Never Enough Bootable Linux CDs Department

...Partially because the first post never showed up, and partially because the subject came up again, I thought I'd post a few other Linux distributions that are bootable off CD-R:

• The Trinity Resource Kit is mainly geared towards rescuing PCs that have been damaged...
  
• ...As is the Emergency Linux CD project...
  
• ...And the FIRE project.
  
• Eagle Linux lets you truly customize your own bootable Linux CD. It allows for bootable disk images as small as 4 Mb, perfect for burning onto business-card sized CD-ROMs. Speaking of....
  
• LNX-BBCis specifically designed for business-card sized CD-ROMs, so you can not only boot Linux without blowing out your OS, you can store the boot disk in your pocket!
  

So there you go--lots and lots of options. All you need is a bit of initiative.

Never Enough Linux Inducements Department

OK, so Linus Torvalds has formally stated that SCO is "smoking crack" when it claims to have found fragments of SCO's System V UNIX code within Linux. Day by day, SCO seems to have a weaker and weaker case, and their lawsuit against IBM for selling Linux servers has become a joke.

But suppose you find yourself saying, "So what. I can't be bothered to get to know my hardware, and as long as I have an operating system that just works, I don't really care which OS I use."

Easy enough. There is not one, but two Linux flavors available on CD-ROM.

Knoppix can be purchased as a CD-ROM for $5 at CheapBytes.com, or you can download it for free and burn onto a CD-R. It automatically figures out what hardware you have and sets up a fairly decent user interface on the fly. Literally, in five minutes you can experience Linux without having to rip out your current OS or puzzle over settings for your keyboard, mouse, monitor, printer, Internet, etc. etc. For people cutting their teeth with *NIX or simply ready to try an alternative to Microsoft, this may well be the distribution you want.

But suppose you got into computers mainly for their creative potential. You don't even necessarily need expensive software with extra-fancy features, just software with which you can draw, design, edit, publish, mix. That's why there is dyne:bolic, a similar, yet in fairness not quite as robust Linux distribution that also boots off a CD-R. It's only available as a downloadable disk image that you can burn then boot from. The true beauty of dyne:bolic is its strong emphasis on multimedia applications of all sorts, including the ability to broadcast your own Internet radio station. Imagine getting a cheap Wintel box, and within minutes, using it for your creative persuits. It's that kind of happy.

You might eventually decide to install some kind of *NIX on your machine on a permanent basis, but once you try out one of these distros, it will be hard to go back to Windows.

Never Enough Redrawable Circuitry Department

Researchers at Cambridge University have discovered the means to draw and erase circuits on the fly. While the process is not perfect--the circuit board has to be kept extremely cold--it promises to drastically speed up prototyping new kinds of circuit designs, which should in turn help lower the cost of chips from a design point of view.

Today's been pretty crappy, personally, but news like this helps to brighten even the most "yurg" days. ("Yurg" is my new monosyllable for indicating what it's like to wake up groggy and feeling unwell, with no caffeine or relief in sight. You are warned.)

Never Enough Koppel Mindfucking Department

Poor Ted Koppel. He's only trying to provide news on the Northeastern blackout that took out NYC, Detroit, Cleveland, Toronto, etc., when he gets a call from a Bob Dobbs from the NYC Transit Authority....

...And his brain is never the same again.

Never Enough Stuff To Talk About Department

...It's just that I've been awfully busy as of late, doing stuff I could talk about.

Yes, that includes watching G.I. Joe "Knowing Is Half The Battle"... um... reappropriations. Yes, I think that works. "Reappropriations."

Oh, and doing a little third-party "reappropriations" of my own:

Fanta Shokata Bulldada I
Fanta Shokata Bulldada II
Fanta Shokata Bulldada III
Fanta Shokata Bulldada IV
Fanta Shokata Bulldada V
Fanta Shokata Bulldada VI
Fanta Shokata Bulldada VII
Fanta Shokata Bulldada VIII

...And probably more to come! But first, I have to make our little cardboard box farm look like a house. Time to get funky in the house!

