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Meme - My reflections on 2008
I'm falling in line and participating in an internet meme. Go figure.
I’ve copied the questions from Danjiel Orsolic’s entry.
Q: What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
A: Accidentally CC'ed a pro-gun "hurray" to a mailing list full of people who are mostly European and socialist leaning. There were some harsh backlashes from that, and I managed to root a few gun lovers from that list!
Q: Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for the next year?
A: I do not make New Year's Resolutions. One thing about my personal philosophy is that I don't want to be a slave to time. New Years is an excuse to party and get drunk, but realistically, it's no different than any other day. I try to learn something new every day, stretch myself a little bit more, and that's good enough. I make New Day's resolutions and sometimes I meet them!
Q: Did anyone close to you give birth?
A: Nope.
Q: Did anyone close to you die?
A: Nope.
Q: What countries/states did you visit?
A: Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, New Jersey and New Hampshire.
Q: What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
A: Freedom. Too vague? I'd like to think of time a lot less. Essentially, right now I think in terms of days and "morning", "afternoon" and "late". I'm also aware of "weekday", "payday" and "weekend". I'd say also "understanding of my wife". This might be unfair, since it gets deeper everyday and that has been true of 2008 too, but it will be deeper than it was in 2008, I'm sure. These two things together will hopefully come to a head in 2009 as we ditch our current lifestyle and fall into something that suits us much better. :)
Q: What was your biggest failure of the year ?
A: I can't think of anything specifically. I think perhaps I really have internalized that while "Learn from your mistakes" thing. I've had some really difficult times with my wife in 2008, and in some points felt really angry, inadequate and resentful. Yet at the same time, the foundation of our relationship let us move from this and we're stronger now than we were when we began. I can't call that a failure but I might have if you asked me at the time.
Q: What was your biggest achievement ?
A: I committed to move to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project. I managed to convince my wife to. And Danjiel, when 20K other do. And Edison Franklin. I sat at a table for two days talking about the FSP and my ideology and felt GREAT doing it. Realistically, I think that got very few people "turned on" to liberty, but it was an extension of feeling confident in my ideology and it was VERY empowering.
Q: Did you suffer illness or injury?
A: No. I'm bulletproof and immune to pathogens. Didn't you know?
Q: What was the best thing you bought?
A: My Honda Element, Bluebeard.
Q: Whose behavior merited celebration?
A: Lauren Canario. Ian Freeman. Denis Goddard. Mark Edge. Russell Kanning. Kira Kanning. Kat Kanning. Jim Johnson. Dale Everett. A handful of people I know only by a single name, like AnarchoJesse and Puke. There's probably dozens more in New Hampshire spreading the ideas of freedom and non-aggression through non-cooperative means. Those people, I celebrate.
Of course, that's not to say they're the only people making waves and growing freedom, they're just the most visible ones to me.
Q: Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
A: Hans Reiser. Oddly, less because he killed his wife. I actually sent him a letter prior to him revealing the location of Nina's body. The letter was fine but the tone conveyed a sense of arrogance and... I'm not sure how to phrase that exactly. People hurt people, even gruesomely sometimes. I understand that. But there was a sense of refusal to accept responsibility for his actions and the impact of his actions on his children. I dunno, it was disturbing.
Q: Where did most of your money go?
A: To maintaining. Meh. I hate it. It'll stop soon enough. The lifestyle I live now isn't what I want and I'm finally going to break from that.
Q: What did you get really, really, really excited about?
A: The Free State Project. This was the main impetus of 2008 for me. A sub-moment was when my wife finally began getting excited about the move and community. Finally, we're going to begin a mobile lifestyle as full-time RVers, at least for a while. This and the implications of that have me very excited.
Q: What song will always remind you of 2008?
A: Aimee Allen's "Ron Paul Revolution". Much less that it was Ron Paul but there's so very little pro-liberty music. Most music is dominated by liberal fluff and there's some music that's counter-liberal. Seeing a well produced, catchy video with an attractive female in it... It made me feel that liberty might be going mainstream and that's a damn memorable thing.
Q: Compared to last year, are you:
* happier or sadder ? Happier, mostly. In general, I'm more of everything, but I'm usually happy.
* thinner or fatter ? Fatter.
* richer or poorer ? Richer. I've even made some more money.
Q: What do you wish you’d done more of ?
A: Goal setting. I know where I want to go sometimes but setting goals that I can reach to show me I'm getting there sometimes evokes positive feelings.
Q: What do you wish you’d done less of ?
A: Spending money on useless stuff.
Q: How did you spend Christmas ?
A: Watching TV.
Q: Did you fall in love in 2008?
A: Yep!
Q: How many one-night stands?
A: None.
Q: What was your favorite TV program ?
A: I watched the entire series "Firefly" on DVD. It's not new, but that ranks pretty high. I also watched all of "Dexter" and "Weeds" and both are awesome. I'm still in love with "House". I watched "Heroes" again this year. It makes me miss "The 4400" and that makes me mad.
Q: Did you make a friend with anyone that you didn’t know this time last year?
A: Yes, several.
Q: What was the best book you read?
A: "The Market for Liberty" by Morris and Linda Tannehill was the most personally impacting. "Elantris" by Brandon Sanderson was also very enjoyable to read and I think I have recommended "Healing Our World" by Dr. Mary Ruwart more than any other.
Q: What was your greatest musical discovery?
A: I'm starting to really dig Weezer. I've heard some trance that I actually purchased because I liked it so much.
Q: What did you want and get?
A: Most everything.
Q: What did you want and not get?
A: A working phone, powered by Free Software. Openmoko was a spectacular failure in my opinion. Those wounds still sting.
Q: What was your favorite film of this year?
A: Serenity. It's not new, but I saw it for the first time this year.
Q: What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
A: Nothing special at all. In fact, this was the first year I went the ENTIRE day without hearing "Happy Birthday" at all. I enjoyed that very much. I get a day older every day, and I dislike the pretense. I'm 24... I think. I really do forget sometime.
Q: What one thing would have made you year immeasurably more satisfying?
A: The abolishment of coercive force that people today call "Government". I don't take kindly to being threatened and made to feel afraid.
