OMG! Ubuntu (a blog you should certainly be reading if you don’t already have it in your reader) has the complete guide to tricking out XSplash, the new bootscreen manager in Ubuntu 9.10.
One of the great things about XSplash is that it starts XServer, what displays good graphics on your screen in Linux, BSD, and OS X systems, a few seconds into the boot instead of near the end. This means that you no longer have to really know your stuff to change the bootscreen; all you need to do is follow some very simple instructions.
First off, if you just want to change your bootscreen, play with the files in /usr/share/images/xsplash
But I’m not here to talk about that: I’m talking about a seamless boot experience that changes your login window and XSplash background to be your normal wallpaper. Continue reading
In the newest installment of the critically acclaimed Battlestar Galactica, director Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama) takes the story of Cylons and gives it the 2-hour treatment. The Cylons, as any connaiseur of sci-fi will know, are robots that Humanity created as servants. After rebelling, they disappeared for 40 years before coming back to wipe Humanity off the face of the galaxy. Additionally, they no longer look like robots but have skin and bleed like Humans.
WARNING: Spoilers abound after the break. Do not read unless you have seen The Plan or *at least* all four seasons.
Quick rating (before the break): 4/5 if you like Battlestar and want to see things resolved, 2/5 if you are only half-engaged and want more food for thought/questions asked. Continue reading
So I thought that the news on the Caprica front was that there was nothing new before getting close to the Jan 22 television premiere (I’ve already seen it on DVD, of course). Not so.
Several new gems have slipped under my radar. First is my favourite in a series of print ads that are being tested and were subsequently leaked:
What I specifically like about this one is the allusion to the Fall of Man as described in the Bible (refresher: Humanity, in it’s self-defeating quest for knowledge, commits the only sin possible: taking a fruit (usually portrayed as an apple but it really doesn’t matter) from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (which sounds snappier in Hebrew) after being tricked by the fallen angel Lucifer (aka Satan) who says that it will make them gods in their own right. This wakes humanity up, allowing them to know what is good but also the potential for evil and permanently corrupts humanity.). The allusion is an excellent one that I didn’t catch before and I really think that this poster really best reflects that and takes aim at a story that is so embedded in Western consciousness that even if one hasn’t heard it before one understands its significance.
There are also two new promos on Youtube. Though at first glance they may look similar to previous ones they both have some engaging new content, which I won’t go into for spoiler’s sakes.
And for good measure, a commercial worth watching.
I’m hoping the CBC or CTV or some mainstream network will air it since I don’t have and probably can’t shell out for SPACE, Canada’s answer to SciFi. It does, of course, comply with CRTC “Canadian Content” regulations (made in Canada starring mostly Canadians) and it would help networks fill that valuable 70% CanCon quotient… Just sayin’
After work yesterday I nipped over to the local library and picked up two books. One was a book on computer security. The other – the one I was actually looking for – was three Renaissance masterpieces: The Prince by Machiavelli (my main read), Utopia by Thomas More (which will be read though I did not seek it out), and The Courtier by Baldassare Castiglione (which I have no intention of reading as I have no use for instructions on how exactly to be a courtier, as those training to be courtiers may find themselves short of job prospects). The problem is that the books are in inaccesible languages: The Prince was written in Italian but the version in the book (printed in 1953) contains the original Middle English translation… from 1640. Surely there must be more modern translations of one of the finest works in European political philosophy. Utopia is in its original Middle English – from 1516 – as well. Middle English, as I have started to find, is verily liberal with thine spellings.
Now I’ll be able to be a snob and say that I’ve read both Utopia and The Prince in their original English versions for no reason having to do with academia (in which, of course, the originals are valuable). Goodness knows I’ve been searching for The Prince for quite some time and this one was the first copy I found at the library that wasn’t AWOL.
But shouldn’t undisputed classics of European literature be available to the public in the vernacular? Shouldn’t the man on the street be able to read these books without having to trawl through an archaic language? Shouldn’t we encourage people to read these great works, and if so shouldn’t they be applicable? I saw a copy in the library that was a transcription of the principles of The Prince to business (business is now the new principality, as politicians could hardly get away with what Machiavelli suggests).
