| I live life in GNU screen for remote development, and much of that in emacs without a GUI, but I occasionally need to run some graphics Python or Lisp code from inside screen.
The problem is when I would forward X connections over ssh, and then login from another machine, I could no longer forward any X programs. ( Read more... ) | comments: Leave a comment   |
| | Tags: | raves | | Current Music: | A Whiter Shade of Pale | | Subject: | Kudos | | Time: | 06:43 pm |
|
| I wanted to balance my ranting with a shout out to two of my current favorite brands:
1) JanSport: Nothing but love for you
Why? They take their lifetime warranty seriously. I sent in my backpack, which was quite old and went all around the world with me but the shoulder strap was tearing. They sent it back, not only repaired but with stronger straps and beefier stitching than before!
2) Pilot G-2 gel pen
The ultra-fine point is awesome! I just bought a whole bunch more. They are the best pens I've ever had! | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| Note: I am not a lawyer and do not know how effective or legal this is, but if for some reason it becomes important I want a record of this.
[contact info redacted]
January 31, 2009
To:
Verizon Legal Department
Verizon Communications
140 West Street
New York, NY 10007
( Letter to Verizon ) | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| There is a deep mental illness that permeates political discourse in this country. It goes far beyond the trifling differences between Democrat or Republican politicians, or the insanity of the idea that everyone's beliefs can be summed up on some sort of bipolar conservative/liberal scale. It involves fundamental issues of competence, accountability, responsibility. I will present three seemingly unrelated case studies with a common and very scary thread.
( Iraq, Auto Bailout, Banking Bailout ) | | comments: Leave a comment |
| When people ask me (since, as a Mac owner, I am proselytizer, zealot, and all-powerful all-knowing guru of all things Holy Apple, of course) if Macs work better than Windows, I say "Yes." Because they do. But working better than Windows is a pretty low bar, and there are times that Mac OS X just barely limps over it. Today was one of those times.
It wasn't a bug. It wasn't a hardware issue. It was a man-made, known problem with printer sharing that takes one command line to fix. One. I guess Apple just couldn't be bothered.
The issue is printer sharing between an OS X 10.3 Panther print server and a 10.5 Leopard client. It just doesn't work. Previously when I've done printer sharing, I just turn it on in the server, and the printer pops up in the client when you want to print. Presto changeo, like magic, the way Macs are always supposed to "Just Work(TM)". (Only if you are Steve Jobs.)
But my shiny new printer hooked up to our Panther file server didn't show up when I tried to print from my laptop. It did not show up in the internet printer scan. When I tried to force it to add manually as an internet printer, the laptop happily complied and then swallowed print jobs without ever actually printing. Yummy.
There was a distinct lack of "Just Working(TM)".
After several hours of adding, deleting, re-adding, purging, yelling, banging, searching, reading, and researching, I finally came across this: Mac OS X 10.5: Using printer sharing with different versions of Mac OS X.. Now, I am a pretty good Googler, but this did not show up in any search. I had to find it linked from a forum question from another poor lost soul trapped in Print Purgatory after my fourth or fifth failed search attempts.
Here is the solution to getting a printer from 10.3 to show up in 10.5:
cupsctl BrowseProtocols='"cups dnssd"'
That's right. I told you: one line.
Here is the preceding text, verbatim: "Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard uses Bonjour to locate shared printers on your local network, but it does not display printers shared by Mac OS X 10.2 through 10.3.9 which are broadcast to the network using the "cups" protocol."
Which begs the question: Dear sweet heavenly fruit, why not?
So that's why when people ask me if Macs "Just Work(TM)" my answer is: "Sometimes." | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Sigh. And here is another reason I can never be a politician:
onemanonejar: Write this down and keep it in a safe place (away from windows and telephones): "terrorist 20755-6000 subversives Terrorism HERF pipe-bomb Whitewater" Activities
I appreciate subversive spambots as much as the next guy, but that one totally put me on some Carnivore/Echelon/Total Information Awareness database somewhere. I will try to be patient and polite with the humorless and overdressed federal agents who come to investigate. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| I haven't seen this level of customer service since I left Sprint!