Q: How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
A: Expanding. I don't care about what other people think in terms of fashion, but I made some changes to my personal appearance. I discovered that I like the color green in clothing, so a lot of my shirts have included green. I also finally took the plunge and shaved my head bald and it's absolutely amazing!
Q: What kept you sane?
A: Knowing it will keep getting better. That is, of course, assuming I was sane to start.
Q: Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
A: Summer Glau. She's hot and was plastered all over the TV with the Terminator series.
Q: What political issue stirred you the most?
A: All of them? I don't separate "politics" from day to day life. I think that kind of separation is used by aggressors to justify what they do (i.e. One man taking another man's money is "theft" unless you're "being political" in which case it's "taxes".) My particular issues at this point are an end to the Drug War. That's the biggest for me right now. Secondly would probably be an expansion of property ownership rights (i.e. anybody owning any property is acceptable including felons owning guns) and property protection rights (i.e. "Castle Laws"). Breaking down socio-sexual taboo is always on the list.
Q: Who did you miss?
A: Seton Williams, a friend who was killed a few years ago in a car accident. And my wife of course, but I know she'll keep coming home from work. :P
Q: Who was the best new person you met?
A: Pete Eyre probably tops the list. He's a pro-liberty, agorist and voluntaryist activism rockstar who has me in awe. I met Ian Freeman and Mark Edge, Lauren Canario and Russell Kanning earlier this year and they're awesome too.
Q: Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
A: Every human being owns him- or herself. The initiation of force or fraud against other people is wrong. That's it.
It's a simple concept, but the life lesson I really take from that is how many "buts" and "though" and "what ifs" people have to pollute that simple concept. It's hard to put that into words though. This "there is nothing else" is so final and absolute and right.
Q: Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
A: "Who needs stupid books. They are for petty crooks. And I will learn by studying the lessons in my dreams."
I’ve copied the questions from Danjiel Orsolic’s entry.
Q: What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
A: Accidentally CC'ed a pro-gun "hurray" to a mailing list full of people who are mostly European and socialist leaning. There were some harsh backlashes from that, and I managed to root a few gun lovers from that list!
Q: Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for the next year?
A: I do not make New Year's Resolutions. One thing about my personal philosophy is that I don't want to be a slave to time. New Years is an excuse to party and get drunk, but realistically, it's no different than any other day. I try to learn something new every day, stretch myself a little bit more, and that's good enough. I make New Day's resolutions and sometimes I meet them!
Q: Did anyone close to you give birth?
A: Nope.
Q: Did anyone close to you die?
A: Nope.
Q: What countries/states did you visit?
A: Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, New Jersey and New Hampshire.
Q: What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
A: Freedom. Too vague? I'd like to think of time a lot less. Essentially, right now I think in terms of days and "morning", "afternoon" and "late". I'm also aware of "weekday", "payday" and "weekend". I'd say also "understanding of my wife". This might be unfair, since it gets deeper everyday and that has been true of 2008 too, but it will be deeper than it was in 2008, I'm sure. These two things together will hopefully come to a head in 2009 as we ditch our current lifestyle and fall into something that suits us much better. :)
Q: What was your biggest failure of the year ?
A: I can't think of anything specifically. I think perhaps I really have internalized that while "Learn from your mistakes" thing. I've had some really difficult times with my wife in 2008, and in some points felt really angry, inadequate and resentful. Yet at the same time, the foundation of our relationship let us move from this and we're stronger now than we were when we began. I can't call that a failure but I might have if you asked me at the time.
Q: What was your biggest achievement ?
A: I committed to move to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project. I managed to convince my wife to. And Danjiel, when 20K other do. And Edison Franklin. I sat at a table for two days talking about the FSP and my ideology and felt GREAT doing it. Realistically, I think that got very few people "turned on" to liberty, but it was an extension of feeling confident in my ideology and it was VERY empowering.
Q: Did you suffer illness or injury?
A: No. I'm bulletproof and immune to pathogens. Didn't you know?
Q: What was the best thing you bought?
A: My Honda Element, Bluebeard.
Q: Whose behavior merited celebration?
A: Lauren Canario. Ian Freeman. Denis Goddard. Mark Edge. Russell Kanning. Kira Kanning. Kat Kanning. Jim Johnson. Dale Everett. A handful of people I know only by a single name, like AnarchoJesse and Puke. There's probably dozens more in New Hampshire spreading the ideas of freedom and non-aggression through non-cooperative means. Those people, I celebrate.
Of course, that's not to say they're the only people making waves and growing freedom, they're just the most visible ones to me.
Q: Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
A: Hans Reiser. Oddly, less because he killed his wife. I actually sent him a letter prior to him revealing the location of Nina's body. The letter was fine but the tone conveyed a sense of arrogance and... I'm not sure how to phrase that exactly. People hurt people, even gruesomely sometimes. I understand that. But there was a sense of refusal to accept responsibility for his actions and the impact of his actions on his children. I dunno, it was disturbing.
Q: Where did most of your money go?
A: To maintaining. Meh. I hate it. It'll stop soon enough. The lifestyle I live now isn't what I want and I'm finally going to break from that.
Q: What did you get really, really, really excited about?
A: The Free State Project. This was the main impetus of 2008 for me. A sub-moment was when my wife finally began getting excited about the move and community. Finally, we're going to begin a mobile lifestyle as full-time RVers, at least for a while. This and the implications of that have me very excited.
Q: What song will always remind you of 2008?
A: Aimee Allen's "Ron Paul Revolution". Much less that it was Ron Paul but there's so very little pro-liberty music. Most music is dominated by liberal fluff and there's some music that's counter-liberal. Seeing a well produced, catchy video with an attractive female in it... It made me feel that liberty might be going mainstream and that's a damn memorable thing.
Q: Compared to last year, are you:
* happier or sadder ? Happier, mostly. In general, I'm more of everything, but I'm usually happy.
* thinner or fatter ? Fatter.
* richer or poorer ? Richer. I've even made some more money.
Q: What do you wish you’d done more of ?
A: Goal setting. I know where I want to go sometimes but setting goals that I can reach to show me I'm getting there sometimes evokes positive feelings.
