Aces high?

http://blogto.com/city/2008/03/iron_maiden_land_in_toronto/

Lock, Gutsy, lock

Ubuntu's latest release, Gutsy (v7.10), doesn't lock when the lid of your laptop is closed. Here's how to fix that:

http://www.wains.be/index.php/2008/01/22/

Updated 2008-03-24:

I fixed the URL linking to the source post.

If the URL dies again, the solution is to set the value for the following gconf setting to TRUE: /apps/gnome-power-manager/lock/use_screensaver_settings. Also, set blank_screen in that same section to TRUE.

Ripping continuously mixed CDs

I listen to a few genres when I'm coding, one of which is Trance (esp. Progressive Trance). In order to produce an audio file that correctly represents the continuous mix, I usually use the following commands:

$ cdparanoia -v -w 1- Paul_Oakenfold-Another_World-Disc1
$ lame -b 192 -p -h Paul_Oakenfold-Another_World-Disc1

Get Organized

In the past, I've relied upon home-grown software to help keep me organized. However, given my ever decreasing surplus of free time, I've decided to forgo the home-grown and go for the out-of-the-box solution. Here are the tools I currently use to keep track of my life:

• Todoist: provides todo list tracking, and plugs into iGoogle.
• Joe's Goals: provides a goal tracking system, based on the one used by Thomas Jefferson.
• iGoogle: provides me with a way to bring Todoist and Joe's Goals onto one page, along with the Google 15 (a weight tracking system).
• gnupg: provides me with secure storage of all my passwords.
• baz + ssh: provide me with the ability to backup and replicate those passwords, along with other arbitrary data.
• OpenOffice: provides me with spreadsheets, so I can track things like "what prepared foods I actually enjoy, and which ones are teh suck".

Speaking of teh suck, I bought a DS last year, so I could play Brain Age and New Super Mario Bros. Now I'm starting to hear things about the PSP that are making me wish I had bought one of those instead. I just saw the ad for the new God of War last night, and it looks amazing. (No worries, Gwraig, I'm saving our pennies to put Cwningen through college.) I think my next gaming platform will be the Wii, once Cwningen is old enough to play along, too.

On that note, the office that was destroyed by the waterfall is finally coming back together. The rug will be installed next week, and we'll be able to use that room full time again. Yay! DDR, here I come.

Finally! A local computer recycling company

I've literally been looking for one of these for years: a computer recycling company that's actually located within reasonable driving distance. They're located in Scotia, NY, and they recycle computer equipment, CF bulbs, AND batteries. Schwing!

http://www.techsurplusstore.com/

Sweet! I can finally get that Sparc box I bought off eBay out from under my dresser! As much as I love having a slow hunk of junk that I can only connect to through a serial cable sitting in our bedroom.

On a personal note: I get to go meet with a new dentist bright and early tomorrow morning. yay.

With apologies to Robert Smith

I've been looking so long at these pictures of you
That I almost believe that they're real
I've been living so long with my pictures of you
That I almost believe that the pictures are
All I can feel

- Pictures of You by The Cure

Cooler than Superman

So, one of the coolest things gwraig and I saw last year was the ISS and the Orbiter, chasing each other across the night sky. It was fantastic. We saw the ISS once after that, and it was just as amazing.

You can find out when the space station and the shuttle are visible at this NASA site: http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/

And, since I love saying it:
Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL battle station!

- Emperor Palpatine

---

Ten Years

I always seem to get blue this time of year. It's only after soul searching that I realize what the date is. It's been ten years since my friend Suzy disappeared. She left her job, perhaps got on the city bus to head back to her dorm, and vanished. No trace. Nothing. Unreal. It's literally unreal. It doesn't seem real.

I blur the memories in my mind, so I can live my life, but every year it pokes through, regardless of what else is going on. That's not to say I don't miss her; on the contrary, there are fewer things in my life that I miss more. She's a wonderful person, and she's a wonderful friend. I still hold hope in my heart that I'll see her again, alive, on this plane.

More info: http://www.global2000.net/suzy/