December 22, 2005
SUSE Me
About a month ago I picked up a circa 2000 Pentium PC, without an operating system, for $26 (it was for a good cause.) I figured that at the very least I had an 80 G hard drive from the deal, and even better, I might have another computer for the kids to IM and Runsescape the evening away.
I loaded SUSE linux on it -- because it's free and I wanted to see how workable it is for a desktop. Installation was a snap (as easy, and faster, than the recent reinstall of Win XP I did) and the resulting system was pretty nice: OpenOffice is functional and familiar, and it easily meets my modest mail, browsing and light office-app requirements for not-work stuff. It auto-updates patches, has a really usable interface, and is mostly plug-play are far as peripherals. It took a bit of digging to get it to find and use the remote printer, but otherwise, it's been surprisingly smooth sailing.
Bottom line: I deeded to the kids my (very similar) Windows desktop and I'm keeping the linux box for myself. I don't have to hear the cries of "This is different than the one my brother/sister is using!" and I get a perfectly functional replacement for the price of a wireless network card. Sweet.
A month into daily use, the only thing I miss is easy Nikon RAW photo editing, and I haven't solved lack of access to the data from my old computer -- the disk is mounted, but access is denied, for now. Even when allowed, it will be read-only, because of Window's HPFS. OK, that's 1.75 things. I guess I have to dust off those old and never really robust unix skills.
December 09, 2004
What is hip?
Katie was amazed to learn that Green Day is already in the CD collection. Will wonders ever cease?
August 13, 2004
Julia Child
I still use The Way to Cook. She was a compelling personality. Her show and Graham Kerr's are the earliest cooking shows I remember.
January 25, 2004
Chili every day
I'm trying to figure out how to get Chipotle in adobo sauce on the menu every day at Chez K. These are outragous.
December 29, 2003
December 09, 2003
British Toll Roads
Toll road comes to Britain. I don't recall ever realizing that there were no toll roads. We experienced the traffic on the M6 in Birmingham, though, and it seems like a good place for some relief, even at $4.80 a pop.