Q: What do you wish you’d done less of ?
A: Spending money on useless stuff.
Q: How did you spend Christmas ?
A: Watching TV.
Q: Did you fall in love in 2008?
A: Yep!
Q: How many one-night stands?
A: None.
Q: What was your favorite TV program ?
A: I watched the entire series "Firefly" on DVD. It's not new, but that ranks pretty high. I also watched all of "Dexter" and "Weeds" and both are awesome. I'm still in love with "House". I watched "Heroes" again this year. It makes me miss "The 4400" and that makes me mad.
Q: Did you make a friend with anyone that you didn’t know this time last year?
A: Yes, several.
Q: What was the best book you read?
A: "The Market for Liberty" by Morris and Linda Tannehill was the most personally impacting. "Elantris" by Brandon Sanderson was also very enjoyable to read and I think I have recommended "Healing Our World" by Dr. Mary Ruwart more than any other.
Q: What was your greatest musical discovery?
A: I'm starting to really dig Weezer. I've heard some trance that I actually purchased because I liked it so much.
Q: What did you want and get?
A: Most everything.
Q: What did you want and not get?
A: A working phone, powered by Free Software. Openmoko was a spectacular failure in my opinion. Those wounds still sting.
Q: What was your favorite film of this year?
A: Serenity. It's not new, but I saw it for the first time this year.
Q: What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
A: Nothing special at all. In fact, this was the first year I went the ENTIRE day without hearing "Happy Birthday" at all. I enjoyed that very much. I get a day older every day, and I dislike the pretense. I'm 24... I think. I really do forget sometime.
Q: What one thing would have made you year immeasurably more satisfying?
A: The abolishment of coercive force that people today call "Government". I don't take kindly to being threatened and made to feel afraid.
Q: How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
A: Expanding. I don't care about what other people think in terms of fashion, but I made some changes to my personal appearance. I discovered that I like the color green in clothing, so a lot of my shirts have included green. I also finally took the plunge and shaved my head bald and it's absolutely amazing!
Q: What kept you sane?
A: Knowing it will keep getting better. That is, of course, assuming I was sane to start.
Q: Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
A: Summer Glau. She's hot and was plastered all over the TV with the Terminator series.
Q: What political issue stirred you the most?
A: All of them? I don't separate "politics" from day to day life. I think that kind of separation is used by aggressors to justify what they do (i.e. One man taking another man's money is "theft" unless you're "being political" in which case it's "taxes".) My particular issues at this point are an end to the Drug War. That's the biggest for me right now. Secondly would probably be an expansion of property ownership rights (i.e. anybody owning any property is acceptable including felons owning guns) and property protection rights (i.e. "Castle Laws"). Breaking down socio-sexual taboo is always on the list.
Q: Who did you miss?
A: Seton Williams, a friend who was killed a few years ago in a car accident. And my wife of course, but I know she'll keep coming home from work. :P
Q: Who was the best new person you met?
A: Pete Eyre probably tops the list. He's a pro-liberty, agorist and voluntaryist activism rockstar who has me in awe. I met Ian Freeman and Mark Edge, Lauren Canario and Russell Kanning earlier this year and they're awesome too.
Q: Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
A: Every human being owns him- or herself. The initiation of force or fraud against other people is wrong. That's it.
It's a simple concept, but the life lesson I really take from that is how many "buts" and "though" and "what ifs" people have to pollute that simple concept. It's hard to put that into words though. This "there is nothing else" is so final and absolute and right.
Q: Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
A: "Who needs stupid books. They are for petty crooks. And I will learn by studying the lessons in my dreams."
Visual Review of 2008
I just came across a great pictorial review of 2008, with what can be expected in 2009. There are some disturbing images in there, but that's the point. It also seems that this was his final blog entry. More importantly though, reflect.
The Windows Seat - Day 3: Interfaces
I'm several days into this Windows trial and I'm actually beginning to get some strong feelings about the whole thing. First and foremost, Windows isn't evil, it's software. Whatever you might think about Microsoft is mostly irrelevant when discussing software. Hell, if you want to get really involved, I didn't purchase Windows Server 2008 Enterprise. I didn't purchase a product who's company purchased it. I downloaded the installer from Microsoft's site (They offer their entire OS for free for almost a year, legit.) and at 1.7GB I've cost Microsoft a little bit of money.
So, right now I'll hit on something I noticed about user interfaces, and less a discussion of them, more about how I regard them. On Windows, software uses different toolkits and often times there are visual differences. Windows Media Player looks different than Roxio. VirtualBox is different than Firefox.
On Linux, when KDE applications and Gnome applications don't mix well, it annoyed the hell out of me. I've always ranted about the dissimilarity, praised the day Qt added in a way to accept a Gnome theme. Lauded over gtk-qt-engine. I thought Windows' inconsistency would kill me.
It hasn't. In fact, I kind of like it.
I was having an internal dialog trying to figure out just why it is because I really am shocked by this. I've mentioned this as a pet peeve several times in the past, including one to LinuxInsider and it was in fact published. So this is a big, damn, deal.
The realization was, until yesterday, I looked at my PC as an appliance. It was something that I used to get something done. This appliance happened to have the features of just about everything. There's nothing wrong with this, but Windows doesn't do the same thing.
On Windows, the applications are each appliances, focused on doing one thing in a pleasing manner. If the application needs to look different to do that well, then so be it. The shift from "computer as appliance" to "applications as appliances", when done well, really meshes to make me enjoy using applications. I have to say that I really like Windows Photo Gallery. It's got all of the features that I like in a really basic photo manager. It's also got a shiny, dark theme that I like a lot and it's simple enough that I don't have to think about "managing photos". When I'm using it, I'm thinking about how good (or bad!) my photos are.
I'm REALLY looking for a Linux-side application that can hit Windows Photo Gallery on the head. I know that there are a ton of basic editing applications and simple managers, and a plethora of super-duper sophisticated solutions, but that balance is awesome. I'd love to leverage that on Linux.
So, right now I'll hit on something I noticed about user interfaces, and less a discussion of them, more about how I regard them. On Windows, software uses different toolkits and often times there are visual differences. Windows Media Player looks different than Roxio. VirtualBox is different than Firefox.
