Arrived safely a little before 5PM. This tour is powered by a Chevy Monte Carlo; it’s a sweet ride. It was also the first serious usage of the new GPS device. Diana, I call her. In spite of her persistence in steering me toward I-95, i held firm to my no I-95 policy until we were south of Richmond. She was quite adept at navigating the 522, when it was clear that the 95 was out.
I’ve had a bite to eat, and plan to relax with a couple of Shiners1 in front of the one-eyed monster.
-k-
1
For the upcoming Search for America Tour:
Electronics: two laptops, GPS system, cellphone, camera, rechargers, cables, and batteries for same. Time spent: one afternoon.
Clothes: Quickly thrown together. Yet to happen. Manana.
I can buy skivvies anywhere, but those special cables are one of a kind. Glad I don’t do this every week.
-k-
With George 43 going in for a colonoscopy tomorrow, VP Richard Cheney will be at the controls of what passes for national governance.
With all due respect, how long does it take to determine that one person is full of shit?
-k-
[tags]cheney, georgebush43[/tags]
This new laptop was/is a good deal, but I’m one of those people who is compelled to accessorize, tweak, and add features to whatever new piece of electronica graces my door.
I’ve decided to explore the world of wireless broadband, using Sprint as the carrier. I’ve also picked an EVDO card, the Sierra Wireless AC595.
The card is supposedly supported on Mac and Linux, a must have, since I don’t do Winders. Sprint has a relatively economical starter plan, which should do what I want, at a price I’m willing to pay.
I want to use the new laptop in my day job; our firewall guys are getting a little too aggressive in blocking relatively tame stuff, like for example, my Delicious account. I have a much-in-need-of-organization set of bookmarks, most of which are work-related, that I can’t access from work, where I need them. In addition, there are several mailing lists that I need to start following, and when your work email client is Blotus Notes Lotus Notes, you have basically squat in flexibility.
So, a trip to the Sprint Store is in my imminent future. Unless I’m terribly off-base in my understanding, I’ll soon have a new accessory. Rants, reports, raves to follow.
-k-
I spent yesterday afternoon in my chair, one eye on the NASCAR race, and the other eye and two hands on gypsy, my Fedora-powered laptop.
My wireless connection had been going up and down like a yo-yo, not offline for a long enough time to disconnect sessions, but enough to absolutely kill throughput on downloads. I noticed that wpa_supplicant was running bunches of times, and concluded thet my setup was out of kilter. After a little experimantation, here’s what works for me:
iwconfig ath0 essid "your network name"
wpa_supplicant -Dmadwifi -iath0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf -B
dhclient ath0
Secondly, sound had never worked on the machine. My audio device is listed as:
Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
A quick trip to Uncle Google took me to Help Me Chris!, who proffered
options snd-hda-intel model=3stack
added to /etc/modprobe.conf.
I added it, rebooted, the the gypsy has a voice. Some of the system sounds grated on SWMBO’s last good nerve, so I guess I’ll shut those off. It is nice to know that I can listen to mp3s, podcasts, etc, though.
Thanks, Chris!
-k-
For today’s running of the USG Sheetrock 400 from Chicagoland Speedway, the car-driver-channel list looks like this:
#1-Martin Truex Jr., 795
#11-Denny Hamlin, 796
#24-Jeff Gordon, 797
#26-Jamie McMuuray, 798
#8-Dale Earnhardt Jr., 799
Dale Jr has reclaimed his channel 799 spot, and all’s well.
tbbs-land’s Akismet-powered spam trap continues to collect its daily ration of sludge; the count of such occurrences appears in the right sidebar when you visit the site.
A not too scientific analysis of posts which get the most spam hits is one entitled “Wee Willie Wiki”. I wonder whether spammers, especially those hawking male enhancement potions and products, think the post refers to any portions of the male anatomy. I’d like to think that even a spammer has a little discernment. Who knows?
The text of one spam comment to the post was this little gem:
An ounce of application is worth a ton of abstraction.
Heh. Words to live by, even outside the world of enhancements.
-k-
[tags]akismet[/tags]
Consultant: One with expertise in a given field, with industry knowledge, and grounding in the best practices thereof. This person will come to the client site for a fixed-length engagement, analyze the operation, and produce a report on the client’s operation, including things done right, and suggested areas of improvement. May or may not suggest methodologies for addressing areas needing improvement. Collects a check on the way out, and couldn’t care less what the client does regarding the suggestions.
Contractor: One who implements items suggested by the consultant, or perhaps by the client. May or may not be furnished with a plan for implementation. Often driven by project managers, who have learned Microsoft Project well enough to print a Gantt Chart, with milestones amply highlighted and distributed, irrespective of whether or not the milestones have any grounding in reality. Oftentimes, the contractor brings significant real-world expertise, as well as a desire to go a good job, to the client. May work on a fixed-length engagement, or may be a little more flexible. Willing to enthusiastically embrace new methodologies, and be a solid player in the endeavor.
Whore: Either of the above, who check their brains and expertise at the door, and blindly follow whatever half-assed whim the client may have. When asked why, replies, “They’re paying me.”
Does the above bear any resemblance to your world? It certainly does not apply in mine; I’ve heard it mentioned in conversations, however.
-k-
I recently changed filling stations, from an Exxon, with an On the Run convenience store, to a new Sunoco station, featuring an APlus convenience store. Both are about equidistant off the parkway I take to work, and both offer easy access back to the parkway.
The difference between them has nothing to do with the price of gas; no, it deals with the attitude of the store personnel. I usually purchase items from at least two of the four food groups1. I’d been going to the On the Run for several years, and had to plead for a small bag in which to tote my bounty, which was always offered grudgingly by the rather surly store clerk and his assistant. At APlus, I’m greeted by smiling faces, who put my Deer Park and pastry in a bag, no questions asked.
Today sealed the deal; as I paid for the day’s snackage, I asked for change for the air machine, the right front tire on the Saturn having all of 10 PSI in it2. Four shiny quarters in my chinos, and I headed for the air machine, whereupon I couldn’t find the coin slot, but a button that said “operate”. I pushed it, the chug-chug of the compressor started, I aired up the tire, and was on my way.
Free Air. Heckuva’ deal. And the fact that Sunoco is the Official Fuel Supplier of NASCAR, and APlus the Official Pit Stop of NASCAR, has nothing at all with my decision to patronize the Sunoco. It does not hurt, however.
This article is a good Contempt of Congress FAQ.
From my perspective, a healthy contempt of Congress is a Good ThingTM.
-k-
[tags]congress[/tags]