I SLAM Ubuntu

Nah, I just can't resist using wordplay in the blog title. This post is about Ubuntu, SLAM, and myself however.

Before I lose the average PC user talking about Ubuntu, let's start off with SLAM, or, the Student Literary Arts Magazine of Pierce College. Sound familiar? I kinda hope so, seeing as this goes back to my second blog post in October. Well the truth is, I've been putting off submitting my photographs until now. I've finally got a short Bio typed up, the photos selected, and everything burned on to a dvd. In all hopes, I'm not too late for the 2010 issue and some of my works will be good enough for the magazine! I selected 13 of some of the very best pictures I have ever taken, so hopefully I'll make the cut. I have a good shot, I think. =)

Now onto Ubuntu. You may ask "What is this new devilry?!" I tell you, it is magic. Ubuntu is an OS, or Operating System - exactly like how you may use Windows XP, Vista, Win7, Linux (Ubuntu is a flavor of Linux), or a Mac. What's special about Ubuntu? For one, it's free, compiled by an assortment of experts (similar to Firefox's roots). Another bonus is that it's totally open-source, meaning I can modify nearly every program or process to suit my needs. It's also very lightweight and fast. When I'm at school I use it for most mundane things like browsing the internet since it starts up significantly faster than my Windows 7, which isn't really that bad to start with. There are also a lot of visual effects and other features not present in Windows. Another notable difference is that while in Windows and Mac you largely use a GUI (Graphical User Interface) to do almost everything, Ubuntu allows you to do everything and then some by command prompt. This basically means that if I open up a Terminal and enter something like "sudo gedit" it opens up the text editor without me having to find the icon on my computer. There's much more to it, but you get the basic idea.

I'm also proud to report that I've fixed up my old computer to the point it can run games at a very stable level. It is to be noted that a month ago the same computer couldn't even idle for more than 15 minutes without crashing. That's three functioning computers I have now! ...Well, the last one's an eMachine, so it doesn't really count. If you own an eMachine, get a new computer - trust me.

My current workspace. Sure it looks cluttered, and admittedly having two mice and keyboards can get confusing at times, but it's very efficient.

I couldn't really remember any of the many songs that must exist involving operating systems and art magazines, so I went with the ever-classic:
"I Think I Love You"
as by David Cassidy and The Partridge Family

The Information Surge

I've hit something I haven't felt since I first started working with computers at a young age. I've reacquired a hunger, a thirst for knowledge. In the words of Einstein, my history professor, Imam Shafi`e (a writer of the Qur’an), and most specifically Plato, "The more I study, the more I learn, the more I realize how little I know." The knowledge disease. Or, more aptly, a lust for more of it.

I've probably learned more things about my computers in the past few weeks than I have in the last several years combined. I've been poking, prodding, searching, seeking, adjusting, and tweaking areas of my computer that most people don't even know exist. I've developed a new understandings on how things work. I've even gotten my old computer up and running again in a single day from some problems that had been vexing me for the past two years. It's not uncommon for me now to have more than a dozen browser tabs up all on various topics, with several maintenance processes of some sort running in the background.

My source of inspiration came from a friend Travis, and his friends also. They were the ones who got me started, encouraged me when I couldn't figure out a frustrating problem, and equipped me with useful tools. I've also learned a lot from them about things you just don't learn any other way, like defensive hacking. Threats like packet sniffing? I never would have guessed! Now the importance of things like encryption in information transfer seem more sensible to me (instead of just protecting point A and B).

I've gained a significantly greater understanding of how things work, and each new thing I learn sends me on to five or six new topics! I've found going to sleep a rather painful thing, and I've even begun to work while we watch our nighttime tv.

Now if only someone would pay me to do stuff like this...

Today's song (actually edited in on the 26th...):
"Nerd Alert" by The Aquabats.
A former ska band, they never really lost the sense of goofiness.

Par-tay-licious Times in Vancouver

Yes! Celebrating historical figures means government buildings close down, and government buildings closing down means schools are closed, schools being closed means days off, and what else could that mean?

R~o~a~d t~r~i~p!!

Yes, in celebration of good ‘ol Martin Luther King Jr, we decided to take a trip down to Vancouver to see the Riddles. Well, Daniel said he just wanted to see Katy and needed someone to keep him awake, but we all know he really wanted us along. ;)

After a couple hours of driving we arrived safely, and when we all eventually settled down we played a game of Settlers. I have a strong aversion to a similar game called Carcassonne and I was told I would hate it, but it turned out that Settlers was much more to my preference. Soon after we finished the game a veritable FEAST of Taco Bell was graciously brought back by Mrs. Riddle, such the likes of which I had never seen and probably will not see again for a good few years to come. Needless to say we had enough left over to feed another person or two.

