For the nth time, a dorm mate decided to have a booze party in his room again. This stank up the hall and I had to move to a study lounge to study. As a matter of fact, I had to hold my breath while I was in the hallway so that I don’t get a whiff of that repulsive-smelling fermented yeast. I don’t understand how people can enjoy that stuff — I see it as an abomination that has caused the downfall of many. In any case, every time I get a whiff of that, I noticed some alcohol. That is why I wonder whether that stuff is flammable.

Rest assured… I’ll save that for trained professionals MythBusters.

Because I needed time to myself to rest and do some work, I told my OA friends that I could either go to the committee co-chair’s party or the camping trip. I opted for the party because it would be a new experience for me. Well… I got what I asked for.

Upon arrival, I had some punch. That was a big mistake because that was the obvious thing that people would spike with alcohol at parties. I proceeded to have a jello shot because the host said that it has no alcohol. That was also a mistake. Fortunately, there was no effect because I remained sober enough to learn my lesson and to escort my friend (who had a bit more than I did) home.

Time to bump all my OA friends’ trust bars down a bit…

This is a continuation of “Homeowners’ Associations = UGH!” As promised, the letter is attached as fcca_letter.jpg. Now, open it up and follow along… it’s time for me to take the letter and rip its arguments to shreds, for it hopelessly lacks common sense.

Basically, here’s a quick breakdown of what’s going on:

• When we got our house, there are these rocks in the landscape bed that lead up to the front porch.
• Over time, these rocks became buried or discolored, so we replace them.
• First Colony Community Association sends us a letter about this unauthorized modification.

A picture of the front of my house. The white rocks are the thing they’re complaing about.

By performing the maintenance work, we feel that we are doing our part in “an effort to maintain property values in [our neighborhood].” There is no need for “a full understanding of [any] restrictions.” It is simply common sense. I went to this Andrew Vacek’s office in an attempt to get it resolved, but I was merely handed this:

That’s right, folks! A 1/8″ packet of their by-laws that is totally irrelevant to the issue at hand and describes all the bureaucracy.

For the record, this association seems to lack common sense, and I could probably come to the conclusion that this Andrew Vacek is a stubborn blockhead. This lack of common sense stems from one thing: Greed — greed for revenue. Consequently, I will state again that after I get my degree, I shall not live in First Colony, for “common sense revolts at the idea”¹ that I am required to submit a “modification approval” request to keep my yard in decent order.

Introduction
Although about four months earlier than I intended, I got a new computer because my parents wanted another computer in the house. When selecting the computer, I was open to other options (Apple, Lenovo/IBM, Toshiba, and HP), but it turns out that Dell offered the best specs for the money. As a matter of fact, I had to give up my dream of owning an Apple because a similarly-customized computer would have cost an additional $1,000 (even after educational discount). After spending a day backing up information and restoring my little brothers’ computers, I got to spend some quality time with my computer. Obviously, the first thing I did was to completely wipe the drive and install my Windows XP Professional and Ubuntu Linux 6.10 (Edgy Eft) combination. While the Dell Inspiron e1505 looks deceptively similar to the Dell Inspiron 6000 (we’ll call it “the i6k” from now on), there were certainly many changes under the hood. In addition to discussing the differences in build, I will also discuss a few hurdles Linux users may encounter.

Specifications

• Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 (1.83 GHz)
• 2 GB DDR2 RAM @ 667 MHz
• 80 GB HDD @ 5400 RPM
• Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 abg
• nVidia GeForce Go 7300 w/ 256 MB DDR
• WSXGA+ (1650×1080) display with TrueLife
• 9-cell battery

Total cost (including taxes and shipping): $1,500.34

Overall observations

In the three days I have used this computer, the e1505 was an improvement with respect to quality over the i6k. For starters, the speakers sounded better. Even with the loudest music, the threshold at which the speakers clip and emit a metallic sound was significantly higher. Although the TrueLife display option was advertised to improve viewing of movies and photos, I highly recommend opting for it because the improved contrast ratio makes reading text easier, especially for those who also want a higher-resolution screen. Finally, the i6k was known for being cool on one side but quite hot on another. The left leg now gets some heated love from the computer. Unfortunately, the consistency in heat dissipation did not reduce the temperature on the right side, but that may be because of the newer processor.

