Okay, so I'm a geek, but I have decided that Linux is not worth it.

Why? Because I have this belief (spoiled by Microsoft and Apple, surely) that an OS should be able to install and work out of the box on current or no more than slightly out of date hardware (as long as it meets at least minimum specs). I am too old and too impatient to spend days or even hours trying to get a simple no-frills installation to work on a system that's not heavily modded out.

I decided to install ubunto 8.04.1 tonight, after learning of a neato little tool called wubihttp://wubi.sourceforge.net that will allow installing Ubuntu as a boot option without having to resize and create partitions (it creates a virtual boot disk in Windows). I loaded it on my work laptop with no problem, so Ithought hey, I'll load it at home where I have a bigger hard drive. more room to play.

4 hours later, it's been uninstalled. My system is a 2 year old Compaq with an nVidia 7300 and 17" widescreen, WELL within specs for linux. Even when installing, I got garbage on the screen with "OUT OF RANGE" superimposed. I did the research, booted to a console and fiddled with the xorg.conf file, all to no avail. Nothing worked, and there was no help at all in the vast gestalt of Linux knowledge.

Not to mention that there are still no drivers for the Linksys WUSB11 wireless adapter, but I knew that going in.

So screw it. This is a prime example of why Linux has not been more widely adopted. I have had my share of installation problems, but none have included Windows attempting to use a screen resolution that is not supported by the video subsystem. It may well have been very very clever to try getting X to start in 1440x900 mode for me, but I'd rather start in 640-480 and have to adjust it myself once the right driver has been found.

But most of all, I should not have had to worry about whether it would display anything at all.

</rant>

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

(those waiting for Ep 12 on SciFi will see it in 3 weeks, I think. Take the shortcut and d/l it on BitTorrent))

Note to Richmond peeps! Sparky and the bandit will be in Richmond for a ONE DAY ENGAGEMENT on Saturday, Aug 2! Arrange your calendars accordingly...

We're driving my parents -- who really shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car -- down from maine, then spending a day to visit, and then driving to NC to see Sparky;s parents for a few days.

nuff said.

In other news, my latest Mr Beer brew (Blonde Bombshell) is kicking my ass. Maybe I left it to ferment a wee bit long.

No, I didn't.

PETA proposes Lobster Empathy Center for Skowhegan jail

(Bangor Daily news)

SKOWHEGAN, Maine - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has sent a proposal to the Somerset County commissioners to lease their jail for the world’s first Lobster Empathy Center.

The central Maine county is constructing a new jail and has put the century-old jail in downtown Skowhegan up for sale. The Realtor handling the sale called the offer "likely a publicity stunt."

(And if they DON'T wonder about not being taken seriously, they're more delusional than I thought)

We got Dish! Finally, CHOICES and a CLEAR TV PICTURE.

Is it wrong that the show I was looking forward to most is the Daily Show? Truly, I think I missed TDS more than anything else. Even though I've been keeping up via web stream, I missed seeing it at its timeliness.

Dear user mtbandit,

Thank you for your report. We have suspended the users in question for Terms of Service violations.

Regards,
Annika
LiveJournal Abuse Prevention Team

Adapted from something I saw in the noos-peper. Had it for the second time tonight, with friends (who heartily approved). Original recipies was for making slow-cooked pulled barbecue, but ribs are a lot less work.

First you need:
1/2 cup bourbon
2 tablespoons molasses
1-1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 cup water
2 dried chipotle chilies, rehydrated and chopped
4 tablespoons salt, divided
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons cayenne
3-4 lbs baby-back ribs

In a large bowl, combine the bourbon, molasses, vinegar, water, chipotles, 2 tablespoons of the salt, red pepper flakes and 1 tablespoon of the black pepper. Stir well and set aside.

Place the ribs in a large zip-close plastic bag. Pour the marinade over the ribs and seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible. Refrigerate for 6 to 9 hours.

At least 2 hours before you are ready to cook the ribs, place about 1 cup of wood chips in a bowl and then cover with water and let soak for at least 2 hours.

Once the pork has marinated, remove it from the bag and set on a large plate and set aside. Pour the marinade into a medium saucepan and then boil for 12 minutes to use for basting and as a sauce. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining salt, paprika, garlic powder, remaining black pepper, and cayenne. Stir to mix, then generously sprinkle the spices over all surfaces of the pork. Cover the pork and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Place the soaked wood chips on a piece of heavy-duty foil, then fold it over like an envelope to enclose the wood. Using a pencil, poke 3 or 4 holes in the top of the foil envelope (don't poke all the way through).

Place the foil packet directly on the coals or gas flames. When the wood inside the packet starts to smoke, transfer the ribs to the prepared grill rack over indirect heat (medium low). While cooking the ribs, baste occasionally with the heated marinade.

I sent email to abuse then, at their request, Support, but I thought i'd follow up on my previous comment about spam in my friends list.

Apparently, some script bot has created two users (at least), and force-added themselves as friends to my list so I could get their Messages. Well, message. Interestingly, they only added themselves to 8 or nine accounts, including brad's. If you go to their journals, one has a total nonsense post and the credit card come-on that appeared in my friends list (obviously i have since de-friended them, I wish there was a direct way to force myself out of their friends list), and the other is just the nonsense post.

So I'm suspecting there's a vulnerability that allowed this scriptbot to not only add themselves as friends, but also force their way into being MUTUAL friends. It makes me very uneasy that this is apparently possible, and I hope it is a bug that they will fix. If they deny there's a bug, I am going to have to think hard about whether I'll be spending any more time on a new LJ that apparently condones this kind of crap.

So, keep an eye out. the script bots like I got will be obvious from the names. My two new friends were named "abbieargotown" and "abbyarleytown". it appears that they are only adding a few random LJers as friends in order to not attract too much attention from the security folks.