This is an obvious comment, but I wanted to quickly mention the phenomenal difference in sound quality you can get when you take a little bit of time to put together a decent stereo system. I mean, everyone knows that an "audiophile-type" system is going to sound better than something you buy at Future Shop. That said, I don't know if many people are aware of the vast, huge chasm of difference that is present. Music takes on a life of its own when reproduced through a decent setup. I now listen to music "just to listen to music", whereas before I always considered it "background noise", to listen to while doing something else. Now, I can spend hours and hours listening to music - and doing just that.
I assume everyone has heard of the Super-T amplifier - it's cheap, it's really good, and it can make all the difference in the world when compared to a lesser amplifier. Check out TNT Audio (www.tnt-audio.com) - there is a great review on the amplifier. They also have a pre-amp listed there, which gives you multiple analog inputs. For about $250.00, you can set yourself up with an excellent amp/pre-amp that will give you a bit of a taste of higher end audio. Mate these two devices with some decent speakers (or make your own!), and see what all the fuss is about. Of note, Fostex speakers and "bigger is better" boxes - google will show you the way.
That is how I started, and even with that basic setup, $250.00 in electronics and $400.00 in speaker parts, I had a stereo system that blew away pretty much anything I had heard previously. At the time, I was using a Squeezebox and a cheap CD player as a source.
It is a ridiculously fun hobby. But beware. Once you get bit by the audio bug, it is hard to stop.
I have the Sammy wallet, and it is a neat device. Really well made, and it FORCES you to reduce the amount of cruft you carry with you in your wallet. I carry a VISA, AMEX, Debit Card, License, and some folded Cash. It's slim, it's tough, and once you get the hang of pulling the cards out, it is slick as hell. It's a nice product.
Here is a piece of advice that I mention to people whenever the topic of wallets comes up.
GO AND PHOTOCOPY EVERYTHING IN YOUR WALLET, BOTH SIDES.
Stick the photocopy someplace safe. If you ever lose your wallet, you'll have a close approximation of what you lost. I, of course, do not have to do this, given how few cards I carry. But for your George Costanza types out there, this might save your ass one day.
I do have children - one only, actually, a 9 year old son. And you know what - I know that I am not going to be around 24/7 to monitor his activities. I keep an eye on his TV habits (which are minimal), as well as his video game habits (again, which are minimal.) But when he's outside of the home, he's on his own, and there's nothing I can do about it (other than to give him a good moral foundation, arm him with as much logical info/advice as I can, and in general, focus on preparing him for life outside of the home.)
That's where good parenting comes in - letting your kids know that there is all sorts of nasty shit out there that they *will* come into contact with. Swear words. Boobies. Violence. Republicans. Etc. I don't go out of my way to shelter him from this, because it's *reality*, and I'd rather he be equipped to deal with these things. I don't know why people think that sheltering your kids and protecting them from "everything you deem objectionable" is a good idea. It's not. You end up with immature people who are ultimately ill equipped to deal with the reality of life. Take a look at some first year university students, when they finally have a bit of freedom. They go nuts, completely to excess. Why is that? Because they've been totally sheltered from reality.
Ultimately, it's the parents responsibility to teach their kids to deal with reality. Parents must also monitor them to ensure they are developing the right skill sets to do so. Sheltering your kids (or expecting society as a whole to do so) is lazy, and in my opinion, not in the best interest of the kid. Neither is it in the best interest of society.
What good is a piece of paper (ie. the constitution) if your politicians routinely stomp all over it, ignore it, or otherwise interpret it to be compatible with the desires of the day? I would rather have no piece of paper and a government with some semblance of sanity, rather than a piece of paper and a government that does not give a shit what it says.
Actually, I think the exact quote was something like this:
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, and.. well, you know. You can only fool me once, because then I know you fooled me and umm, you know. You won't fool me again, because you already did it once."
