Mepis Linux::iwlist – Linux Command
February 20, 2006
I was digging around in the guts of my Mepis Linux distro when I ran across this:
This does a much better job of scanning wireless networks (and returning meaningful results) than does kwifimanager.
Scanning for wireless networks with kwifimanager has always gotten me nothing more than “Hidden Network”.
Using “iwlist wlan0 scanning” actually yields the name of wireless networks that I can hop on to.
Strive for Excellence
January 15, 2006
Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.
~ Harriet Braiker
A Man’s Follies
January 11, 2006
The follies which a man regrets most, in his life, are those which he didn’t commit when he had the opportunity.
~Helen Rowland
Lost My StumbleUpon Toolbar
January 11, 2006
I lost my SU toolbar a few days ago. I was just about ready to spot some interesting webpages when I notice my favorite toolbar was missing.
After a few moment’s consternation, I tried to uninstall and then reinstall, but nothing happened.
I googled it, and found a similar problem where an extension was interfering with the SU toolbar. Thinking I may have a similar problem, I began deleting extensions that I use infrequently.
On my second try, I found out that Web Developer was causing my SU toolbar to disappear.
After uninstalling Web Developer, my SU toolbar returned in all it’s glory!
Deborah Tannen: Men and Women
January 5, 2006
This conversation, in one form or another, happens almost daily between us. In truth, I really thought she was just being difficult.
A married couple was in a car when the wife turned to her husband and asked, “Would you like to stop for a coffee?”
“No, thanks,” he answered truthfully. So they didn’t stop.
The result? The wife, who had indeed wanted to stop, became annoyed because she felt her preference had not been considered. The husband, seeing his wife was angry, became frustrated. Why didn’t she just say what she wanted?
I am going to have to readjust my thinking towards my wife; what I consider to be just “whining” isn’t so at all. I’m always thinking, “why talk about it if you aren’t going to do anything about it?”
To many men a complaint is a challenge to come up with a solution. Mark thought he was reassuring Eve by telling her there was something she could do about her scar. But often women are looking for emotional support, not solutions.
I got a good chuckle when I read the next part:
A cartoon shows a husband opening a newspaper and asking his wife, “Is there anything you’d like to say to me before I start reading the paper?” We know there isn’t – but that as soon as the man begins reading, his wife will think of something.
Our version is, as soon as I get comfortable, wifey will send me on a trip to the kitchen. Several times! Read the entire article, I’m sure you’ll laugh, and probably learn something new.
Sound in MEPIS Linux
December 31, 2005
I had been offline for awhile and did not have a chance to update my mepis linux distro. When I finally got around to doing it, I lost all my sound. I thought it was a hardware problem because I have an old Compaq Presario 1700 laptop.
+I googled it, and found instructions on the MepisLovers forum.
These instructions were great for a start, but as usual, nothing is as easy as it seems, and I had to slightly modify them to suit my needs. I didn’t know the name of my sound module, but found it easily enough:
Type kudzu -p
I scrolled about one-third of the way down the page and found it.
After writing that bit of information on a piece of paper, I booted into the live cd as root.
I found my way to hda1/etc/modules. This may be slightly different for your configuration.
At the end of the document, I placed this comment:
Just below that, I put in the following line:
I rebooted and tested the new setup at myspace.com. They had a Mrs. Pacman game online while the site was down for maintenance. This worked perfectly for me, and now I have sound once again.
What Happened to Rap?
December 25, 2005
My caddy is broken so I’m borrowing my brother-in-law’s truck. He’s got a pretty good cd player inside, so I’m taking advantage of the situation and jammin’ some of my cd’s. Since I haven’t bought cd’s in a while, all of my stuff is old, but still good.
I played one of my Thump cd’s until the laser wore it smooth; then I moved on to a Pete Rock cd ~ Soul Survivor (circa 1998).
One track in particular, Mind Blowin’ (no. 12), is one that I think is representative of the artist himself, and of the way rap used to be. Check out some lyrics:
We got one life to live baby, just one
We only got one life to breeze, see us live through our seeds
A refreshing change from lyrics of today, urging violence and infidelity.