On Linux, when KDE applications and Gnome applications don't mix well, it annoyed the hell out of me. I've always ranted about the dissimilarity, praised the day Qt added in a way to accept a Gnome theme. Lauded over gtk-qt-engine. I thought Windows' inconsistency would kill me.
It hasn't. In fact, I kind of like it.
I was having an internal dialog trying to figure out just why it is because I really am shocked by this. I've mentioned this as a pet peeve several times in the past, including one to LinuxInsider and it was in fact published. So this is a big, damn, deal.
The realization was, until yesterday, I looked at my PC as an appliance. It was something that I used to get something done. This appliance happened to have the features of just about everything. There's nothing wrong with this, but Windows doesn't do the same thing.
On Windows, the applications are each appliances, focused on doing one thing in a pleasing manner. If the application needs to look different to do that well, then so be it. The shift from "computer as appliance" to "applications as appliances", when done well, really meshes to make me enjoy using applications. I have to say that I really like Windows Photo Gallery. It's got all of the features that I like in a really basic photo manager. It's also got a shiny, dark theme that I like a lot and it's simple enough that I don't have to think about "managing photos". When I'm using it, I'm thinking about how good (or bad!) my photos are.
I'm REALLY looking for a Linux-side application that can hit Windows Photo Gallery on the head. I know that there are a ton of basic editing applications and simple managers, and a plethora of super-duper sophisticated solutions, but that balance is awesome. I'd love to leverage that on Linux.
The Windows Seat - Day 1: Shutdown
Windows Server 2008 has something that's pretty neat and it deals with an area that I've never before thought about. Shutdown.
When running as the Administrator account, every time you hit "Restart" or "Shutdown" manually, a box pops up for you to enter the reason why the system is shutting down.
When you reboot due to upgrades, you're not prompted. I assume that it's possible to go back and look at the logs later but I've not confirmed this. There's an overwhelming amount of data in the Windows Server logging and information center and I didn't want to dig too deeply.
For a workstation or server, this is a neat feature. It would help me get a better overview of exactly what it is that brings my systems down. As a server administrator, uptime is important to me and my home desktops are run in a manner similar.
For the "average user" I can imagine this kind of prompt would quickly get annoying but I'd LOVE it and I know this is one feature that I've not seen in any desktop environment in Linux so far.
On the flip-side, I've got a complaint about Windows shutdowns too. They don't happen if you're restarting runaway processes. In specific, I was running VirtualBox (I'm noticing a theme... VirtualBox + Windows = Error) when starting a quickly after a shutdown and the VM froze. I then used the task manager to kill both VirtualBox and the VM process and it vanished like normal. Yet when I went to move or delete an ISO file that was mounted as a virtual CD drive within the VM, I got an "This file is in use" error. I then tried to do a shutdown (As Administrator - regular users can't do this by default. Awesome!) and it actually hung on "Shutting down services". After 3 minutes of seeing the blue-green screen, I physically reset the box.
I suppose it might be theoretically possible for Linux to be affected by the same thing, but I've never seen it. I was cringing to think how I'd feel if the runaway service has been my HTTP server and my remote server decided to lock up between "Break the internet connection" and "stop and restart power".
I'm going to call this one a strong win for Linux, this hits to the very stability of the system. I would, however, love to have the interactive shutdown log on Linux. I'll do some searching for something like it but as always, suggestions are always welcomed.
When running as the Administrator account, every time you hit "Restart" or "Shutdown" manually, a box pops up for you to enter the reason why the system is shutting down.
When you reboot due to upgrades, you're not prompted. I assume that it's possible to go back and look at the logs later but I've not confirmed this. There's an overwhelming amount of data in the Windows Server logging and information center and I didn't want to dig too deeply.
For a workstation or server, this is a neat feature. It would help me get a better overview of exactly what it is that brings my systems down. As a server administrator, uptime is important to me and my home desktops are run in a manner similar.
For the "average user" I can imagine this kind of prompt would quickly get annoying but I'd LOVE it and I know this is one feature that I've not seen in any desktop environment in Linux so far.
On the flip-side, I've got a complaint about Windows shutdowns too. They don't happen if you're restarting runaway processes. In specific, I was running VirtualBox (I'm noticing a theme... VirtualBox + Windows = Error) when starting a quickly after a shutdown and the VM froze. I then used the task manager to kill both VirtualBox and the VM process and it vanished like normal. Yet when I went to move or delete an ISO file that was mounted as a virtual CD drive within the VM, I got an "This file is in use" error. I then tried to do a shutdown (As Administrator - regular users can't do this by default. Awesome!) and it actually hung on "Shutting down services". After 3 minutes of seeing the blue-green screen, I physically reset the box.
I suppose it might be theoretically possible for Linux to be affected by the same thing, but I've never seen it. I was cringing to think how I'd feel if the runaway service has been my HTTP server and my remote server decided to lock up between "Break the internet connection" and "stop and restart power".
I'm going to call this one a strong win for Linux, this hits to the very stability of the system. I would, however, love to have the interactive shutdown log on Linux. I'll do some searching for something like it but as always, suggestions are always welcomed.
The Windows Seat - Day 0: Virtualization and Bitness
On the first full day with Windows Server 2008, I began installing software to take care of the day to day needs and time-killers I'm familiar with from Linux.
On Linux, I make heavy use of KVM virtualization. Since KVM isn't a part of Windows, I decided to try out the port of VirtualBox. It ran pretty well, except that on the first run of the software caused my USB mouse to be unresponsive. I promptly unplugged the mouse and reported the bug to VirtualBox.
Later on, I was running a virtual machine with about 1.5 GB of RAM when I began having a bout of BSODs. It was pretty consistent. Any time I ran the VM and started the World of Warcraft downloader, I'd get the BSOD. The error was akin to "LIRQ_GREATER_OR_LESS_THAN", I don't recall the specifics. When I Googled this error, I found several forums and complaints about this, mainly dealing with Vista.
The long and short of it is that this error frequently happens when attempting to address memory greater than the bitness handled by the OS. In this case, I was running Windows Server 2008 Enterprise x86 yet giving a decent amount of space to the VMs and then making the OS crap itself.
