Dvorak?

(Reposted from old blog)

Recently I have been having wrist pains and the like and the obvious culprit is tho amount of time I spend on my various computers. After consulting a friend a few months ago he recommended I try Dvorak. So I borrowed a cheapo keyboard from my roommate and switched around all of my keys. I am writing this post using it now. It’s slow but it is working, I’ll be typing at high speed again in no time this way, and hopefully with much less pain.

Any fellow Dvorak users have any comments or tips?

My Setup

(Reposted from old blog)

Ok, so here’s my setup for the Vista article:

ThinkPad T61 running Windows Vista Business with the latest Performance and Reliability Packs

Software packages used:

• Web Browser: Firefox 2.0.0.6 / Internet Explorer 7 (I’m still debating this one)
• Email: Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
• Word Processing: Microsoft Office Word 2007
• Spreadsheet: Microsoft Office Excel 2007
• Presentation: Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007
• Code editing for software: NotePad++
• Code editing for website: NotePad++ (I’m trying to get a copy of Adobe Dreamweaver CS3)
• Web graphics work: Adobe Fireworks CS3 (I’m trying to get this also)
• Photo Management: Google Picasa
• Video Watching: Windows Media Player 11
• Music Playback & Organization: iTunes 7.3
• Instant Messaging: Trillian Pro 3.1 (Build 121)
• Videocalls: Skype 3.5
• IRC: X-Chat 2
• Backup Software: Acronis TrueImage Workstation 9.0
• Archive Management: WinRAR 3.7
• Disk Maintenance: Diskeeper 9
• Optical Media Recording: Nero 6 Ultra

This is my software set up for the laptop, named Gigan in true Godzilla monster fashion, any questions, comments and suggestions on different software and what not are welcome in the comments section

And yes I realize it’s not the newest versions of everything, this is just what I have

WordPress Assistance Needed

(Reposted from old blog)

Anyone who has used WordPress 2, could you tell me how to make my RSS feeds actually show the entire post? It’s annoying when it gets cut off by Planet COSI, please comment here or use my sites contact page to get in touch with me about it.

P.S. I already changed it to “Full Text” from “Summary” in the options, doesn’t appear to have an effect.

A semester with Windows Vista

(Reposted from old blog)

Sounds like a form of punishment doesn’t it? Having to use Windows Vista for an entire semester! From August to December!

We’ll see.

As a long time user of solely FOSS (Free Open Source Software) like Linux, I have been out of touch with the Windows world. When I applied for a job as a computer tech to help pay for my new ThinkPad, I realized I was outdated when they asked about my Vista experience. My reply was “I’ve seen the box for it on the shelves…is it really that different?”

Furthermore reviews online seemed to either praise it as the next ‘sliced bread’ or damn it to eternal fury in hell, nothing was ever substantiated by real evidence though. I found the ‘in-depth’ reviews to be bland simulations of typical use, and for the most part, unfair. So I’ve decided to write a series of Blog posts forming a single article on using Windows Vista for a semester at school, in a “typical use” scenario, no simulations, I’ll be writing about my life as a student using Windows Vista to get through my day to day activities. I think this is the only fair test, since people looking for problems will find them, and blissful ignorance will hide those problems, the only way to see how Vista would fair in a real life scenario, is to use it in a real life scenario. So here are the rules:

• I’ll be using the factory install of Windows Vista Business that came with my ThinkPad T61. I can’t dual boot or switch OSes at any time (No WinXP or Linux) on this computer, unless it is absolutely required to prevent risking my grades.
• I’m not banned from using other operating systems, so for my Xen research and programming I’ll probably be using COSI systems, plus the XP based computer labs in school as I need to.
• I’ll be using the reasonable equivalents of FOSS, so Office 2007 in place of OpenOffice, Trillian in place of Pidgin, Outlook 2007 in place of Thunderbird. I’m still using Firefox as IE7 is a security risk, and since this is my school computer it would be unreasonable to risk its stability for the sake of a blog article.
• I can’t use any unreasonably technical tweaks or hacks to make my experience easier, this is from the viewpoint of a typical student with typical abilities.
• I’m going to stick with the basic “default” style set up with Aero on for now, I may change that later should it prove reasonable.
• I’m also using the full suite of ThinkVantage utilities that came with my computer, including Access Connections, Client Security Solutions and the Biometrics

That should just about do it, hopefully this will be an interesting read for FOSS advocates as well as the general user, I plan to comment on things from my FOSS perspective throughout the course of the article. I’ll post the first installment soon, explaining my setup in greater detail.

I'm still alive!

(Reposted from old blog)

(Warning Planet COSI readers, you really need to click the topic and view this whole post, it’s detailed.)

Ahhhhhh…..fooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That was me blowing the dust off. Sorry I haven’t been around; it’s been a crazy few weeks. Let me recap for you.