"Julian, what the fuck is all this Starbay and stuff about? Sounds fuckin stupid to me."
"Don't worry about it Ricky, it has to do with the Internet."
"The what?"
"The Internet, Ricky. You know, the Internet?"
...
"Where the FUCK is Corey and Trevor? I told those fuckin idiots to be back here an hour ago. My fuckin weed plants need to be guarded and the cats have all run away. Fuckin idiots."
"Ahh fuck, here comes Lahey. Who the FUCK is that in the car with him? That's not Randy."
"Hello, gentlemen. My name is Darl. Apparently you are using linux here in the trailer park, and I want to talk to you about our intellectual property rights, and how they might be applicable to you."
"What the fuck is he saying, Julian?"
"I dunno, Ricky. Bubbles?"
"No fuckin idea, but I don't like the looks of him."
"Me neither, Bubs. Ricky, you have permission to do whatever you want to this sheister."
Aren't you guys sick of shit like this? How hard is it to say "No, we're the *other* Fedora project." Every friggin day you hear about something like this..
Like FUCK - when will this insanity end. Everyone gets so bloody bothered about *everything* these days. If you were to send one day's worth of CNN or Slashdot back to someone in the 70's, they'd look at it sideways and say "What the fuck are these people on?" And the scary thing is that it is getting worse.
This post is (C)opyright XFriday. All Rights Reserved. Patent Pending. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited. Reading the above material constitutes acceptances of my end user license agreement, which you can see if you sign an NDA. I do not tolerate intellectual property infringements and I WILL sue you if you violate any of the terms I have mentioned, and some of the ones I have not mentioned. Fuck off, and have a nice day.
What about naming considerations? When you are talking to your buddies at the bar about which distro you run, this is definately a factor.. You don't want to run a distro with a weak sounding name.
Consider this:
Debian sounds a lot scarier. Like, "up from the depths came the Debian, devouring sailors in its blood-filled, gaping maw." Or "Simmons, go get the debian.. err.. Chupacamathingy.. err warthog.."
Look at the alternatives.. Red Hat? Woop-de doo. How are you going to impress anyone with that? "Umm yeah, it's like a hat.. and.. it's like.. red" Or Mandrake? That's like a tree or grove or something. How can you come up with cool stories running distros that are named like that?
One thing you *have* to get is a good universal remote to control all your TV/STEREO/DVD/etc. gear. I just got one of the top of the line models from Harmony, and this thing *RIPS*. Took me about 10 minutes to set the thing up and it works flawlessly.
When I want to watch TV now, I pick up the remote, scroll the LCD until the "WATCH TV" icon appears, and hit one button. The TV fires up, and tunes to my favourite channel. My stereo receiver power up and kicks over to the proper channel. One button - everything works. Same sort of deal for watching a DVD or tuning to your favourite radio station. It also supports all the PVR gear and a boatload of electronics. All of the updating is done via their web site, which is constantly updated, so that is a great thing -- no futzing with your 12 different remote controls to get it programmed.
It's also got a built in channel selector, which is nice for a little thing called "covert channel surfing", which allows me to only flip around when I see something I like, as opposed to hitting a new channel every second -- while I find it a little slow, my wife appreciates the extra 10 or so seconds she gets to watch a channel.
You'd think it would be pretty simple to make a left handed version. Rotate the display 180 degrees (in software), and have lefties put it on backwards, and flip the pgup/down keys, along with the rocker switch.
The "Back" button would be oriented towards the top (rather than the bottom) and the clasp would probably be a bit weird to put on, but other than that it should be perfect.