To correct this, I installed the x64 version of Windows. Now, I'm well aware that my current PC is an AMD64. All new PCs sold in the past three years or so have been AMD64. There is, however, still a ton of doubt and speculation about using x64. Will there be compatibility issues? Will the programs I want run on my system? My last experiences with Windows were in 32-bit land, and 64-bit applications had issues. I wanted to avoid this for my trek into RedmondOS so I used the x86 version.
There aren't any problems for me. In fact, in this regard, Windows is showing a strength. 64-bit applications run right alongside 32-bit apps. Windows solves this problem by isolating 32-bit apps into it's own emulation/compatibility layer, similar to the way the 32-bit Flash plugin is handled in Linux. I have to say honestly, I've not run into problems installing software on Windows because of bitness, but I have seen packages in the Debian repo that are "referred to but missing" because they exist on one arch but not another.
For this aspect, Windows actually win. I'd recommend that anybody else running Windows on a fresh install pick the version that suits their HARDWARE which almost always means "x64" today.
My wife's computer arrived today from Dell. This device has 4GB of RAM which means either she'll be running a 64-bit OS or be running into bitness issues. But know I'm prepared. :)
On Linux, I make heavy use of KVM virtualization. Since KVM isn't a part of Windows, I decided to try out the port of VirtualBox. It ran pretty well, except that on the first run of the software caused my USB mouse to be unresponsive. I promptly unplugged the mouse and reported the bug to VirtualBox.
Later on, I was running a virtual machine with about 1.5 GB of RAM when I began having a bout of BSODs. It was pretty consistent. Any time I ran the VM and started the World of Warcraft downloader, I'd get the BSOD. The error was akin to "LIRQ_GREATER_OR_LESS_THAN", I don't recall the specifics. When I Googled this error, I found several forums and complaints about this, mainly dealing with Vista.
The long and short of it is that this error frequently happens when attempting to address memory greater than the bitness handled by the OS. In this case, I was running Windows Server 2008 Enterprise x86 yet giving a decent amount of space to the VMs and then making the OS crap itself.
To correct this, I installed the x64 version of Windows. Now, I'm well aware that my current PC is an AMD64. All new PCs sold in the past three years or so have been AMD64. There is, however, still a ton of doubt and speculation about using x64. Will there be compatibility issues? Will the programs I want run on my system? My last experiences with Windows were in 32-bit land, and 64-bit applications had issues. I wanted to avoid this for my trek into RedmondOS so I used the x86 version.
There aren't any problems for me. In fact, in this regard, Windows is showing a strength. 64-bit applications run right alongside 32-bit apps. Windows solves this problem by isolating 32-bit apps into it's own emulation/compatibility layer, similar to the way the 32-bit Flash plugin is handled in Linux. I have to say honestly, I've not run into problems installing software on Windows because of bitness, but I have seen packages in the Debian repo that are "referred to but missing" because they exist on one arch but not another.
For this aspect, Windows actually win. I'd recommend that anybody else running Windows on a fresh install pick the version that suits their HARDWARE which almost always means "x64" today.
My wife's computer arrived today from Dell. This device has 4GB of RAM which means either she'll be running a 64-bit OS or be running into bitness issues. But know I'm prepared. :)
The Windows Seat - Day 0: BIOS
On the 28th of December, I announced my week long trial of Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, a departure from my daily use of Linux (including at work) for the past several years.
The very first difference I'd like to bring up is the system hardware itself. I currently run two PCs that are custom built by me and nearly identical, with the exception of the hard drive capacity. Both run a Gigabyte GA-965GM-S2, revision 1 motherboard with Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Processor and 4GB of DDR RAM. My home computer has an nVidia GeForce 7300 GS PCI-e card on a 17" Dell CRT monitor. My work PC is using the integrated Intel G965 chipset and is attached to a 22" BENQ wide screen TFT.
It's important to note that both systems use the same motherboard, and more specifically, the same BIOS, Gigabyte's F5. When I first put in the Windows Server 2008 installer, I immediately got a blue screen of death indicating to me that my BIOS was out-of-date and to contact the vendor for a newer one. The alleged culprit was non-compliance with ACPI.
I did manage to update both BIOSes. My home PC was updated with a formatted USB Key and my work by some complex juggling of LVM to make room for a FAT32 formatted bootable partition that the motherboard's flash utility could recognize. I owe a huge debt to these guys for clear and simple instructions on how to flash my BIOS in a non-standard way.
The biggest thing that strikes me about the Windows/Linux split is that Linux doesn't ever assume anything about hardware. Sure, it does assume that you're on the right architecture and that you have some way to give the PC information. It doesn't, however, expect you to have a certain BIOS version, a certain graphics card, a special TPM module or the like.
Linux developers learn to deal with the quirks of each system. The odds are that my system really WAS not compliant with ACPI but Linux never complained. It didn't deny me permission to install until it was.
This isn't entirely a win for Linux though. I have to wonder how much crappy code is in Linux dealing with exactly this kind of thing? How long has suspend/resume, for instance, been hindered by tossing the expectation that things will "work properly"? How many people might be dealing with hardware bugs, and complaining to Canonical (or their vendor of choice) when things don't wake from sleep when it's actually a crappy (as in, non-standard complaint) BIOS from a motherboard vendor?
Having a minimum required BIOS version is a new one for me, and this even before my first full day with Windows. This is really going to be interesting.
The very first difference I'd like to bring up is the system hardware itself. I currently run two PCs that are custom built by me and nearly identical, with the exception of the hard drive capacity. Both run a Gigabyte GA-965GM-S2, revision 1 motherboard with Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Processor and 4GB of DDR RAM. My home computer has an nVidia GeForce 7300 GS PCI-e card on a 17" Dell CRT monitor. My work PC is using the integrated Intel G965 chipset and is attached to a 22" BENQ wide screen TFT.
It's important to note that both systems use the same motherboard, and more specifically, the same BIOS, Gigabyte's F5. When I first put in the Windows Server 2008 installer, I immediately got a blue screen of death indicating to me that my BIOS was out-of-date and to contact the vendor for a newer one. The alleged culprit was non-compliance with ACPI.