... Please wait for a chat representative to respond. ... Welcome to AT&T Technical Support Chat. My name is 'Autumn Reese' and I’ll be happy to assist you today. Autumn Reese: Hello, Mr. -----. I will be happy to assist you with your technical issue today. Mike: Hello. Mike: I just purchased a Nokia 6085 phone over ebay without realizing it is tied to the AT&T network, and I have a T-mobile sim card. Mike: I would like the restriction code to unlock the phone, please. Autumn Reese: I apologize for any inconvenience. I'll be happy to assist you with the issue of getting your phone unlocked. Autumn Reese: Do you currently have an AT&T service? Mike: I do not currently. Autumn Reese: Please send me the IMEI on the phone. The IMEI number is 15 digits long and can be obtained by looking on the sticker located under where the battery is on your phone or you can find this code by dialing *#06# on the phone. Mike: Okay, just a moment. Mike: ----- Autumn Reese: Thank you for this information. Please allow me 2-3 minutes to check this IMEI. Autumn Reese: Thank you for holding Mr. -----. Just to confirm, you purchased this phone on ebay, correct? Mike: Yes Autumn Reese: I apologize but since this number is not a valid AT&T number, I cannot give an unlock code for this phone. You can contact Customer Service about getting the unlock code for the Nokia 6085. The number to dial for Customer Service is 1-800-331-0500, they are available 7:00 AM-9:00 PM Monday-Friday and 9AM-6 PM on Saturday Mike: Which number? Autumn Reese: The mobile number for the phone is -----, correct? Mike: No, that is my number. The phone doesn't have a number, since it doesn't have any sim card yet. Mike: It won't accept my sim card without the restriction code. Autumn Reese: I am unable to assist with getting an unlock code for this phone without an account with AT&T. You can contact customer service about getting the unlock code. Mike Prentice: Are you not customer service? Mike Prentice: You are on AT&T's customer service website. Autumn Reese: This is the technical support chat room. I apologize, but I will not be able to give you the unlock code for the Nokia 6085 without an AT&T mobile number. You can contact Customer Serive at 1-800-331-0500, they are available 7:00 AM-9:00 PM Monday-Friday and 9AM-6 PM on Saturday
| | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Current Music: | Down -- Gravity Kills | | Subject: | Bonus Round | | Time: | 02:15 am |
|
| Mike
i'm getting my chain jerked by a newly-minted 18 year old girl who thinks it's amusing that we have the same last name
Tasha
aroo?
Mike
she has apparently discovered the magic of adopting multiple screen names to fuck with someone. but she is not very subtle about it.
Tasha
weird
how did she find you
Mike
we have the same last name
apparently i'm still on some AOL registry somewhere
not too surprising
i have been using the same screen name since 1995
Tasha
and the same wallet for the same amount of time
Mike
NO
THE WALLET IS OLDER
i have dumped better girls for less than making fun of my wallet, so watch it you
Tasha
http://www.linefeed.net/wallets/az.asp?k=&id=gHP3103
Mike
if you are trying to butter me up to the idea of a replacement sky camo wallet
it is not working
Tasha
honey, the reality is that someday your wallet will be nthing but threads
it's a future you should prepare for
Mike
you really don't know when to quit and have some respect for a man's things, do you
because about 20 minutes ago before this conversation started, that was the time
Tasha
oooooh so whiny
Mike
i am prepared for the future where i am buried with my wallet | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Starbucks | | Time: | 02:57 pm | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/bitospud/courier/black/angry.gif) annoyed |
|
| | The idiot girls at Starbucks made me a skim latte instead of a soy mocha. They are both devil drinks, but SKIM LATTE. AAAAGH. And what's worse, by the time I found out I was far away so I can't do anything about it. | | comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment |
| Ahh, it's good to be back to weather I can sink my teeth into! It's a beautiful 0 degrees here in suburban Westfield, New Jersey, and the skies are a cheerful gray as the rain freezes to the road and causes all to celebrate with joyous accidents. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, what with the nice weather and drunk drivers.
Customs was no problem. I smuggled that 46 kilos of pure Indian heroin through Newark like a calm, professional champion. (Hello, FBI! Just kidding! Not really. Yes I am!) Seriously, I was ready to pop open my bag, show everything, so of course they waved me through with barely a glance at my passport and customs declaration. Whereas when I came back from Europe they literally tore my duffel bag to a broken, tattered wreck of its former glory in their zeal to inspect my dirty underwear. All in all I much prefer intact luggage, though if DARE and King George have taught me anything (and I believe they have), it's that police-state tyranny is a small price we must gladly pay for our precious freedom.
Remember kids, drugs are no laughing matter. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| I'm coming home next Wednesday! I am more excited about this than I thought I'd be. I've missed Tasha (hi!) and I'm ready to come back to the U.S. There's something about your own culture that's comfortable: it's easier to navigate, and you can engage in shockingly illogical behavior like going to the post office to post letters. I need some time back in our own illogic to recharge and find my bearings, I think.
