Monthly Archives: May 2007

Trying to Install Ubuntu

Windows Vista is making things very difficult but I’m not giving up yet. I have CDs for an old version but the latest, 7.04 seems to do a better job of working alongside Windows. Not that I really am fond of Windows, especially Vista, but some things will not run on a Linux (Ubuntu) operating system. Some day they will all get it right, all work together so that your computer doesn’t seem to be at war with itself. At least it would be nice. I’m not holding my breath. Though, from a money making view, who wouldn’t be interested and likely buy into an OS that could work with everything.

I am thinking to toss Windows Vista for my old Windows ME. For one thing it did not nag at me constantly. Vista is like having a dog humping your leg, no matter how many times you swat at it the damned thing just keeps coming back. I don’t know why they did this. How does this seem useful to the PC user? It’s just hugely annoying. Took me years to stop getting annoyed each time old Windows asked me if I really wanted to delete that file. Now the new one is paranoid and asks me if I even want to open that file. Too much!

Indie Bloggers WC #15: Under All That Fur…

Indie Blogger Weekly Challenge: Not more than 234 words regarding:

You and your twin sister are photographers for national geographic on assignment to cover a famous interspecial linguistics professor who’s spent the last 10 years on a mountain in Borneo studying the language of silver back mountain gorillas. You think this is total bullshit and your sister is bitching about how much easier it would be to just work for Get Up & Go Girl! travel blog. After days and days of arduous climbing in the worst conditions you arrive at this geek’s mountainside encampment only to find him dead, his body twisted like a ragdoll around the trunk of a Banyan tree. As you’re both taking pictures and trying desperately to dial out on your cells, a 700 pound silverback male lumbers quietly into the camp carrying a tattered copy of “Dream Tigers” by Jorge Louis Borges. You both freeze. It stares at you. Your sister blurts out, apparently to you, “What the fuck happened?” and the gorilla says “Well, to be honest, we had an argument about redundancy.” He looks from you to your sister and back to you.

“I guess he’s the redundant one now.” I say.

My sister smiles and flips her hair. I just look at her… surely she isn’t flirting with a gorilla now. I know she said she had lowered her standards… but really!

I take her arm and turn her around, facing the direction we came. Then I begin walking. I don’t look back.

I feel bad for the professor, to leave him, his research and the proof of his success back there. But, what would I do with a 700 pound talking gorilla. I turn to laugh about it with my sister but she isn’t there.

“Damn it”. I sigh and sit down on my pack. To go back and get her or to just keep going and get out of there myself.

An hour or so later I am back in the clearing. My sister is there, performing a strip tease for the gorilla. I curse her, her hormones and her desperate divorcee status.

“You can’t stay here.” I tell her.

“Yes I can.” She says, stroking the gorilla’s fur, pulling out the occasional twig and creature.

The gorilla leers at me. I look at his stubby erection, his maggoty fur and smell his BO and bad breath.

He smiles at me and says, “You know… I’ve always had this fantasy of having two women…”

I report my sister as missing when I finally get back.

Bad Vista


What’s wrong with Microsoft Windows Vista?: “BadVista”

The BadVista campaign is an advocate for the freedom of computer users, opposing adoption of Microsoft Windows Vista and promoting free (as in freedom) software alternatives.

COPACETIC CITY

http://jim-copaceticcity.blogspot.com/

A blog that’s funny without trying to be funny.

Editor | Game Design | Video Editing Software | Business Plan Example at Pweditor.com

http://www.pweditor.com/

CSS and HTML editor. Open source.

Compatibility from Plenty of Fish

Plenty of Fish: Your Compatibility Test Results

Self-Confidence

As someone with high self-confidence, you feel quite comfortable interacting with other people. Indeed, you find the company of others very stimulating and enjoy meeting new people. Your relaxed demeanor in groups makes people around you comfortable too. Perhaps because you feel comfortable talking about yourself, others tend to enjoy being around you and perceive you as socially competent.