Working with Linux

After installing off the Live CD, I proceeded to boot into Ubuntu to install more programs. As it was starting up, it would stop working halfway. I pressed Ctrl+Alt+F1 to turn off the splash image and then Ctrl+Alt+F8 to go to the console with diagnostic messages. I initially blamed it on fsck (file system check), and reinstalled with several different partition configurations. However, what I did not remember was that Ubuntu does not use NetworkManager and still relies on a relatively primitive method of establishing communications. Indeed, the /etc/network/interfaces file looked like this:

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

auto eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp

auto eth2
iface eth2 inet dhcp

auto ath0
iface ath0 inet dhcp

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp

I proceeded to install network-manager-gnome and its dependencies and edited /etc/network/interfaces such that everything but the first two lines were commented out (you can comment out a line in a configuration file by adding a ‘#’). This solved my problems.

If I had to name the most unpleasant experience during my three years of running Linux, it would have to be running an ATi graphics card. Although I learned how to cope and perform the procedures necessary to install the driver and compile the driver, it was not reliable enough for XGL and did not even support AIGLX. By acquiring the e1505, I was able to see first-hand that nVidia’s drivers are leaps and bounds ahead of ATi. Not only was I able to use AIGLX, but I was able to change my screen configuration on-the-fly without restarting X.

Conclusion
Through the process of initiating the e1505 into my family’s fleet of computers, I have learned that Ubuntu hangups at startup were not caused by fsck. Rather, the networking script was trying to obtain IP addresses for all the interfaces (including a few non-existent ones). A relatively trivial change in /etc/network/interfaces and the installation of network-manager-gnome and its dependencies solved this. Additionally, nVidia continues to gain favor in the Linux community with their user-friendly graphics drivers that far surpasses ATi’s offerings. Although I wiped off the MediaDirect partition, I will work on restoring it during my next round of reinstalling Windows.

After three semesters here, I think I have found the perfect balance between academics and extracurricular involvement. I have been getting good grades, especially in that class I failed last semester. As a matter of fact, made a 65 on a test last Thursday, and the average was a 58. I also got a 96 on a EE 319K (Introduction to Microcontrollers) test. I hope that I can keep this up.

Do you remember this article a while back? I promised to talk a little bit more about the “bad guys,” and all I have to say in reply is this: We hackers* are not the bad guys — YOU are the bad guys. Just because you cannot think of ways to make your product more useful to others does not mean that you should prevent others from doing so.

Speaking of bad people, I am very surprised that the RIAA and MPAA (collectively known as the MAFIAA) have not been classified as terrorist organizations yet. This is particularly true of the RIAA because they recently established a new web site where those accused of sharing music files can settle out of court for a “substantial discount.” I see the MAFIAA’s acts as terrorism because they are

• Stifling domestic innovation, thus making it more difficult for the US to maintain its #1 spot as the world’s economic leader
• Sabotaging our economy through the coercive use of DRM
• Disenfranchising our citizens of their rights, particularly their rights to have a fair trial
• Victimizing innocent people

I see their actions as being no better than that of a suicide bomber — the bomber knows that he’s going down, so he might as well take as many as possible with them. These people can be described as children, college students, grandparents, and other people who are simply unable to defend themselves. I normally do not wish curses against people, but I hope that:

1. They get the wrong person
2. The person countersues and turns the lawsuit into a class-action lawsuit that cannot be settled\
3. Those who were wrongfully accused are elgible for double the legal fees encountered and double the amount they were originally sued for
4. The lawsuit dips into the executives’ wallets, rendering them as poor as everyday folk

In summary, we need a ruthless person who will stop at nothing to reciprocate everything the RIAA has done to people.

* I define a “hacker” as someone who likes to take things apart, study them, make them better, take full advantage of them by ethical means.