Slashdot Mirror
This is an obvious comment, but I wanted to quickly mention the phenomenal difference in sound quality you can get when you take a little bit of time to put together a decent stereo system. I mean, everyone knows that an "audiophile-type" system is going to sound better than something you buy at Future Shop. That said, I don't know if many people are aware of the vast, huge chasm of difference that is present. Music takes on a life of its own when reproduced through a decent setup. I now listen to music "just to listen to music", whereas before I always considered it "background noise", to listen to while doing something else. Now, I can spend hours and hours listening to music - and doing just that. I assume everyone has heard of the Super-T amplifier - it's cheap, it's really good, and it can make all the difference in the world when compared to a lesser amplifier. Check out TNT Audio (www.tnt-audio.com) - there is a great review on the amplifier. They also have a pre-amp listed there, which gives you multiple analog inputs. For about $250.00, you can set yourself up with an excellent amp/pre-amp that will give you a bit of a taste of higher end audio. Mate these two devices with some decent speakers (or make your own!), and see what all the fuss is about. Of note, Fostex speakers and "bigger is better" boxes - google will show you the way. That is how I started, and even with that basic setup, $250.00 in electronics and $400.00 in speaker parts, I had a stereo system that blew away pretty much anything I had heard previously. At the time, I was using a Squeezebox and a cheap CD player as a source. It is a ridiculously fun hobby. But beware. Once you get bit by the audio bug, it is hard to stop.
I have the Sammy wallet, and it is a neat device. Really well made, and it FORCES you to reduce the amount of cruft you carry with you in your wallet. I carry a VISA, AMEX, Debit Card, License, and some folded Cash. It's slim, it's tough, and once you get the hang of pulling the cards out, it is slick as hell. It's a nice product.
Here is a piece of advice that I mention to people whenever the topic of wallets comes up.
GO AND PHOTOCOPY EVERYTHING IN YOUR WALLET, BOTH SIDES.
Stick the photocopy someplace safe. If you ever lose your wallet, you'll have a close approximation of what you lost. I, of course, do not have to do this, given how few cards I carry. But for your George Costanza types out there, this might save your ass one day.
First Response!! WOOT!! (Sorry in advance.)
I think that is a bad argument.
I do have children - one only, actually, a 9 year old son. And you know what - I know that I am not going to be around 24/7 to monitor his activities. I keep an eye on his TV habits (which are minimal), as well as his video game habits (again, which are minimal.) But when he's outside of the home, he's on his own, and there's nothing I can do about it (other than to give him a good moral foundation, arm him with as much logical info/advice as I can, and in general, focus on preparing him for life outside of the home.)
That's where good parenting comes in - letting your kids know that there is all sorts of nasty shit out there that they *will* come into contact with. Swear words. Boobies. Violence. Republicans. Etc. I don't go out of my way to shelter him from this, because it's *reality*, and I'd rather he be equipped to deal with these things. I don't know why people think that sheltering your kids and protecting them from "everything you deem objectionable" is a good idea. It's not. You end up with immature people who are ultimately ill equipped to deal with the reality of life. Take a look at some first year university students, when they finally have a bit of freedom. They go nuts, completely to excess. Why is that? Because they've been totally sheltered from reality.
Ultimately, it's the parents responsibility to teach their kids to deal with reality. Parents must also monitor them to ensure they are developing the right skill sets to do so. Sheltering your kids (or expecting society as a whole to do so) is lazy, and in my opinion, not in the best interest of the kid. Neither is it in the best interest of society.
What good is a piece of paper (ie. the constitution) if your politicians routinely stomp all over it, ignore it, or otherwise interpret it to be compatible with the desires of the day? I would rather have no piece of paper and a government with some semblance of sanity, rather than a piece of paper and a government that does not give a shit what it says.
Actually, I think the exact quote was something like this:
.. well, you know. You can only fool me once, because then I know you fooled me and umm, you know. You won't fool me again, because you already did it once."
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, and
"Julian, what the fuck is all this Starbay and stuff about? Sounds fuckin stupid to me."
...
"Don't worry about it Ricky, it has to do with the Internet."
"The what?"
"The Internet, Ricky. You know, the Internet?"
