Relakks

So now, THE MAN won't trace me quite so easily. I've signed up for Relakks, an encrypted broadband proxy in Sweden, a country with nice privacy laws. In addition to keeping my own government from watching me, (which it most likely doesn't) I also won't have to worry about getting sued by any big nasty artificial monopolies here in the states.

Hooray for importing additional freedoms! To the right is my new "location", next to beautiful Stora vänsjön.

For anyone else who uses Kubuntu, here are the directions I used to easily set it up.

I am stalking you.

Ok, I've started using Google Reader again. The sharing capability still kinda sucks, but it's a very convenient way to keep track of everything and never re-read anything with my home computer, work computer, and phone. That, and Google is not blocked from work while some of the sites I like to read are, so this can circumvent the problem.

Another thing I have enabled is what I like to call "Auto-Stalk". Basically, I just run a Google News search on someone, and it makes an RSS feed just for that search. Since Google Reader doesn't have a limit on how many feeds I can have and it's not my computer that's slowing down, I just searched for basically everyone I know and subscribed to their feeds. So now, if anyone I know shosw up in the news anywhere, I'll see it. Marriages, funerals, arrests, major accomplishments... you name it. Unfortunately, no one I know has actually done anything newsworthy yet. But when they do, I'll know!

Kubuntu 7.04

I've got Kubuntu 7.04 running on the laptop, so now I just need to upgrade the desktop. I still need to set up my laptop media keys (those didn't work in previous versions either) but otherwise it's all set up. I think it's a WAY better release than 6.10, but this time I just reinstalled and copied over my home directory instead of upgrading.

The big pluses I've noticed so far:

1. The Wi-Fi support doesn't suck cocks any more. There's a simple and effective internet connection thing on the bottom right, and WPA support.
2. Now, when I want to install MP3 support (or apparently other codecs) I don't need to install weird programs or jump through hoops... it just asks and installs automatically.
3. You can configure Wine with all the other stuff in System Settings, instead of having to use the painful winecfg program.
   

Upgraded!

Ok, I've finally upgraded to Blogger 2.0. In keeping with the upgrade spirit, I'll shamelessly copy Jeff and start posting more often.

In case anyone actually cares about what I've been up to, here's the whole story:

• Work: You know how in Dilbert, the boss promises the moon and the burden falls on his employees? That actually happens. I'm due for a raise soon, and if it's not enough, I'm going to start looking around. I'm getting kinda sick of Hartford anyways.
• School: HORRIBLY FAILING MISERABLY. Perhaps I should have said to myself, "hey, maybe computer and systems engineering master's degrees are intended for people who know anything whatsoever about computers or electronics." If/when I flunk out of grad school, I'll look into distance learning elsewhere, which may better suit my addled mind.
• Physical: I'm still as fat as ever, and am only going to the gym twice a week or so. I've been eating low-fat/calorie food, but in high volumes it doesn't help as much. I think the problem is that I spend so much time sitting in front of the computer and not running around. Since I'm unwilling to part with the internet, I'm thinking about:
• Switching to a gym that has treadmills and Wi-Fi. Might be tough, since not many people are both nerds AND care about fitness.
• Stealing my parents' treadmill that they have in their basement and collects dust.
• If I ever use this, my laptop, and my bluetooth headset at once, my apartment will look pretty much like this.
• Chicks: Tara and I broke up a while ago, but we're still getting along very well, and we're still going to Bonnaroo in about 100 days.
• I'm really looking forward to this: my vacation last year in Colorado was the bomb, so I'm hoping Tennessee kicks ass as well. We've got elite VIP tickets, which allow us to shower and generally act like we're better than the other hippies.
• Tool is playing. Anti-drug laws are practically unenforced. Enough said.
• No, not enough said. DRRUUUUUUUGGGGGSSSSS!!!!!
• Now that I'm single again, I'm playing the field as ineptly as always.
  
• Pet Projects: Lots of almost started projects, little actually done. Just like I like it.
  
• I'm working on a script to automatically record internet radio with streamripper and then load it onto my iPod with GNUpod every night, providing me with a constant supply of new music.
• I still lie awake at night dreaming about how awesome the Codex project could be if I did it well. Doing so will take a lot more time and effort than I originally thought.
  
• Oh yeah, scelest.us. About that. I... um.... I'm waiting for Ubuntu 7.04 to come out before I mess with my server. Yeah... that's it.
• I've been using the ZCorp Spectrum 510 3D printer extensively at work, and am trying to think of a better method for solid freeform fabrication with common metals.