Grip

I’ve been using grip to transfer some of my CDs to my fixed disk so I can them replay them with “xmms”:http://www.xmms.org/. Although I like to listen to music when I am working at my computer, I find it tedious to continually have to switch cds in the cup holder. Right now, I have over 400 songs by thirty artists and groups. Grip, as indicated by its name, grabs a stranglehold on the computer resources, but hidden in the configuration tabs is a place where you can tell it to play “nice”:http://www.die.net/doc/linux/man/man1/nice.1.html so you can use your computer for other activities at the same time.

Reading as a child

Epersonae’s emergency weblog entry reminds me of my own bemusement when I used to see those library programs enticing children to read ten books in the summer. I was lucky if I could make ten books last me a week. The high point of my week during the summers was when my mother would go to Safeway, and drop me off at the Gaithersburg library on the way. I can still visualize the layout of the old library, which was replaced by a much larger version after it burned down.

It was easier during the school year, when I volunteered in the library before school started so that I could make sure I had my two or three books to last me through the day. (Yes, I read them in classes. At the time, I didn’t realize that my teachers had to know I was doing it, but I don’t recall ever being reprimanded for it.)

Linux Redux

After two months of using Linux in a dual boot system with Windows 98, I decided I was ready for a 100% Linux box. Friday night, Jack and I went to a local store front that assembles generic machines, picked a machine, and waited while they installed the upgrades that I wanted. The guy slapped components in so quickly I wondered if the system would work when I got it home. However, the next morning, I quickly installed Redhat 9 Linux, which is what I had been using on my dual-boot machine. Getting it customized the way I like is taking much longer, of course.
Continue reading Linux Redux

Lily and Major

I hadn’t schooled Lily with my trainer recently, so we made tentative arrangements to do so yesterday. Although Lily seemed a little more alert than usual when I tacked her up, I was surprised when I mounted her and she felt as though she was going to explode. She rarely acts like what she is: a young half-Thoroughbred. I quickly dismounted and put her on a longe line and waited for her to turn back into a horse I wanted to ride. She would apparently settle down for a bit, and then explode into a fit of galloping or bucking.
Continue reading Lily and Major

Three Deer

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These three deer were part of a small herd that Jack and I saw while we were walking the dogs this afternoon.

ReUSEIT

ReUSEIT shows many submissions of the redesign project for “Useit.com”:http://www.useit.com, a website devoted to computer usability.