• This guy is going to get a lesson in securing his bike pretty soon (photo courtesy of Maria):

  

• During True Life: Campus Issues, we had a scene providing information about the Health Promotions Resource Center, which offers free condoms for students. There was a line about where else people can them. Upon checking this claim out of curiosity, I can say that they are indeed located next to the Snickers bars!
• Gone to Texas was a blast!

  

• I went to the incorrect classroom for the first class on the first day. Fortunately, the correct room was across the hall.
• I went to the correct classroom for the class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but one period too early.

About three days ago, I moved into the Almetris Duren dorm to help with fall orientation. Although I introduced myself to a few people, it still confirms my suspicion that things are definitely not going to be the same. For starters, people tend to keep to themselves and stay in their rooms and I find myself in the habit of going downstairs to see what’s going on just like old times. In any case, here are a few pictures for you to get an idea of how my room is like:

	I have a beautiful view of the Tower when I look out the window (of course, I came first, so I got to pick the best side for myself!
	A look at the courtyard…
	My room may look neat right now, but just you wait until school starts…

Since the beginning of the summer, I have been on hold with respect to what First-year Interest Group I am going to be in, and I recently received news that there were not enough FIGs.  Instead, they are going to hire me as a historian to help them keep records of their events.

I have received notice from my Resident Assistant (RA) that my roommate (who has not even moved in) has “moved out” to be roommates with his twin brother (who also happens to be in the same building.  Most likely, his brother’s assigned roommate is going to be mine.  In the most unlikely circumstance, I will have a room to myself.  Dang… this is one boofin’ expensive room to be letting only one person have.

The SCO case was one of the things that troubled my first months on Linux bliss.  As I remembered it, the lawsuit alleged that the Linux kernel contained portions of Unix.  SCO then went on a RIAA-like crusade of suing companies and users to obtain license fees.  What amazed me was that SCO continued court proceedings even after auditors found no evidence of infringing code.  Add to the fact that they were suing bigwigs such as IBM and Novell, and you have what equates to a company with a death wish.

On Friday, August 10, 2007, this death wish came true as Judge Dale Kimball ruled that the rights to Unix belongs to Novell, not SCO (reference).  On Monday, the stock proceeded to lose more than 2/3 of its value.  A closer examination of the stock’s historical prices yielded an even more disturbing revelation: If one were to have bought the stock back in 2000 and still has it now, he/she would have lost 99% of what they invested.

In any case, this post is dedicated to Judge Dale Kimball for his judgment that allows Linux users like me to use and explore Linux in peace.  As a parody to the motivational posters, here is a little something I whipped up to commemorate this event:

How many candles can a normal cake hold? Realistically, anything more than 30 is pushing your luck. So how do you go about placing candles for your parent or grandparent? Not to worry — David Yanoshak to the rescue!

Friend: so i put 6 candles on my mom’s birthday cake, lit - lit - not lit - lit- lit-lit
Friend: recognize anything?
Me: The 3rd candle is out.
Friend: 110111
Me: What are the candles’ arrangement?
Me: Oh… for her age?
Friend: yeah
Me: 2^5+2^4+4+2+1
Me: 32+16+7 = 55?
Friend: yep
Me: Way to save candles, ****!
Friend: haha
Friend: and to make her feel better

There you have it, people!  The binary system can really help to make your birthday celebrations a lot more economical!

It has been two weeks since we orientation advisors moved out of Jester East.  For those of you who are wondering where their phone call is, I want to let you all know that I miss everybody, and that I will try hard to get in touch with as many as I can before we get back to UT.

So what have I been up to since arriving home?  Well… put it this way: My parents immediately put me to work.  It was a diverse mix of video editing, cleaning, and taking care of my little brothers.  Besides that, I have been meeting up with my non-OA friends (I miss them too) and studying some things I feel rusty with in EE.