David Jefferson, 23, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, died July 2 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device.
• Sgt. Jordan E. Tuttle , 22, of West Monroe, La., died July 2 at Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries suffered in a non-combat related incident.
• Pfc. Edwin C. Wood, 18, of Omaha, Nebraska, died July 5 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
• Staff Sgt. Christopher F. Cabacoy, 30, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, died July 5 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
• Sgt. Andrew J. Creighton, 23, of Laurel, Delaware, died July 4 in Oruzgan province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained on July 1 while conducting combat operations in Oruzgan province.
• Pfc. Jacob A. Dennis, 22, of Powder Springs, Georgia, died July 3 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries sustained June 30 in a weapons system accident at Forward Operating Base Lane, Afghanistan (Zabul province).
• Spc. Keenan A. Cooper, 19, of Wahpeton, North Dakota, died July 5 in Yakuta, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when insurgents attacked their unit using an improvised explosive device.
• Spc. Jerod H. Osborne, 20, of Royse City, Texas, died July 5 in Yakuta, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when insurgents attacked their unit using an improvised explosive device.
• Staff Sgt. Marc A. Arizmendez, 30, of Anaheim, California, died July 6 at Qalat, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
• Spc. Roger Lee, 26, of Monterey, California, died July 6 at Qalat, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
• Pfc. Michael S. Pridham, 19, of Louisville, Kentucky, died July 6 at Qalat, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device.

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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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