So farewell, India (and Nepal, hello!), it's been a lot of fun. I hope I can make enough money to see you soon!
I know I've been promising trekking photos and posts. I'm sorry, I'm just not that organized yet. | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| I made Venky take me out to Thanksgiving dinner at Sunny's Restaurant in Bangalore, and I have not seen a collection of so many white people since I got to the subcontinent, including in Kathmandu. The only food they were serving was a "Thanksgiving dinner" that rather missed the point, as all the portions were small to moderate and Cricket, that's right, bloody fucking baseball without the excitement Cricket, was playing instead of good old red-blooded American football. Somebody needs to clue these poor bastards in, especially seeing as how many American companies, and thus Americans, are moving here.
The food was okay good, not spectacular (especially the monstrosity they called carrot soup), but hey, I got turkey, which everyone told me would be impossible! I win. It did cost quite a pretty penny though, $50 a head, which in India, even at today's falling exchange rate — thanks King George, you couldn't have picked a better time than when I'm fucking here, you prick — translates to roughly seventy bajillion rupees.
I haven't been homesick, but I do miss my big family Thanksgiving dinners. This is only the second one I've missed in twelve years!
It's time to go pick up my new-found American friends at the train station. Read their blog, they're good peeps and have traveled to many a foreign land! | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Back in Bangalore, working on uploading photos and putting together a semi-coherent account of my trekking time. Stay tuned to WLJM, Mike's LiveJournal, all fun and frivolity all the time! | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Hello interGooglePedia! I have returned to Kathmandu and sent some postcards to those of you whose addresses I didn't get before I left. I am off to Goa next week for some fun in the sun with a bunch of European types plus bonus Beth, Linda, and Venky, then to Bangalore where I can hopefully get a start uploading my 800+ photos and maybe making some bloggage posts.
I've missed you, Google. Misinformation and geeky stupidity is rare up in the mountains. | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| | Hello e-friends and such-like! If you would like a postcard from Nepal please leave your real life name and postal address. Comments screened for your protection. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| This morning I crossed the river and visited Belur Math, a Hindu temple campus, and saw a completely different side to Kolkata.
This is many kilometers away from the tourist part of Kolkata, with its parks and shops and beggars, a place that from the curious looks I got it seems that white people don't come to often, if at all. And the looks were just that, curious, not blatant staring, blank indifference, or out-right hostility like I've gotten elsewhere in the city.
Everyone I talked to this morning was friendly, helpful, and not at all concerned with the language barrier. It was like the difference between night and day. I rode an auto with six other people clinging on, took a breaking-down ferry across the river for 1.5 rupees, nobody once tried to charge me more or singled me out for being foreign.
Maybe poor people are just nicer, the mercenary predators who feed on bewildered foreigners have moved to more affluent, touristy areas in search of their marks. After all, who would choose to visit a poor area? But it's cleaner, nicer, and I've had more fun this morning than I've had in the tourist parts of Kolkata. Perhaps I'm romanticizing the poor a bit, but it's been such a wonderful, refreshing day.
Back to the religious campus, it was gorgeous, uncrowded, quiet, and unpolluted, like it was part of a different planet than the rest of the city.
It's amazing how friendly people are if you just make the tiniest effort. Switch from hello and waving to a namaskar (hand together, small head bow, "namaste") and suddenly it doesn't matter if you don't know another word of Hindi, frowns and frustration and unhelpful people disappear, and I find people who are suddenly willing to lead me around, show me things I want to see, and in general it's a whole different experience. | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| Kolkata, Thurs, 4 Oct 2007
One of my failings as a writer is that I wish to begin at the end. I like my characters, even the villains, and I want them to be happy, which makes for a crap story. Sometimes I go too far in the other direction, though, and torture perfectly nice characters without providing a satisfying conclusion.
Kill all your darlings, Faulkner said, and while I don't like his writing, he has a point. Just don't take it to extremes.
Back to Kolkata: I saw a whole family huddled on the sidewalk around a propane torch cooking their dinner. We call this "camping", here it is life. Five blocks away Kolkata is doing its best to construct hideous Western- (really, American) style mega-malls, knocking down beautiful old colonial architecture to do this.
Though with the way Kolkata remembers the British era, perhaps this is for the best. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| |
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
drunkpotato's journal![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/bitospud/courier/black/amused.gif){kind=small}
amused![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/bitospud/courier/black/happy.gif){kind=small}
chipper