I did manage to update both BIOSes. My home PC was updated with a formatted USB Key and my work by some complex juggling of LVM to make room for a FAT32 formatted bootable partition that the motherboard's flash utility could recognize. I owe a huge debt to these guys for clear and simple instructions on how to flash my BIOS in a non-standard way.
The biggest thing that strikes me about the Windows/Linux split is that Linux doesn't ever assume anything about hardware. Sure, it does assume that you're on the right architecture and that you have some way to give the PC information. It doesn't, however, expect you to have a certain BIOS version, a certain graphics card, a special TPM module or the like.
Linux developers learn to deal with the quirks of each system. The odds are that my system really WAS not compliant with ACPI but Linux never complained. It didn't deny me permission to install until it was.
This isn't entirely a win for Linux though. I have to wonder how much crappy code is in Linux dealing with exactly this kind of thing? How long has suspend/resume, for instance, been hindered by tossing the expectation that things will "work properly"? How many people might be dealing with hardware bugs, and complaining to Canonical (or their vendor of choice) when things don't wake from sleep when it's actually a crappy (as in, non-standard complaint) BIOS from a motherboard vendor?
Having a minimum required BIOS version is a new one for me, and this even before my first full day with Windows. This is really going to be interesting.
Can a Linux man survive in Windows Land?
My wife is getting a new laptop next week as part of a computer purchasing program at her work. One of the conditions of this program, however, is that the computer must run Microsoft Office which means it must also run Windows.
So, my home is going to be sheltering a Windows Vista laptop, despite my protests. It stirred in me, however, a sense of curiosity. I stopped using Windows back when XP was still pretty new and other than poking at betas, I've not used Windows. Even at work, I can use Linux all day. My hacker desire to poke around at everything has been speaking up, and I've decided to poke at Windows.
But not Vista. Haven't you heard!? Vista sucks.
I'm going to give Windows Server 2008 a spin on my personal computer for the next week or so, full time. From what I understand, the separation of admin and user accounts by default as well as more fine-tuned user privileges management make it more secure than XP or Vista. The minimal setup allows me to reclaim CPU cycles that Vista munches on.
So, in the next week or so, I'll be trying to use my computer and relearn a whole new way of doing things. Just as new Linux users balk at the changes, I'm sure I will, and in the process I hope to learn a little bit more about what I use my computer for, what I depend on and what flexibilities I have.
If anyone has any suggestions for me while I do this, feel free to ask!
So, my home is going to be sheltering a Windows Vista laptop, despite my protests. It stirred in me, however, a sense of curiosity. I stopped using Windows back when XP was still pretty new and other than poking at betas, I've not used Windows. Even at work, I can use Linux all day. My hacker desire to poke around at everything has been speaking up, and I've decided to poke at Windows.
But not Vista. Haven't you heard!? Vista sucks.
I'm going to give Windows Server 2008 a spin on my personal computer for the next week or so, full time. From what I understand, the separation of admin and user accounts by default as well as more fine-tuned user privileges management make it more secure than XP or Vista. The minimal setup allows me to reclaim CPU cycles that Vista munches on.
So, in the next week or so, I'll be trying to use my computer and relearn a whole new way of doing things. Just as new Linux users balk at the changes, I'm sure I will, and in the process I hope to learn a little bit more about what I use my computer for, what I depend on and what flexibilities I have.
If anyone has any suggestions for me while I do this, feel free to ask!
Silence is golden, but it makes readers stop visiting.
I've been very quiet these past few weeks and it's by no accident. I'll try to keep this brief, but with past performance as an indicator, I'll fail horribly. It's okay, expression is good.
My life is about to change in the next year. It's taken the perfect storm of my wife's job becoming less fulfilling, personal development of her self-esteem and confidence and a growing sense of purpose and adventure, but my wife is finally becoming an activist. More than that, she's finally gotten excited about or move to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project! So excited, actually, that we're now planning to make the move in Spring of 2010.
She's also finding that this suburban, modern young, socially-upward lifestyle we live isn't as fulfilling as she dreamt as a child. Now that she's no longer using her career as the basis of her self-worth, she's questioning the other trappings of her life and has found that a stationary, mobile life doesn't suit her spirit.
We're very seriously considering purchasing an RV (Recreational Vehicle) this year and becoming "fulltimers". I won't go into depth on what this is or what it entails but in essence, we'll be buying a vehicle that we can live in with a good quality of life, lower costs of living and have a sense of freedom that we don't right now, entirely separate from the kind of "freedom from aggression-that-is-government" I usually write here.
Making this shift will take time, money and education. As such, I'm shifting some of my time into making money which means I'm doing less here. In a twisted way, it will all tie in - freedom, liberty, software and the fulltimer lifestyle. As usual, I'll be putting it here, but it will be less frequent, or if frequently, shorter. :) I'm sure my readers won't mind.
My life is about to change in the next year. It's taken the perfect storm of my wife's job becoming less fulfilling, personal development of her self-esteem and confidence and a growing sense of purpose and adventure, but my wife is finally becoming an activist. More than that, she's finally gotten excited about or move to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project! So excited, actually, that we're now planning to make the move in Spring of 2010.
She's also finding that this suburban, modern young, socially-upward lifestyle we live isn't as fulfilling as she dreamt as a child. Now that she's no longer using her career as the basis of her self-worth, she's questioning the other trappings of her life and has found that a stationary, mobile life doesn't suit her spirit.
We're very seriously considering purchasing an RV (Recreational Vehicle) this year and becoming "fulltimers". I won't go into depth on what this is or what it entails but in essence, we'll be buying a vehicle that we can live in with a good quality of life, lower costs of living and have a sense of freedom that we don't right now, entirely separate from the kind of "freedom from aggression-that-is-government" I usually write here.
Making this shift will take time, money and education. As such, I'm shifting some of my time into making money which means I'm doing less here. In a twisted way, it will all tie in - freedom, liberty, software and the fulltimer lifestyle. As usual, I'll be putting it here, but it will be less frequent, or if frequently, shorter. :) I'm sure my readers won't mind.