We should have copies that are relevant to the modern world. At the outset, Machiavelli asserts that there are only two basic types of government: “Republique” and the Monarchy (which contains, of course, Oligarchy, Aristocracy, and the type of federal monarchy observed in the Holy Roman Empire). We exist today in a world that is much more sophisticated: Communists fall in to neither of these catagories. Neither do Constitutional Monarchies – which are governed by the people AND the monarch with various mixes of power (for example, Canada leans more towards the Republic despite the rather powerful monarchy because the monarch in question is in England but nations such as Thailand have a much more assertive monarch). Each of these have their own sophistication.
Would we see a personalized version of Machiavelli’s philosophy – a philosophy that prides shrewdness, manipulation, and deciet as a means to an end – as immoral? Certainly I think we need to compromize (which Machiavelli asserts must not be done in order to assert strength and independence). Moreover, who do we see today that uses a Machiavellian philosophy in their own lives or in the running of their countries? You probably know someone who is pushy, someone who knows *exactly* what they want and how to get it. Would we see it as an affront to an open society or a way to cut the fat from a civilization obsessed with political correctness and unoffendedness (yes. I made that up. So sue me)?
At any rate, I look forward to reading these two books over the summer and perhaps adopting some of the ideologies within… MUHAHAHAHA
With the release of Firefox3, Windows and OS X users got a nice interface change with the “keyhole” for back and forward buttons, a nice touch of branding for Firefox.
Problem is: It only came in the Win/Mac versions of Firefox3.
The reason given was because Firefox ships as the default browser in most Linux systems it should adhere to the User Environment’s (usually GNOME’s) Human Interface Guidelines, which does not look kindly upon the keyhole.
However, the code is there and can be enabled with a custom userChrome.css. One of the things that makes Firefox so beautiful is that it is really, truly customizable (despite what Microsoft says…). I want this. I love it. So I went searching around on how to enable it in Linux. My end result:
My Firefox theme is the Dust theme to complement the Dust theme for the GNOME desktop (which can be found here). With some googling, I found this handy, all-encompassing guide complete with a download of user chrome and toolbar styles.
It works great with very little modification. I only have two things to say about this: one is that when you’re in the chrome directory with all the different toolbar styles, you need to copy the “keyhole” folder and rename it to something like “keyhole-old”, then create a symlink (right-click -> Make Link) of the folder containing the style you do want to use. That link should be called something like “Link to keyhole”. Just rename it “keyhole” and restart Firefox.
Another is that the orange toolbar/button (and I assume the other ones) don’t play particularly nicely with such a dark Firefox theme as Dust. It wasn’t bad; it was just a white border at the bottom that was meant as a shadow on lighter themes. It didn’t look ugly, just bugged me so much I just edited the thing in Photoshop (or GIMP would work perfectly fine if you prefer) and changed the border. Just take a 1px pencil to the straight lines at the bottom and a 1px brush to the ones on the side in a suitably darker and you’re done. Oh, and save the original.
Thanks to blog.firetech.nu for making such a great resource
After a long post-drought you get two in a day! You lucky readers
I was on Gizmodo today and saw this (which will probably break my site to smithereens, so it’s after the break EDIT: nope, Wordpress handled megahugephoto just fine. Good wordpress! removed the break):
No, that is not a speck on your screen, so stop trying to wipe it off!
More pics via Gizmodo, but an amateur astronomer took some amazing photos of the Atlantis fixing the Hubble Telescope against the Sun. They look really close, but Atlantis isn’t even as far out as Venus.
This is doubly-cool after seeing Star Trek two times last week
Gladys Tallbright was a very peculiar person. She was not glad, nor was she tall, nor was she particularly bright. Gladys, you see, was what children would call the “crazy cat lady”; except she was not crazy and only kept one cat, Andromache – who very much resembled Gladys with her narrow eyes, regal demeanor, and black coat. Gladys, you see, had come as a refugee to Canada after one of the wars in Africa. I don’t know any more than that. Whenever she was not at Mrs. Tallbright’s side she was roaming the neighbourhood, watching everything everyone did. She was Gladys’ eyes and ears in the outside world.