The confidence that helps you feel comfortable talking to people also spills into your own personal beliefs about yourself. Although you have several strengths, it’s likely that you also acknowledge and accept your weaknesses. But unlike some people, you take full responsibility for your actions—you rarely regret things you’ve done in the past and are not embarrassed easily.

Perhaps the defining feature that sets you apart from most people is the exceptionally high standards that you set for yourself. Your competence in social gatherings as well as at work should provide ample evidence for this. With these characteristics, it’s very likely that people come to you for advice and generally think of you as someone with leader-like qualities.

Family Orientation

As someone who is oriented to familial matters, you value the company of family-members and domestic life. If you have children already, you enjoy spending time with them very much and work hard to be a good parent. If you don’t have children, you very much desire having children in the future. And your preference for cooking and entertaining guests at home will likely ease the transition into parenthood.

You take pride in maintaining and cultivating a healthy family and work hard to achieve this. This natural tendency is easily illustrated by your preference for doing things around the house as opposed to going out to clubs and restaurants.

What really sets you apart from people that are low in family orientation is that you know how to manage your frustrations and work well on your own. This means that you are well-equipped to manage a family without letting all the work that is involved wear you down. However, as someone with strong family values, all the work that is involved in maintaining a tidy home and well-stocked kitchen might occasionally make it difficult for you to finish everything that you need to do.

Self-Control

The self-control personality dimension captures the way in which a person regulates and directs him or herself. Being low in self-control can be both good and bad. Occasionally people may be compelled to follow their intuitions and give in to their temptations, and your degree of self-control makes this likely to happen more often than not. This can be good in circumstances where being relaxed and open are important. However, in situations where it is necessary to be focused and careful, you might find that you do or say things that may be inappropriate.

As someone who exerts little control over your actions, you may find that you commit social blunders that might offend other people and get yourself in trouble. For example, if you’re given responsibility to work on a project that requires close attention to detail, you may be likely to overlook important details because you have difficulty staying focused. Consequently, you might feel more comfortable delegating such tasks to other people who are more detail oriented. Being able to recognize such characteristics in yourself and having more detail-oriented people do such tasks could be an effective way to manage your own stress level.

Low self-control may diminish your effectiveness at work. Acting too relaxed can make it difficult for you to focus on projects that require organized sequences of steps or stages. Thus, your ability to accomplish may be inconsistent. Indeed, it’s possible that you might be criticized periodically for being unreliable or unable to “stay within the lines.” Nonetheless, you may still experience many short-lived pleasures and never be thought of as boring.

Openness

As someone moderate in openness, you have an appreciation for art and nature, but are also down to earth and realistic. On the one hand, it’s likely that you are fond of music and art, and on the other hand, enjoy and appreciate things that have a clear point and some sort of practical utility. Additionally, you have a certain degree of awareness of your own emotions; that is, you tend to notice when you’re feeling a particular way and take those feelings into account when making decisions.
You tend to think in both abstract ways—in terms of metaphors—and logically. Therefore, in your work and free time, you enjoy activities that get your “creative juices” flowing, but are also able to keep your mind on the primary objective of the task at hand.

Your tendency to be both open-minded, yet realistic is generally quite advantageous. For instance, when there are no clear rules about how to approach a particular problem, your openness makes it easy for you to identify new ways to solve problems that might not be very obvious to people that are not as open as you are. However, because you are also realistic-minded, you are able follow-rules quite easily. This combination makes it easy for you to excel in your work because you are able to “think outside the box” while still being able to keep your eyes on “the big picture.”

Easygoingness

Easygoingness refers to one’s ability to relax. Based on your score, you appear to “take things as they come” and enjoy having a good time. However, being high in easygoingness also has the potential to produce stress in a number of ways. For example, you may find it difficult to complete tasks thoroughly and efficiently. In this way, being high in easygoingness cannot only make your life difficult, but also the lives of the people around you. Another potential problem with being too high in easygoingness is that it can provide you with gratification in the short-term, but in the long-term provide undesirable consequences.