"Where the FUCK is Corey and Trevor? I told those fuckin idiots to be back here an hour ago. My fuckin weed plants need to be guarded and the cats have all run away. Fuckin idiots."
"Ahh fuck, here comes Lahey. Who the FUCK is that in the car with him? That's not Randy."
"Hello, gentlemen. My name is Darl. Apparently you are using linux here in the trailer park, and I want to talk to you about our intellectual property rights, and how they might be applicable to you."
"What the fuck is he saying, Julian?"
"I dunno, Ricky. Bubbles?"
"No fuckin idea, but I don't like the looks of him."
"Me neither, Bubs. Ricky, you have permission to do whatever you want to this sheister."
"You fuckin heard the man, Darl. Julian said."
WHAMMO!!
"How's that for pintoflectual flights!!"
Aren't you guys sick of shit like this? How hard is it to say "No, we're the *other* Fedora project." Every friggin day you hear about something like this..
Intellectual Properly rights.
Patent-this.
Copyright-that.
Darl McBride.
RIAA.
MPAA.
DMCA.
Like FUCK - when will this insanity end. Everyone gets so bloody bothered about *everything* these days. If you were to send one day's worth of CNN or Slashdot back to someone in the 70's, they'd look at it sideways and say "What the fuck are these people on?" And the scary thing is that it is getting worse.
This post is (C)opyright XFriday. All Rights Reserved. Patent Pending. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited. Reading the above material constitutes acceptances of my end user license agreement, which you can see if you sign an NDA. I do not tolerate intellectual property infringements and I WILL sue you if you violate any of the terms I have mentioned, and some of the ones I have not mentioned. Fuck off, and have a nice day.
I can think of one really compelling reason not to be in prison.
What about naming considerations? When you are talking to your buddies at the bar about which distro you run, this is definately a factor.. You don't want to run a distro with a weak sounding name.
Consider this:
Debian sounds a lot scarier. Like, "up from the depths came the Debian, devouring sailors in its blood-filled, gaping maw." Or "Simmons, go get the debian.. err.. Chupacamathingy.. err warthog.."
Look at the alternatives.. Red Hat? Woop-de doo. How are you going to impress anyone with that? "Umm yeah, it's like a hat.. and.. it's like.. red" Or Mandrake? That's like a tree or grove or something. How can you come up with cool stories running distros that are named like that?
Nah -- Debian, all the way.
One thing you *have* to get is a good universal remote to control all your TV/STEREO/DVD/etc. gear. I just got one of the top of the line models from Harmony, and this thing *RIPS*. Took me about 10 minutes to set the thing up and it works flawlessly.
When I want to watch TV now, I pick up the remote, scroll the LCD until the "WATCH TV" icon appears, and hit one button. The TV fires up, and tunes to my favourite channel. My stereo receiver power up and kicks over to the proper channel. One button - everything works. Same sort of deal for watching a DVD or tuning to your favourite radio station. It also supports all the PVR gear and a boatload of electronics. All of the updating is done via their web site, which is constantly updated, so that is a great thing -- no futzing with your 12 different remote controls to get it programmed.
It's also got a built in channel selector, which is nice for a little thing called "covert channel surfing", which allows me to only flip around when I see something I like, as opposed to hitting a new channel every second -- while I find it a little slow, my wife appreciates the extra 10 or so seconds she gets to watch a channel.
Check it out at harmonyremote.com.
I had a cool sig but my wife made me get rid of it.
I think that is wrong. The actual code is:
;-)
up up down down left right left right B A select start
Notice the "select"..
Remember this? ]get rock ]pick up rock ]grab rock ]move rock ]push rock ]get boulder DING!
You'd think it would be pretty simple to make a left handed version. Rotate the display 180 degrees (in software), and have lefties put it on backwards, and flip the pgup/down keys, along with the rocker switch.
The "Back" button would be oriented towards the top (rather than the bottom) and the clasp would probably be a bit weird to put on, but other than that it should be perfect.