Never Enough Straight Talk Department

I'm glad I'm not the only one who knows that the word "semite" does not refer to Jews, but to those whose native language is in the Semitic family--meaning, Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, Amharic ("Ethiopian"), and Syriac. That's exactly what Sam Hamod, former Director of The National Islamic Center, points out. I don't fully agree about the Ashkenazim being "converts" to Judaism, however--that is, while it is true that Slavs and other Eastern Europeans converted to Judaism, such conversions were more for the sake of marriage to Jewish families who moved into the region as part of the Diaspora. Still, all in all, the article is a lovely condemnation of the term "anti-semite".

I'm pro-Jew--meaning that I am not inherently against the religion any more than I'm against the very concept of religion--but I would probably get labeled "anti-semite" because I condemn Israel's aggressive policies against the Palestinians. I might be considered anti-Zionist because I don't think that Jews need a homeland as much as they need the same universal human rights we all need. The premise that the Jewish people need to set up a fortress around some of the only easily arable land in the region is ludicrous. The premise that they deserve dignity and respect, on the other hand, is only common sense.

Never Enough Stupid Fiscal Policy Department

It's official--under Dubya and a predominantly Republican Congress, the projected federal deficit for 2003 is expected to exceed $455 billion dollars. This projection, provided by the White House itself, excludes the cost of war and reconstruction for Iraq, and is not a final figure by any stretch. Indeed, the initial projection for this year's deficit was a little over $300 billion. So most likely, the deficit will reach well over half a trillion dollars before the year is out.

Next time I hear any Republican talk about "tax-and-spend Democrats", I'm gonna smack him hard. And I don't even consider myself a Democrat.

Never Enough Post-Pain Slack Department

The astute might have noticed that one's Slack Awareness usually varies in direct proportion to the amount of pain one has experienced. This isn't a mere accident. As long as we're stuck with these meat shells, it's almost impossible to notice slack without first having your consciousness entirely focused on your hurts. And I must be specific: I'm not talking about metaphorical, psychological, existential, or inconsequential pain. I'm only talking about true, physical, visceral pain.

Today I ache in muscle groups I forgot existed, my sinuses are only now recovering from internal pressure so great that I pulled a nasal "Ol' Faithful" in the middle of the night, and I can still feel the tender throbing of my shattered right toenail. But the biggest part of the move is over, and the majority of our furniture and possessions are now safely in the new house. Thea and I slept in our bedroom for the first time and enjoyed a profound darkness and quiet that our old, urban apartment couldn't give. (It took an hour or so before my eyes adjusted well enough to see anything at all, and Thea was blind the whole time.) We got up and had breakfast, then Thea laid back down for a nap while I sat on the porch and sucked in all the glorious oxygen that our little slice of Green Hell, and if I hurt--and I do hurt, ghods do I!--yet I hurt with a sense of deep satisfaction, relaxation, and a profound sense of "just-right". Ah, slack!

OK, That's Enough Moving Headaches Department

You know it's bad when I have to drop the "Never Enough" tagline.

Well, it could be worse, I guess. But the main issue before me truly is a pain. To wit, the phone company shut down the phone and DSL service at our apartment, on schedule. If we were also on schedule, this would be no problem. As is, it's a fairly serious problem, as I can only read my email at work through a fairly kludgy ISP shell connection. And it's not easy to temporarily switch my Yahoo! Groups to digest mode, only because the groups I'm most concerned about post pictures that I dare not show at work, if you get my drift. (Ghods, I'm such a pervy thing. :) )

As the French would say, "Merde, alors!"

Never Enough Moving Headaches Department

It's appoaching June 28, the date that Thea and I had set for our move.

We aren't nearly done packing.

The people who were living in the house are still moving out.

We signed the lease, but until the house is fully vacated, we have no key.

We're hoping to get a week's extension on our current apartment, and only pay a portion of July's rent, so that we can buy time (literally!) to finish the move.

The new owner of our apartment building has been reluctant to give us the extension.

We're annoyed. But it'll be worth it, when all is said and done.

If only the tenants of the old house would stop repainting and cleaning and concentrate on moving their crap out.

Oh well. Even Eden had a snake in it.