Only fools fall fast, sellin out for the cash
but this love’s gotta last from the ash to the dust
Build trust, beyond the lust…
A far cry from today’s rap artists. Check out an album review, and an interview.
La Shawn Barber’s Corner » Do You Hate Black People?
December 23, 2005
I have found a fellow blogger who has gracefully articulated what I have been feeling for some time now:
La Shawn Barber’s Corner » Do You Hate Black People?
Blacks need to be reminded, constantly, of our responsibility in this mess.
I attempted to express such sentiments on my StumbleUpon page, but LaShawn does it so much better.
Reading her blog post will give you a heady dose of reality; not many folks will like what they see.
Rather than using this blog to bit** and moan session about slavery, institutional racism and such, I’d use it to “keep blacks on the hook.� It’s a fresh approach and much more interesting than telling whites how racist they are.
Makes for pretty good reading, too.
Should Stan Tookie Die?
December 12, 2005
The answer to that question would depend on Stan himself.
Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that a reformed criminal is one who has confessed his or her crimes, has assisted the authorities in preventing others from doing similar crimes, and has demonstrated through concrete actions that they are a new person.
With this definition in place, let’s examine the facts.
Who is Stan Tookie Williams?
Williams was convicted of murdering four innocent bystanders with a sawed-off shotgun in 1979.
Alvin Owen, Thsai-Shai Yang, Yen-I Yang and Yee Chen Lin died at the hands of Stan Tookie Williams.
Owen was a white teen-age clerk at a 7-11 convenience store, who was shot twice in the back of the head as he lay unarmed on the floor during a hold-up. A witness has testified that Williams said,
“You should have heard the way he sounded when I shot him”.
The Yangs were Taiwanese immigrants who, along with their daughter Yee Chen Lin, were gunned down during a motel robbery two weeks after Owen died. Stan then robbed them of petty cash.
Tookie Williams was sentenced to die for these brutal crimes in 1981.
Tookie Speaks Out
The “Tookie Speaks Out” series of books targets readers from kindergarten up to high school-age. The books are supposed to discourage kids from joining gangs.
Since Stan Tookie Williams has coauthored a few books, his supportors now feel that he has reformed and is deserved of clemency.
What Are The Facts?
Williams has yet to apologize to the victims’ families. Never once has cooperated with authorities to put more violent criminals behind bars.
He has shown concrete evidence of turning a new leaf, but on closer inspection, his books actually glamorize the criminal life. Each book is full of pictures of Williams in various stages of thuggery. It’s kinda hard to tell kids to stay out of it, when he makes it so appealing.
Justifying clemency for Williams is difficult when you realize that he has done more damage to black Americans in the last 25 years than the Klan, Robert Byrd, and David Duke combined.
After examining the facts it would appear that Williams does not deserve clemency from the governer. We’ll see in a few days’ time.
Update 12/12/05:
The California Supreme Court refused to grant Stan Tookie Williams a stay of execution, which has resulted in the NAACP making a questionable move…
Behave or else! Unruly kids in public stir debate
December 7, 2005
Behave or else! Unruly kids in public stir debate – U.S. Life – MSNBC.com
[...] it was a simple reminder to parents to keep an eye on their children and set some limits.
I can certainly agree with that idea. I remember being left at home either by myself or with a babysitter while my folks went to the movies, a nice restaraunt, or just out on the town. My folks are old-fashioned, and don’t believe that children belong everywhere and that they should just run rampant, without limits.
“The rights of any one individual — whether he or she be a parent, child or stranger — do not negate the rights of others.�
Nowadays, I see little children attending movies that are rated ‘R’. I always ask my wife,
“Did the parents even check the ratings?”
“They don’t care,” is the usual answer.
Even out shopping, the parents let the children loose in the toy department, while the parents are elsewhere in the store, shopping. The toy department is usually a wreck, with children screaming and yelling (but no adult supervision).
I can distinctly remember my Mom telling me, “You don’t want nothin’, you don’t need nothin’, so don’t ask for nothin’, and don’t touch nothin’!” And this was even before we left the house!
I understand that at times children may become unruly and uncontrollable, but I still think that parents should impose some limits, and more discipline.
(We’ll see if I still feel the same way after I have a few anklebiters of my own!!!)