What happens when the media doesn't cover it?
I had a strange experience today. I was made aware today of the heinous situation involving Jan Pawel Pietrzak and his wife Quiana. As you can see from the picture below (Credit to nydailynews.com), they were an interracial couple. He was white, she was black. Four active Marines (living at Camp Pendleton, near San Diego) kicked in the door to the Pietrazak home, bound and gagged the couple, cut off Quiana's clothing and proceeded to rape her with "an instrument" before murdering the couple execution-style.
The general chatter on the blogosphere was that this was a race-related killing. While this may or may not be true, the reported evidence is contradictory. Statements from the suspected killers said they "did it for the money" yet other reports indicate that nothing was missing from the home. Furthermore, the police reports seem to suggest that the decision to murder the couple was debated during the whole incident which probably wouldn't enter into the situation if it were simply over money.
This is disgusting in and of itself but what really alarms me is that I thought it was fake. I read the first report of this disgusting crime from a blog called Save Our Daughters which seemed to be lending support for the racial motivations in the crime but in that article was the comment "don't expect this to be on MSNBC or CNN like the other cases". I'm used to not hearing the entire news situation. It didn't make the mainstream media when Posse Comitatus was ended and soldiers were deployed within the United States to calm "domestic unrest", further ramping up the police state. The news media not touching a story because of their delicate (read: "Do what we say or we'll hurt you!") relationship with the government people doesn't surprise me in the least.
But why this case? Is it what some people suggest - that there's a bias towards interracial couples? Is it more what I think - that the government people are trying to control a public relations nightmare by showing killers (Calling it "war" doesn't make a murder any less a murder, like it or not) in the act of killing, where the victims are "good Americans" rather than the demonized "brown people" in the Middle East?
Whatever the reasons, the author (gem2001) was right. This wasn't touched by the mainstream media.
And that is where I had my "strange experience". I input the female victim's name into Google the first time as entered in that article (Quiana Faye Jenkins-Pietrzak) and got mostly blog entries. I then tried a slightly different (Quiana Pietrzak) version and found the San Diego NBC affiliate that covered the story. Unfortunately that was about it in terms of media sources I could trust. Even the second search returned mostly blog articles. It was then I actually found myself doubting the authenticity of the story. Surely the rape, torture and murder of interracial couple (during the Obama campaign, too!) would have made the news! In the back of my mind though, rationality is screaming at me. This is the internet world. I recall reading about Anna Nichole Smith's death before her body started cooling. I've actually used the term "old news" to refer to something I'd read about the day before.
But now I can't shake this weird sense of, despite seeing how deep the rabbit hole actually goes, feeling as if there might be a bunch more. How do you tell what's real and fake anymore, when the news coming through the television and radio is authored just as surely as the current bestseller for fiction is authored. News sites like Digg and Reddit help, but what if the news is something that covers a social taboo too? Digg tends to be composed of mostly liberals - would a government-suppressed news story about gun confiscation rise to the top of Digg?
The solution, then, is to become the media. Nothing else will do. Only when we take fact gathering and checking into our own hands can we be sure that newsworthy information gets out.
The general chatter on the blogosphere was that this was a race-related killing. While this may or may not be true, the reported evidence is contradictory. Statements from the suspected killers said they "did it for the money" yet other reports indicate that nothing was missing from the home. Furthermore, the police reports seem to suggest that the decision to murder the couple was debated during the whole incident which probably wouldn't enter into the situation if it were simply over money.
This is disgusting in and of itself but what really alarms me is that I thought it was fake. I read the first report of this disgusting crime from a blog called Save Our Daughters which seemed to be lending support for the racial motivations in the crime but in that article was the comment "don't expect this to be on MSNBC or CNN like the other cases". I'm used to not hearing the entire news situation. It didn't make the mainstream media when Posse Comitatus was ended and soldiers were deployed within the United States to calm "domestic unrest", further ramping up the police state. The news media not touching a story because of their delicate (read: "Do what we say or we'll hurt you!") relationship with the government people doesn't surprise me in the least.
But why this case? Is it what some people suggest - that there's a bias towards interracial couples? Is it more what I think - that the government people are trying to control a public relations nightmare by showing killers (Calling it "war" doesn't make a murder any less a murder, like it or not) in the act of killing, where the victims are "good Americans" rather than the demonized "brown people" in the Middle East?
Whatever the reasons, the author (gem2001) was right. This wasn't touched by the mainstream media.
And that is where I had my "strange experience". I input the female victim's name into Google the first time as entered in that article (Quiana Faye Jenkins-Pietrzak) and got mostly blog entries. I then tried a slightly different (Quiana Pietrzak) version and found the San Diego NBC affiliate that covered the story. Unfortunately that was about it in terms of media sources I could trust. Even the second search returned mostly blog articles. It was then I actually found myself doubting the authenticity of the story. Surely the rape, torture and murder of interracial couple (during the Obama campaign, too!) would have made the news! In the back of my mind though, rationality is screaming at me. This is the internet world. I recall reading about Anna Nichole Smith's death before her body started cooling. I've actually used the term "old news" to refer to something I'd read about the day before.
But now I can't shake this weird sense of, despite seeing how deep the rabbit hole actually goes, feeling as if there might be a bunch more. How do you tell what's real and fake anymore, when the news coming through the television and radio is authored just as surely as the current bestseller for fiction is authored. News sites like Digg and Reddit help, but what if the news is something that covers a social taboo too? Digg tends to be composed of mostly liberals - would a government-suppressed news story about gun confiscation rise to the top of Digg?
The solution, then, is to become the media. Nothing else will do. Only when we take fact gathering and checking into our own hands can we be sure that newsworthy information gets out.
90 days in prison for refusing to stand
[Author's Note: This article was written about 10 minutes after Ian's arrest. This is due partly to the systems New Hampshire liberty-activists have in place to inform, organize and carry out activism events. Because the news was so fresh, it was a bit inaccurate. The title should be "93 days in prison for refusing to sit". This entry has been edited since it's original, though the original text is now in strikethrough. Thanks everyone who got this news out, Dugg it and cared about it!]
