Year: 2006

Reviving an Old Computer with Ubuntu

by

Old computers can be a bit of an annoyance. They tend to lock up often, won’t run the newest software, and if it is one of those off-white boxes that were so common around the turn of the century, it may have even turned yellow by now.

While there’s not much you can do about yellowed plastic (although I’d venture a guess that bleach would work), there is an option other than the trash heap. After all, you paid so much for that computer back in 2001 it just doesn’t feel right sending it to its grave when all the parts are still working. Is there any hope?

Read more

WordPress 2.01

by

Since everybody loves to hear about the nuts and bolts of a blog, I thought I’d let my highly-technical readers (37% of you use Firefox, after all…), know that I’ve finally upgraded TruePravda to WordPress 2.01 from 1.52. The upgrade was effortless, although I had to upgrade many of my plugins. My take on the … Read more

Orange E-Rupp-tion

by

I had my first experience at Rupp Arena tonight watching the Vols dismantle the Kentucky Wildcats with my Kentucky-fan wife. The Cats were gracious hosts to an orange-clad Vol fan who was one of the few disperesed throughout the arena. The Vols are orange-hot, and this win at Rupp was a long time coming. Yes, … Read more

Grizzly Man

by

When it comes to film, bears usually end up in a metaphorical role. Think about Bart the Bear, who played in such films as The Edge, and Legends of the Fall. Bears are typically portrayed as the powerful adversary who lurks just beyond in the tree line. The protagonist must muster up what strength he … Read more

Say Cheese

by

There’s an AP story out now about Sonya Thomas, a 100-pound woman who “ate 26 grilled cheese sandwiches in 10 minutes Wednesday at a New York restaurant, winning the World Grilled Cheese Eating Championship.” I’m a grilled cheese fan. There are few pleasures in life that are so simple, yet so tasty — especially when … Read more

State of the Union

by

My thoughts on President Bush’s State of the Union Address: War/Foreign Policy: As usual, this was the strongest part of the president’s address. Once again, the enemy was identified as practicioners of radical Islam — a point that needs to be driven home to those ambivalent regarding the war. The most telling moment of the … Read more

Google & China: A Different Take

by

During the past week, the internet has been awash with criticism of Google for its decision to offer a modified version of its search engine to a country with one of the poorest human rights records in the world. The Chinese version of Google “sanitizes” much of the search results and displays a list of … Read more

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

by

The current Newsweek cover story, “The Trouble With Boys,” is just one of many recent examples of a growing awareness of the damage that feminism has inflicted upon males. Going much further than simply showing that men and women are of equal worth, feminism has strangely worked against itself by implying that male and female … Read more

Art Imitates Life…Sort of

by

Anthropologist Grant McCracken picks up on a changing trend in the programming of prime–time television: Prime time TV is, as we say, episodic. Each show was supposed to be free standing and one-off. No prior knowledge was presumed. If we had seen the show before, great. If not, never mind. Narrative constructions like Rockford Files … Read more