High easygoingness, even when not seriously destructive, may also diminish your effectiveness at work, for example. You may find it aversive and difficult to put in all the effort that may sometimes be needed to effectively accomplish certain tasks. For this reason, your colleagues might view you as forgetful and unfocused.

How does your personality affect your love life?

With your strong degree of self-confidence, it’s no surprise that you get along well with most people. Indeed, it’s self-confidence that allows people to feel comfortable interacting with others without feeling insecure and vulnerable. For this reason, you shouldn’t have much difficulty in romance, at least not initially. Your social skills will likely help relieve any anxiety your romantic partners might have on those first few dates. However, over time, the high standards that you have for yourself could potentially frustrate your partner.

Given how much you value family life, you probably get along best with people who share your values and beliefs. In fact, it’s likely that you maintain close connections with members of your immediate and distant family. For this reason, you would probably be most satisfied in a romantic relationship with someone who also values domestic life. Being in a relationship with someone who enjoys going out to parties and staying-up late at night might be fun, at least initially; yet it’s likely that you will find this tiring over time. Thus, it might be easier and more satisfying for you to develop a long-lasting relationship with a person who also enjoys spending time at home and desires starting a family. On first dates, perhaps you might suggest to your partner that the two of you spend a quiet night having dinner at one of your respective homes instead of going out to a restaurant or club.

As someone who is more relaxed than most people, you’re probably attracted to most people. However, your free-spirited nature might make being in a relationship with a person that is more rigid than you difficult because you might perceive the person as being too uptight and controlling. For this reason, you may ultimately be most satisfied in a relationship with someone that is shares your level of self-control.

Your openness probably makes it easy for you to respect and appreciate people that are different from you. However, you may become frustrated with people that are too unconventional or traditional. Therefore, you may be happiest in serious relationships with people that share both your open-mindedness and realistic nature.

On another part of the site I got:

You are an INFP,

INFP: “Making life kinder and gentler”: Whether leading or following, this type is most productive when working for some idea or service. Cannot tolerate routine. Needs to serve personal values. If INFPs can translate their work into a type of human service, it might make something they do not want to do somewhat worthwhile. They make decisions subjectively based upon personal values and do not want to control others. Are comfortable with a live-and-let-live credo. Not typically found in an executive position in a corporate setting. Good at executive behaviors in a movement or an institution centered around social causes. INFP’s natural partner is the ENFJ, or the ESFJ. INFP’s dominant function of Introverted Feeling is best matched with a partner whose dominant function is Extraverted Feeling. The INFP/ENFJ combination is ideal, because it shares the Sensing way of peceiving, but the INFP/ESFJ combination is also a good match.

These letters change each time I take the Jung test. Most of the time I get an E first – ENTP or ENFP or some other version now and then. ENTP seemed to suit me best when I took the longer version of this in a workshop last year.

ENFP: “People are the product”: Do well in executive roles even though their characteristics of effervescence, enthusiasm and spontaneity are not typical of top corporate managers. They can be very skilled at flying by the seat of their pants. Can do many things at the same time but might neglect to plan and be prepared. More females fit this type than males, but males tend to be promoted. Have great ability to empower others. Inspiration rather than control is key to their management style. ENFP’s natural partner is the INTJ, or the INFJ. ENFP’s dominant function of Extraverted Intuition is best matched with a partner whose dominant function is Introverted Intuition.

ENTP: “Progress is the product”: When an ENTP is on the job, you never know what to expect next. Every moment is up for grabs when they are around. Characteristics: energetic, dynamic, creative, resilient, argumentative. They are punsters who would rather engage in intellectual banter than complete some meaningless task or be quiet by themselves. The public world is exciting to them; they tend not to be committed to a schedule or project if a more exciting challenge comes along. ENTP’s natural partner is the INFJ, or the INTJ. The ENTP’s dominant function of Extraverted Intuition is best matched with a personality that is dominated by Introverted Intuition.