I lived on the same street as Gladys for the entirety of my childhood – until I moved to University. Gladys, however, was not the sociable type. When the whole neighbourhood got together to throw a block party Gladys would observe from her throne at 394 Massey Crescent, rocking on her deck while petting Andromache. While all the parents on the street were sipping lemonade made by (the unfortunately named) Shirley Temple and the children were weaving among them playing tag, Gladys would be regarding the whole affair through her inch-thick glasses which were eternally perched on her nose ready to make a break for it and skip town. It was an unfortunate place to live for an elderly widow who did not particularly like children, as we were particularly rambunctious. Continue reading
Today mom and dad picked up a movie from the video store: The Tale of Despereaux. I had previously written this one off as a “kids” movie but watched it anyways. To summerize it quickly, it was spectacular.
Now, I’m going to start out with my usual disclaimer that I like my flawed heroes more flawed than heroic. While the “hero” of the work has no discernable flaws (even his foolhardiness is interpreted as going against the grain – watch the movie) the characters who surround him certainly do. While it did not end with at least some tragic element (I’m a catharsis junkie) it did satisfy that more morbid urge of mine to see characters pass through the shadow of the valley of death.
The story of this animated movie, to quickly sum it up, is about a kingdom called Dor. In the preamble to the movie we see that a tragedy befell the kingdom robbing it of its most cherished tradition (watch the movie if you’re really that curious) and that this was caused by a certain member of our cast. Later we meet the hero Despereaux – a small mouse with big ears. He explores the traditional fairy tale themes of chivalry, honour, bravery, yada yada yada. On the sidelines are Roscuro (a rat), Princess Pea, and Miggery Sow the servant girl. Though the story is focused on the hero (as stories usually are) these characters all have their own very clear character arcs. These are my kind of heroes, if you know what I mean (watch the movie! Here Not Be Spoilers). Continue reading
Today I am going to completely ignore the release of Ubuntu 9.04. Yep, ignoring it. Ignorrrriiiinnnngggg… Ok, get it at www.ubuntu.com and use the torrents instead of direct download!
That aside, let’s talk about music.
Earlier this week, I spent a $50 gift card that I got for Christmas at the iTunes store (I’ve been waiting for the DRM to come off and now that’s happened it’s completely worth the wait). My purchases include stuff from Great Big Sea, the Good Lovelies, the Doctor Who Soundtrack, Feist, and one of my favourites: 50 Most Essential Pieces of Classical Music (for $11.99).
But I’d like to look at taste in music and what exactly music is…
First off, what is not music.
Rap.
As I’ve said before, rap is spoken-word that focuses on beat rather than melody and – as I strongly suspect – stands for Retards Attempting Poetry. Rock, punk, country: I can accept this as music (having an issue with the last one, but to each his own) but rap is like the weird uncle in the family of music that no one ever does – or ever should – invite to the gatherings of the music family.
Despite my strong music on this so-called-music, I’m not going to hold any sacred cows. Not all Classical music is up to scratch either.
Now, the Classical style is firmly within the confines of any definition of “music”. However, I hold particular dislike for some of the rambling, lighthearted works of the Romantic era (prefering instead Beethoven’s darker pieces and Chopin’s minor compositions). I would consider myself a Beethoven fan, but there are some of his things that I just can’t stomach (particularly the fluttery bits in the middle of the 5th and 7th Symphonies, which are great, dark, dramatic pieces of music and then have a wish-washy glaze of bleh in the middle)
I would also say that I like big-band (especially Sing Sing Sing) but still some of that I can’t stand unless it’s in the background.
Does anyone else have musical bones to pick? I haven’t even started mine but if you have them poast them!
OMG! Ubuntu (a blog you should certainly be reading if you don’t already have it in your reader) has the complete guide to tricking out XSplash, the new bootscreen manager in Ubuntu 9.10.
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