Archive for May, 2012

For the longest time, I’ve been searching for the answer to my woes. The woes of tech supporting my family and coworkers’ PCs. The obvious answer, and one I try not to deliver as a fan boy, is to buy a Mac. A stiff issue for most incomes, unfortunately. It’s my preferred work environment, and the home of my preferred tool set, but that doesn’t mean I should impose my aluminized will on others.

Many of my machines I’ve resurrected for the studio ranging from single core Pentium 4 machines on, have found some new life by dropping some Ubuntu love on their hard drives. Killing the overhead something like Windows XP (still the preferred Windows edition of Sorgatron Media) and all of that crud it loads.

Finally, I had a chance to experiment. My mother in law has a Dell computer, a long in the tooth Pentium 4 that’s been loaded with unfortunate toolbars and tag alongs that usually happen when you download anything for the internet for Windows. So I loaded Ubuntu (104 LTS, I believe) when up last month.

Upon visiting, I received my first report.

“It runs like a dream”

She went on to explain that the printer combo that was plagued by issues since a driver update now works correctly under Ubuntu. Everything is so much smoother. The only drawback was getting used to things being in different places like the window exit buttons and the apps. ( Ubuntu stores menus across the top, much like Mac OS X, as opposed to the Start Menu.)

And the nice part is when she does. Or across something that could require Windows based software, that’s all still right there in a separate partition, but she is learning where her files live on the Windows drive so she can interact with them in the Ubuntu side.

While I still eye up and comers like Google’s Chrome OS laptops and desktops, I think so many people with 3 year old computers may benefit from something like Ubuntu being tossed on their system. Not everyone needs a new computer when theirs slows to a crawl. And I hope we can get away from the disposable nature some take with computers. When you strip your system to do just the tasks it wants you to, and not everything Microsoft and Dell and Macafee and that toolbar that piggybacked on your system cleaner all want to decide the attention of your computer’s resources.

Ubuntu can be found in several favors over at Ubuntu.com if you want to look further.

Some 12 years ago, I had to make the dreaded trek anyone does when they meet someone special:  meet the in laws. But with the uncertainty of the new family I would eventually grow on (I think) there was this sweet old lady.  That was Stone Cold’s biggest fan.

I was greeted by fables of one great Christmas gathering where she was gifted an Austin 3:16 shirt.  And proceeded to do the Stone Cold Salute.  In front of all of the kids.  And grand kids.  Her house was adorned with Stone Cold posters and toys.

The best was having the fortune to watch when wrestling was on, or bringing a DVD from my own collection.  I’ve long been a fan of watching others that just love the stuff. Get a good match on with Austin or Undertaker,  or someone else that she despises (she never seemed to forget about guys like Kurt Angle or Edge being bad guys at one point).  She would get so into it.  Reacting, shuffling her feet.  Often hitting the person watching next to her at the table.

Every Monday for a LONG period I’d have to call to make sure RAW was on for her and talk to her about what was going on.  Every Xmas, we renewed the WWE calendar on her wall.

The pinnacle was when we discovered WWE was having untelevised event just modest drive away on Elmira.  Missy and I had a sign about their 82 year old fan in the audience.  We had great seats 9 rows back (the last row on the floor in this small arena) along the aisle.  The main event was Batista in a handicapped match against his former Evolution mates Triple H and Ric Flair.  Guess who hated Ric Flair.  So many times we recounted how we thought she was ready to jump that barrier (she was a spry 82) when they were taking it to Batista.

And you couldn’t mess with her.  As much as the hitting was invoked when she was into her show, she wasn’t afraid to haul off when you got into it with her.  The intentional arguments we had with her were such a blast.

So here is to the coffee drinkin’, ass kicking, kendo stock swinging, grandma with a ‘tude.  It was amazing to see the loved ones you were surrounded by these last few days.  And I know you are sitting front row up there for Macho Man vs Chief Jay Strongbow at JesusMania MMXII.