Zach Lipovsky

I’m watching On the Lot, the reality show about film makers trying to win an opportunity with the big shots. There is one Canadian guy on the show and of course I’m wishing him luck. He seems to be doing well and his films so far are holding up well. So, good luck to Zack Lipovsky. I don’t think Canadians can vote for a US show but we are voting in spirit.

Cause You’re Beautiful… If You Believe You Are

Oprah is talking about how people see themselves and how people from different cultures want to look more western/ white. It’s interesting.

One young woman created a film showing kids who had a choice between two dolls, one white and the other coloured. Each kid (of those she showed) picked the white doll as the pretty one, the nice one and the one they would most like to have. It was sad. But even sadder when she asked them to hand her the doll that looked like themselves and the kid picked the coloured doll. I never would have thought about something like that. Never would have thought they would pick the white doll that way.

I hear so much talk about black this and black that. They make themselves seem all fluffed up with pride in being black. Far more than anyone thinks about being white. When I started my first full time job I was 16 and the black women there kept together, not unfriendly. Just that the different culture groups did stick together. I used to be intimidated and a bit afraid. I didn’t really know what to think about them. Or what they thought about me. I expected them to be angry at me cause the media presents so much anti-white feelings from black people. Even back then, I would say it is still very much the same now, however many years later.

The show (Oprah) went on to talk about how Asian girls want a crease in their eye, that fold where the eyelid recedes. I did notice that some Asian people don’t have that. When I was a kid I wondered how their eyes could work, if it couldn’t really open all the way. It is interesting to hear the thoughts of those women. I don’t feel privileged to be white. It’s just who I am. I am aware that other women try to look more “white”. Black women straighten and colour their hair. I sometimes think they must have been born that way as races of people mingle and change and the different cultures blur. How can you tell if you only see someone once.

Anyway, it was sad to see that and yet, few women of any colour feel beautiful. Each has her own view of herself. Sometimes it comes from her family and the media more than it comes from her own thoughts and ideas. I think my biggest flaw is being fat. But, I could continue making a list which would include the grey hair which seems to be gaining on my natural colour more each time I look at it. I have dry skin. Sometimes I have oily skin. My feet are not cute and the bottoms are not soft and pretty. I have long since given up on being pretty. I never got into wearing make up or trying to look all girly and cute cause it’s just never going to happen.

So, though the cultural stuff is interesing that isn’t all there is to it. Very few women feel attractive, let alone beautiful.

Prada… Is it Real?


I bought this purse at Goodwill yesterday. I just liked the look of it and it was the right size with the right amount of pockets and zippered sections for me. But, is it one of those Prada things as in “The Devil Wears Prada”? That’s interesting. I am sending this photo to someone who might know. She’s a fashion/ shopper type. Anyway, I bought it for $1.99 at the Goodwill on Coxwell in Toronto. Not even a la de da area.

Canadian Tire has my Shoes and Desk



I really like those shoes. I bought one pair at Canadian Tire last year and they are lasting well. I especially like that they are open toed without being completely open. I wore these on a few rural explorations, relying on them to keep me safe from weeds and debris on the sites of abandoned houses. Not the smartest thing I’ve done but most of my trips for photos were not exactly planned, let alone planned well.

The other photo is almost exactly like the computer desk I am using. My desk came from a GoodWill shop in Newmarket. The desk I have is great. But it has the spoke things at the back which get in the way of plugs and cables on the back of the computer. I am thinking to get another desk. Maybe. My Mom will need a desk for her computer when we move after all and she won’t care about what goes on behind it. She doesn’t play with her PC, just checks email.

Anyway, my brother is supposed to be coming out here sometime tomorrow and going to Canadian Tire so I can get a lift with him and at least pick up another pair of the shoes. They are so great for summer footwear. I didn’t wear anything else all last summer. Though my sister Grace, the downtown grrl, laughs at them. I saw 22 Minutes poking fun at them too. But that’s just being snobby to spite themselves. The shoes are great, light weight and airy for summer. I love finding new colours too. So far I have two shades of blue and one light pink pair.

Next Page »