Acerbic Resonance

There’s no substitute for a good subtitle.

Month: October 2007

  • Microsoft Vs. Apple OS Quality?

    With the latest release of Vista from Microsoft and Leopard from Apple, comparisons are inevitable.  In fact, there have been dozens and dozens written by folks far more qualified to comment than I.  However, I had a conversation at work the other day that gave me opportunity to pause and think. (Always dangerous). In the…

  • Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: My Dinky Review

    Some Introduction So, Leopard came out this past Friday, and there have been many, many reviews of all the spiffy new features and how they’ll make you lose 10 lbs, grow your hair back (but lose your back hair), and generally just be the spiffiest thing to come out of the cupertino mother-ship ever since the…

  • Real Programmers Don’t Eat Quiche

    Upon reviewing my story about Programmer Mel, I took the time to read the following article about how Real Programmers Don’t Use Pascal, and nearly shot milk out my nose: (Note:  I found this article here) [ A letter to the editor of Datamation, volume 29 number 7, July 1983. I’ve long ago lost my…

  • Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon As A Smalltime DNS

    I have several domains – kimballlarsen.com, hugegrocerysavings.com, twigglesgiggles.com, ourpioneerhistory.com – for which I host DNS.  Until recently, this has all been done via my ISP’s hosting services, etc.  A few months ago, I decided to finally learn Bind9 and figure out how to set up DNS for my domains at work (30+ of them) and…

  • Gutsy Gibbon Initial Setup

    So, Gutsy Gibbon has arrived (It’s an operating system for those of you who don’t follow ubuntu – and it’s a "computer thingie" for the rest of you), and I’m going through the ritual initial setup tonight.  Here are my notes for all the things I do initially when setting up a fresh Ubuntu box.…

  • Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon – Home Server Setup

    So, Ubuntu Gutsy came out a few days ago, and I’ve got a new server that I’m going to be using at home.  This server is actually an old desktop machine – used to be Christine’s Windows XP box (before she saw the light and let me buy her a MacBook last year) and has…

  • Cambria

    So, I found an article today on the new core web fonts that Microsoft is bundling with Windows Vista.  The full write up is here, but anyone who knows me and my family much will recognize that Microsoft just stole the name of one of my kids for a font.  That chaps my hide.  Now,…

  • Coughin’

    I like to pretend that I know a little something about woodworking, and occasionally even try to build something that won’t be condemned by the urban housing authority.  Since it is nearing Halloween and all, I thought it was amusing to see a new story pop up on wikihow about how to make your own…

  • 2007 Sysadmin Of The Year

    Last week there was a story on slashdot pointing to www.sysadminoftheyear.com, a site where folks can go to nominate their IT staff for Sysadmin of the Year.  They were offering free T-Shirts to the first 2500 nominations, so I asked Adrian to nominate me.  Here is what he sent in: "Though he’s not as fat…

  • The Pedal-to-the-Metal, Totally Illegal, Cross-Country Sprint for Glory

    So, a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to drive from St. Louis to Salt Lake in a minivan.  We did the trip in a little less than 19 or so hours, which means that we pretty well obeyed the speed limit and didn’t get ourselves too tired/worn out, etc.   However, 19 hours…