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal" says the Declaration of Independence, a document that asserted freedom and triggered a war. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal" is a concept taught in American schools as a fundamental truth that all people are deserving of respect and life and prosperity.
Why then is Ian Freeman in prison for the next100 93 days? Because he refused to stand sit for his equal, another man, [when he ordered him to]. He refused to call him 'honor' and this upset the man calling himself "Judge".
Ian Freeman, host of the internationally syndicated radio show Free Talk Live and fellow Free State Project member appeared at court today in Keene, New Hampshire. As the owner of a property in Keene he has been charged with some sort of code violation for his tenants having a couch in the yard they rent from Ian. Several weeks ago a person claiming to be "an official" from "City of Keene" left a piece of paper demanding money and the removal of the couch.
Ian met with the so-called official to ask if any of his neighbors had actually complained about the couch and was told that a female neighbor had filed a complaint. When Ian asked to speak with her, he was told that wouldn't happen.
In the United States of America, there is a very basic right enshrined in the Constitution, the right to confront your accuser. I hold no reverence for this document - it's not anything I agree to or am party to - but supposedly the people calling themselves "government" have agreed to be bound by it.
Ian presented the court officials with a response. He was not against removing the couch - a responsible neighbor takes note of the complaints of his neighbor. He just wanted to talk with the woman who filed the complaint, to find out what offended her about how his property was, and he'd then remove it if it still bothered her. A very adult-like thing to do.
The court refused, and instead initiated a trial.
Today, Ian appeared at their trial and intended only on calling the damaged person making a complaint against him. He never got that far, it seems. In keeping with the doctrine of "all men created equal", Ian Freeman refused tostand for the man called "Judge" sit immediately after ordered to by the man calling himself "Judge". It would be considered rude to refuse a hand extended to you in greeting, yet this man called "Judge" did not greet Ian by standing. It should be noted that usual court decorum involves the person speaking to rise and speak. Instead, he decided that Ian's refusal to stand sit was somehow and offense, and then proceeded to instruct some other men to arrest him. They ushered him off to a separate room for the supposed "trial".
In addition to being able to confront your accuser, in America there's supposedly a right to a public trial. This is so the public can show outrage when the government people become overly aggressive and start hurting people. As is so common in New Hampshire, Ian did in fact have public support. Several liberty activists attended the government people's trial over this matter. Ian mentioned yesterday [MP3] that those attendees are a huge source of motivation and strength when confronting the aggressive government people, and today they made a very clear move to separate the public from the court railroading that would follow.
In this private back room, the man called "Judge" convicted Ian of three counts of "contempt of court" (why shouldn't an ethical person be contemptuous of men using violence and threats to tell other men what they're allowed to store their property?) and sentenced him to 90 days in prison with fines with an additional 10 days in the cage for refusal to give the government people some of his money.
Welcome to the United Socialist States of America. The government people own your property. They dictate to you what you can do on your own land. You no longer have to hurt someone to have the government people turn against and hurt you. You have no right to confront your accuser. There no longer need even be an accuser, no injured party. You have no right to a public trial. "We will use force against you" the government people are saying "if you don't obey us."
Indeed, it wasn't even "obeying" they reacted to. No, the aggression they commit was triggered by what they perceive as an insult or as the man calling himself "Judge" said for "making a mockery of this proceeding".
[For the latest news on this situation, including video of Ian's arrest and the buzz this is generating, check out http://93days.com/]
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal" says the Declaration of Independence, a document that asserted freedom and triggered a war. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal" is a concept taught in American schools as a fundamental truth that all people are deserving of respect and life and prosperity.
Why then is Ian Freeman in prison for the next
Ian Freeman, host of the internationally syndicated radio show Free Talk Live and fellow Free State Project member appeared at court today in Keene, New Hampshire. As the owner of a property in Keene he has been charged with some sort of code violation for his tenants having a couch in the yard they rent from Ian. Several weeks ago a person claiming to be "an official" from "City of Keene" left a piece of paper demanding money and the removal of the couch.
Ian met with the so-called official to ask if any of his neighbors had actually complained about the couch and was told that a female neighbor had filed a complaint. When Ian asked to speak with her, he was told that wouldn't happen.
In the United States of America, there is a very basic right enshrined in the Constitution, the right to confront your accuser. I hold no reverence for this document - it's not anything I agree to or am party to - but supposedly the people calling themselves "government" have agreed to be bound by it.
Ian presented the court officials with a response. He was not against removing the couch - a responsible neighbor takes note of the complaints of his neighbor. He just wanted to talk with the woman who filed the complaint, to find out what offended her about how his property was, and he'd then remove it if it still bothered her. A very adult-like thing to do.
The court refused, and instead initiated a trial.
Today, Ian appeared at their trial and intended only on calling the damaged person making a complaint against him. He never got that far, it seems. In keeping with the doctrine of "all men created equal", Ian Freeman refused to
In addition to being able to confront your accuser, in America there's supposedly a right to a public trial. This is so the public can show outrage when the government people become overly aggressive and start hurting people. As is so common in New Hampshire, Ian did in fact have public support. Several liberty activists attended the government people's trial over this matter. Ian mentioned yesterday [MP3] that those attendees are a huge source of motivation and strength when confronting the aggressive government people, and today they made a very clear move to separate the public from the court railroading that would follow.
In this private back room, the man called "Judge" convicted Ian of three counts of "contempt of court" (why shouldn't an ethical person be contemptuous of men using violence and threats to tell other men what they're allowed to store their property?) and sentenced him to 90 days in prison with fines with an additional 10 days in the cage for refusal to give the government people some of his money.
Welcome to the United Socialist States of America. The government people own your property. They dictate to you what you can do on your own land. You no longer have to hurt someone to have the government people turn against and hurt you. You have no right to confront your accuser. There no longer need even be an accuser, no injured party. You have no right to a public trial. "We will use force against you" the government people are saying "if you don't obey us."
Indeed, it wasn't even "obeying" they reacted to. No, the aggression they commit was triggered by what they perceive as an insult or as the man calling himself "Judge" said for "making a mockery of this proceeding".
[For the latest news on this situation, including video of Ian's arrest and the buzz this is generating, check out http://93days.com/]