Not much specifically worth mentioning after that… There was a healthy amount of talking, a bunch of pizza for dinner, “we” messed up Lisa Dawn’s bed as tradition has apparently stated, and we watched American Pickers somewhere at the end. Daniel got a slick lightsaber that is actually durable enough to fight with (a gift from Katy, I believe?) I might get one myself, but they cost about as much as any other sparring sword, which is more than your average low end decorative sword. Still, it lights up and you can hit people with it. How cool is that?

Attendees were Daniel, Anna, April, Jesse and I, for those interested. Matt couldn’t make it. D=

The most exciting couple since 1930.

The stars of today’s show, the inspiration for the trip, Lisa Dawn and Katy (respectively).

Plenty of snacks to go around.

As if the twenty pounds of burritos wasn’t enough. We couldn’t figure out why there were so many cups!

I was amused.

Koos Koos The Foos Moose is on the Loose! (formally known as Herschel)

Katy rolled up in the bed.

Herschel rolled up in the bed.

Scandal rolled up in the bed.

I absolutely love this sink. It’s legit.

There are actually two songs for this week as they’re fairly short.

-Gitchi Gitci Goo from Phineas and Ferb

-Busted from Phineas and Ferb

Phineas and Ferb songs hold a special place in the gang’s heart, so it was only proper.

People Always Reply to my Blogs via Facebook

Well you do. Stoppit!  =P  Blogger has a perfectly capable comment system, and you don’t need an account to comment on my blog if I remember properly.

I’m posting this at school via the Windows Live Writer. I noticed it came with MSN While I was installing it after upgrading to Windows 7. It actually seems pretty nice, and as I type it’s all in the same format and style it will look as when I post this.

 

Anyway, a break-down of school. Feel free to skim it if you’re not really interested, I don’t say anything terribly witty. I’ve got a less than orthodox class schedule this quarter: I wake up at six, leave home at 6:30, and my first class (a continuation of US History) starts at 7am. At 8am I get out and have a break until 1pm. During this time I get all of my homework done (What else?), hang around with my classmate Eric or sometimes April, and eat whatever “breakfast” I brought – usually poptarts or a muffin. I usually try and hide off in a hotspot (place with wireless internet) alone and Facebook or play Perfect World during this time, however. Makes the time pass faster and easier.

From 1-2:05 I have an American Literature class with one of my old English teachers from last year. She’s a little rough but she’s also one of the most worthwhile of the teachers I’ve had. This is definitely easier than the English class was though. This is where my short days end, Mondays and Wednesdays. However on Tuesdays and Thursdays I have yet another class from 5:30-7:40. I eat dinner (a Nissin microwave noodle bowl) during this free time, and hang out with Daniel for the last hour before class. This class is Introduction to Weather and I’m taking it with good ‘ol Daniel. Unlike the other two, this one is kind of an interest elective. I don’t really need it, but I’m actually pretty excited for some of the things we’ll be learning later. The professor says by the end of the quarter we’ll be able to predict weather more accurately than the news people on TV, guaranteed. Sweet.

After that I go home, watch some TV with the family, and go to bed between 9-11pm. On Fridays I thankfully only have my early morning History class. Exciting stuff. The bonus with this schedule however, is that I have all the time in the world to do schoolwork, and have almost the entire weekend to relax or do something other than schoolwork.

 

I figure I should also point out that I attach a song to each week’s post, and that I should probably say at the end what the title and band is. Sometimes songs on Project Playlist will disappear, so the order might get mixed up sometimes otherwise.

This week’s song:

“College Kids” by Relient K.

I’m usually not a big fan of their music, but they do have one or two ok songs I enjoy. Haha, sorry I couldn’t think of anything better to attach this time around.

 

Back to work…

Not a Tithe, But an Offering

I feel I don't say it nearly enough, though I do my best to live it. God is truly amazing and wonderful. I owe so much to Him: my lot in life, my eternal security, and my very life. The last of which I may not remember myself, but I am humbled and awestruck when the thought comes to me, when the images given by my parent's memory, when I consider all that God has used me for in His glory... I am overcome. Not just in word, but literally- if I am alone I sometimes have trouble keeping my composure when I think about it. I suppose this would be a good chance to share that story, but that's quite a post in and of itself.