My ThinkPad went under extensive delays, and I finally lost my patience and gave Lenovo a call, this time asking to be immediately sent to a supervisor. I was put on hold for ~10 minutes and then the CSR returned to tell me his supervisor was on lunch. So I said “Direct me to another supervisor please” and he said they were all on lunch. I smell something nasty at this point and hang up. Wait an hour, call back, got the same runaround. I said “They were all at lunch an hour ago, do you really want me to believe they’re still all gone? Cause I’m not buying that, and if I don’t get a supervisor, I’m not buying the computer either.” And suddenly a supervisor was available. I had a nice chat with him, explained why this was a problematic situation and while I was extremely irate and not at all subtle about my belief they screwed up, I did maintain a somewhat professional demeanor. In the end he agreed I should be compensated for the delays and there’s a spare 7-cell battery on the way to me now. Now here’s the cool part, the very next day, I went to check the order status, to see if the original Estimated Ship Date of 9/19/07 had been updated, and it was gone! I panicked at first then realized it’s because the machine shipped. I received it Tuesday (8/14/07) morning after an extensive stay in Customs. I am very happy with it, and here are my overall impressions:

• The build is very solid, as I hoped, there’s no creaking, or off balance parts, the whole machine feels solid. I’m normally very nervous about straining my electronics, but after a few minutes I was confident enough to try the infamous ‘corner grab test’ and it was a stunning success.
• The hinges are equally solid, I love needing two hands to open the laptop.
• Windows Vista Business is quite nice, I like it so far, of course I had some nuisances to deal with. (Cleaning out preloaded software, disabling UAC, setting up AVG and such)
• The fingerprint reader and CSS 8.0 make it easy to manage all of my online identities as well as control access to the system, plus it’s just freaking cool.
• I get good battery life (3 hours on default power management settings) even under heavy use, including a goodly portion of time on Skype video-chatting with Agent Banks
• The webcam and internal microphone work very well, the quality is crisp and clean on the video and the microphone picks me up very well without distorting the sound, even when I’m walking around the room.
• Performance was rock solid out of the box, and even smoother after I tweaked the settings a bit.
• Graphics card seems pretty potent, I haven’t tried a game yet.
• Power brick is fantastically sturdy, I have no fear of it failing like Destroyah’s
• Widescreen isn’t so bad, especially not in such a small form factor (14.1” WXGA+)
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth reception is fantastic, connection speeds are good, everything works well there.
• The ThinkLight is cool, and actually useful in the dark.
• The machine is very portable, but too small to fit securely in my old briefcase style bag, so I’m shopping for a new one.
• TrackPoint is my new favorite mouse, period, especially with the middle scroll button thinger….
• ThinkVantage software suite is superb, does the job well and I don’t find it to be a big load on the system.
• Of course the keyboard itself is very solid, it has nice tactile response and such, and it’s a joy to type on.
• The screen looks fantastic too, I’ve tried not to obsess and check the part number and look for theoretical defects in certain manufacturers. To me it looks fine; I am happy with it, don’t give two craps what anyone else thinks
• No compatibility problems so far.
• Sound/speakers are good, the max volume is a little low, but I haven’t researched in to being able to do anything about that, sound quality through headphones is great and the front position of the 3.5mm jack doesn’t bother me thus far.
• The optical drive and the hard drive both work well, I don’t ever feel like I’m waiting on one or the other to complete some task.
• The sidebar is quaint, but it rapidly gets irritating so I disabled it.
• UAC is a pest!

That’s all I have to say right now, I’m going to write about my site work and my upcoming Vista for a Semester Challenge in due time, within a day or so I hope. This article was really long because this keyboard doesn’t wear me out or feel prohibitively tiring to use.

And now, a picture! Assuming I didn’t break the upload thing with it’s size:

ThinkPad Head On

Heads up folks!

(Reposted from old blog)

Alright here’s the update, at 3am my time, cause I’m nuts. First off you may notice there’s a new user posting here, that would be Agent Tom Banks, certified computer specialist (doesn’t that sound fancy? He’s A+ certified, whoo). He spends an unnerving amount of time in my room at the most random of hours, now included and will be posting about his trials and tribulations and whatnot in trying to bend technology to his will. Chances are he will only update when I yell at him and insist he does so.

Further news, the ThinkPad is delayed indefinitely, and I’m this close to calling them up and canceling it, but thanks to the generosity of my roommate I will have a computer to use at school now, so I am not in such a rush to get it, but I’m still anxious. It will eventually arrive and I’m sure it will be very nice, so I’m holding out….for now.

As far as the site goes, I’m debugging the hashing routines for the authentication of the management console and such, making sure there’s no gaping obvious holes before it goes live. The site’s content will finally be truly dynamic and I can then update whenever, not only during the rare times I’m actually not lazy. Writing raw HTML/XML/CSS loses its fun after about the tenth page change. Really. It does. I also plan to make the projects page similar to the blog so I can post updates to each project as I work on them.

So that’s the update, and now I’m going to kick Agent Banks out and go to sleep, I have work tomorrow!

ThinkPad? What ThinkPad? Oh right, the one I ordered last month….

(Reposted from old blog)

So my ThinkPad has apparantly been further delayed, in to September. This is lousy. I want your opinions, please comment and tell me if you think I should wait for it, or scrap it, or suggest some other option. I need a computer for school though, this laptop is dying….

As far as the Cave goes, I’m still working on the management console and the content pages, and I’ve had a few other more important projects fall on my lap. I promise I’m still working though, the site won’t go stagnate I promise! I’m currently debugging session management and authentication, if anyone knows any good readings on that, please comment here, or email them to me. Thanks.