SemiAntics

On June 5th, 2007, Dream Theater will be releasing their 9th album, Systematic Chaos. Are you ready?

You can hear a snippet of one of the songs on YouTube. It sounds like it will be a really good album. I’m not a huge fan of Octovarium, their last album, but of all the rest I am hugely fanlike. I will be buying this one when it comes out.

Dream Theater will be touring nearby (Charlotte NC, and somewhere in NJ).

Learn more about Dream Theater at Wikipedia, or buy one of their albums on half.ebay.com.

“Listen to your stuffed monkey; they usually have the best advice.”

~Grace (2007 – 4 – 25)

There are several reasons to use Netflix. Do you know what they are? Here, I will list them for you to make it easier:

• Good Selection
• Reasonable Price
• Easy
• No Late Fees
• Free Popcorn and Drinks (delivered freshly made each time you watch the movie)
• Makes You Look 10% Prettier/Handsomer

Now, there is one other reason to use Netflix: Monsters!

Yes, these cute little monsters can be made from the extra flap of paper on the Netflix envelope. You just tear it off and fold, fold, fold, and “Boo!” it’s a monster!

How to make ‘em

Let’s see if I can ’splain it to you:

1. Fold the paper in half, across the middle of the long side.
2. Fold the two corners in to the middle so that there is a point at the middle of the folded edge, and there are two triangles folded to the middle. The triangles should be at a 45 degree angle.
3. Now, just below the folded triangles, there will be about an inch that didn’t get folded into a triangle. Fold one over the new triangles, and fold the other behind the triangles so that it looks sort of like a hat.
4. Open the hat, and pull the middles out until it’s closes and looks like a diamond.
5. Keep pulling out until you can fold it flat. Fold it then.
6. Now you have a diamond shaped flat thing that can open on two sides.
7. Fold the corners of the two open sides out and over so that you have a triangle again.
8. Now you have a smaller hat, without a rim.
9. Open the hat, keep opening until it is flat the other way.
10. Fold it in half, and you should see some slots for your fingers.
11. Put your fingers in and snap the jaws of the monster at people!

Yep, if you can follow those instructions you’re a jeanius. I’m pretty much a jeanius for writing this down, too. Oh, Grace is the one who taught me this trick, so full credit should go to Grace.

This vehicle has been sitting in front of my dorm for most of the year, on and off. We finally got a picture of it.

Well, take a closer look, in case you didn’t figure it out yet:

That’s right, it’s that gas-hog of a GMC creation, the “Yukon.” I don’t think anyone is going to take that sticker seriously.

“It was my idea to get pizza; I have intellectual property rights!”

~Grace (2007 – 4 – 22)

Many GNU/Linux distributions are set up so that when X starts the numlock key is disabled. It’s really a simple thing to fix, but it can be quite frustrating until you get around to fixing it. Here’s a quick way to fix it that I’ve used on Ubuntu. I will also discuss a method that should work on other systems.

Ubuntu

I started out by looking at the UbuntuGuide for help. There is a quick fix there that involves using the Gnome Desktop Manager (GDM). I don’t want to be tied to that program, even though I use it. It seems to me that the fix should be independent of the particular desktop environment. In fact, it is independent. There is a handy little program called numlockx that can be used in various ways to fix the problem.

Start out by installing numlockx:

sudo aptitude install numlockx

Now add an entry to your Xsession file, as follows:

sudo vim /etc/X11/Xsession

Page down until you see the line “exit (0)”, and paste this code above that line:

# Turn on numlock when X starts.
if [ -x /usr/bin/numlockx ]; then
    /usr/bin/numlockx on
fi

Now you can save the file and restart your X session to see that it works.

Other Distros

For other distributions, I believe you can add this line to your /etc/X11/xinitrc file:

numlockx on

I haven’t tested this, but if you try it, let me know how it works.

“I couldn’t tell if it was my neighbors having sex, or if it was a car skidding on Belvedere.”

~Grace ( 2007 – 4 – 21)

“Ahh… Too many monkeys!” ~ Grace (2007 – 4 – 20)

Ever since Grace and I went to see Carbon Leaf last year, I’ve been listening to their music more than any other music I own. And I have a lot of music.

The first time I heard them was live at the Canal Club in Shockoe Bottom in Richmond. They were really great as a live band, and I didn’t even mind all the smoke as much as I thought I would. We went there on fully bellys after eating next door at Bottoms Up Pizza (really great pizza). The whole trip was something that VCU put on. It cost $10 for a $14 Carbon Leaf ticket and dinner, plus transportation both ways in a charter bus (for the six of us that went). What a deal!

After the concert we bought their latest cd, “Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat.” Grace later bought me “Indian Summer” for my birthday. Now I have them both in my car, and I have put them on my computer (as ogg files, of course). I listen to them a ton.

Carbon Leaf’s music isn’t technical, which is usually why I like music. It’s just very nice. I guess some people would describe it as pop, but I don’t think that’s right. Maybe just call it down-to-earth music that happens to have some folk/pop/rock influences. Whatever it is, it’s right for me, right now.

My favorite songs:

1. What about everything?
2. Under the wire
3. One prarie outpost
4. Let your troubles roll by
5. Comfort
6. Life less ordinary
7. The war was in color

If you want to get in on the Carbon Leaf craze, here is their website: www.carbonleaf.com.

You can also buy their CDs from pretty much any place that sells CDs, but Plan 9 has them, as well as eBay and half.com.

Finally, check out the upcoming dates: Charlottesville, Blacksburg, Williamsburg, etc. If you have a chance, go see them!

Let me know what you think.

I created this with the Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program). The Gimp is a full featured photo and image editor with similar plugins and features to what you may find in Adobe Photoshop (R). There is a nice tutorial on how to create these nice fractals provided by the Gentoo GNU/Linux group.

All wallpaper images posted on this site are subject to the Creative Commons Attribution – ShareAlike license. Before you ask me if and how you can use the image, please read the license. It’s not hard to understand. Really, it’s about 2 lines. I promise!