In my life, there have been times when I've dedicated myself to work, school, self-enrichment, or other betterment. In painful honesty, there have been many more times I've have given equal effort to pleasure, entertainment, selfishness. I'm a student of history, and I know I haven't lived long, but in my life I have found that there is not enough time in all the world to fully satisfy either of these ends. Neither is fully achievable. It would seem that as I look back, my greatest success in both was when I concentrated on neither, but on God instead. When He is my number one, everything else just seems to fall into place.

These ideas have been coming to me in my times of thought lately, but particularly heavy today. It is somewhat ironic, though wholly appropriate that this very day is the start of a new year, when people look back, look forward, and steel themselves for whatever the year may bring. I hope to grow closer to God, to stretch myself, and above all that I might be prepared for what exciting and amazing things He uses me for this year.



It has also been haunting the recesses of my mind for quite some time now how little I ever show my spiritual life online. So, here I proclaim for all to see what I believe, as complete and accurate as I have endeavored to create, my statement of faith:

I have a deep and sincere love for my God, a being one and separate, though it is beyond my mind to comprehend. I believe the Bible is completely true, and if it were to have but a single error like many claim, my entire belief would be worthless. (There's actually a verse that says the same directly, though I will need to search and remember the exact reference.) I believe that faith in Jesus is the only way to heaven, nothing else, and that all that reject God will go to a place of torment called hell, and that this fact is deeply saddening to God (if He didn't have mercy, or enjoyed punishment, I sure wouldn't be here). I believe that nothing happens on accident, but bad thing are allowed to happen so that we may be drawn to God or shown our own personal inadequacies, and great tragedies occur because we live in a world corrupted by sin, not because God is up there causing it all. I believe that God has two plans for our lives: the original best He has for us, and then the one that He has for us even after we screw up, for He still wants the best for you and I. I believe in a literal, physical, "rapture", and that a new heaven and earth will be created to house believers for all eternity. I won't state here where I stand on all the pre-mid-post tribulation nonsense, for I figure that even if my understanding is wrong, it'll happen however God plans it to. Guaranteed.

-Kenneth R. Kurtz


Ah, it looks like this won't be finished before the first day of the year officially ends. Oh well, wasn't really why I was posting it anyway. =)

Gingerbread Houses!

Yes! After too much ado in attempts and successes in re-scheduling, the gang got together to make some amazing gingerbread houses! I must admit, I don't think I've ever made a gingerbread house from the ground up before, only from kits or otherwise pre-fabricated by someone else. It was quite enjoyable. Granted, we used gram crackers instead of "gingerbread" planks, but then those planks aren't real gingerbread anyway. Real gingerbread is rather squishy, and not versatile enough for our purposes. (Mother and Jonny made one from scratch gingerbread, it looks quite nice).

That's about it for stuff to say, I suppose some pictures of the results would be better! Way to be cheap with all these pictures lately... Gaze at our amazing creations! First up is an exhorbitant amount of self-serving photos of my own house! Hooray!

I took this one shortly after Mary's first house exploded... Wasn't taking any chances. Also best shows the unique triangle-pyramid roof I made.

Santa on the roof! I was quite proud of inventing his little hat (accidental inspiration due to Andrew. I just realised I forgot to get a picture of his house!)

Bear waits by candlelight for Santa to come!

Now onto the other houses. I missed one house, but the rest are here:

Jesse's House.

Anna's House

Anna's House -front.

Amber's House.

Amber's House -one of my favorites.

Rachel's House.

Rachel's House.

Daniel finds his missing gumdrop.

Snow catapult on Daniel's House.

Daniel's House. Note the Mountainous Roof built for heavy snow, and the wonderful walkway.

Mary's House.

Mary's House.

Mary was the messiest. ;-)

Eric's House... Tree... Thing. Never really figured out what it was.

I found an M&M that looked like a goldfish! All in all, the night was pretty enjoyable, and no one ate their houses... before leaving anyway.

Tomorrow several of my siblings and their families are visiting for Christmas instead of the usual Christmas eve gathering, and tonight my Older brother is beginning a holiday stay at the house. So excited! Since I haven't really posted anything in the last month I haven't had a chance to say it, but I really have been getting excited for the big day. Just a few more presents, and I'm set.


In case I don't get back in time,

Merry Christmas everyone!

New Layout!

An urge took me and I couldn't resist finding a new template. I nearly went with another layout for fairly obvious reasons, but decided I liked this one more instead. Snazzy, huh? As there really isn't anything musically applicable about this post, the song added today will be almost totally irrelevant!

Also, sorry about the hard music these last two posts, for those of you who don't like it. I listen to other music, I swear!

EDIT: I'll throw this video from last weekend in for fun.