For some new changes and hopefully more frequent posts!
Typealyzer
So, I know mostly nothing about this site, Typealyzer, or how it works, but the idea is that you input the web address of the blog you want to analyze and it’ll tell you about the blogger’s personality. So, if you do mine:
ISTP – The Mechanics
“The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generelly prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.
“The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.”
Then, it shows that I’ve got left-brain dominance, including Practicality, Thinking (logic, mathematics), and Sensing (order, habit, details).
Sounds accurate to me!! 🙂
Upgrade(s)
I upgraded Ubuntu yesterday to version 8.1, “Hardy Heron” (which is awesome, by the way!). I ended up having to reformat that partition of the drive because Automatix had broken my system…at least, as far as global distribution upgrades go.
Anyway, in doing so, there ended up being some kind of problem with MySQL, PHP5 and Apache2… I could get WordPress installed, but it couldn’t access the database. I ended up fixing the problem with a somewhat “unsecure” workaround, but then found out that all my link and post categories had been lost. I’ve restored the links, but now I’ve got 350+ posts to recategorize to file…grrrrrrr…
Regardless, “Hardy Heron” is an excellent release. I’ve had it on my laptop since it was available to download and has worked flawlessly… You should all check it out, if you haven’t already!
Changes?
So, I’m getting a bit bored with my old WordPress theme, so I’m looking around for other options… This one is called Mandigo and seems to have plenty of options, including a 1024 px setting, rather than simply 800 px (i.e. it fills the screen now…). I have yet to figure out how to really streamline all the links to the right-hand side of the blog, however, so I’ll have to toy with that…
Look okay? Or is the old one better? This one is “widget-enabled,” which theoretically allows me to add some nifty plugins (like a plugin that will randomly rotate photos from my Picasa site…).
Anyway, we’ll see…maybe I’ll switch back…but for now, I’m giving it a try… I’m sure you all care tremendously… 😛
Mmmm, toys…
Well, I’m about ready to purchase that new computer system in the next few weeks… I already got a new LCD monitor for a whopping $105, after rebate, so I’m well on my way… But for now, here’s the system I have speced out:
- Hanns-G 19″ LCD — $105
- MSI H9N Neo-F motherboard — $78
- Athlon 64 X2 3800+ — $148
- 2 GB Generic DDR2 RAM 533 MHz — $148
- 160 GB Seagate Barracuda SATA — $59
- Lite-On 16x DVD+/-RW — $34
- PNY GeForce 6600 256 MB? —? $58
- Generic Computer Case w/430W Power Supply — $39
I was hoping I didn’t need a video card, as many nForce motherboards have one integrated (and for my Linux purposes, I don’t need anything crazy with regards to gaming), but this board apparently doesn’t have one, so I’m adding on a card… Total, the cost comes up to around $700 once you figure in shipping, etc…
Not too bad, you think? I’d actually like some video card suggestions… Not that I really want to play games much, but I’d kinda like to try getting UT2004 running under Linux, since a). there are Linux versions available, and b). I can run it in 64-bit mode. I’d like to stick with nVidia because their Linux drivers are much, much better than ATi’s…but I’m thinking that I could get a decent GeForce card of the previous generation (6 series) for the same price as a budget GeForce of the current one (7 series). So yeah, that’s just one on Newegg right now, but lemme know if you know of something better…
It's about time…
…for another computer upgrade (that title, complete with “…”, is for you, Kai…). I’ve had my Shuttle motherboard running since late-Sophomore year when I started running Linux and Windows on separate systems…and I maxed out the processor to an Athlon XP 1900+ early in my Junior year… So yeah, essentially, I’ve been using the same hardware (with minor upgrades/replacements) for about 5 years. That’s an eternity in computer time, so I’m ready for an upgrade. Recently, I’ve noticed the system slowing down with every reformat and I’ve had yet another Maxtor hard drive go out, so I’m ready to make the jump.
Here are the specs I’ve been looking at, using Mwave‘s pricing for a barebones system:
- Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (Manchester) — $297.00
- MSI K8N NEO4-F — $73.50
- 1 GB DDR400 RAM (dual-channel 512 MB) — $83.00
- NEC 16x DVD+/-RW — $38.90
- Black Apex SQ-328 case (350W PS) — $41.00
- Seagate 160 GB SATA 7200 RPM hard drive — $69.00
- Gigabyte GeForce 7300GT PCIe 128 MB — $63.00
Total cost for the specs listed above comes out to a grand total of $665.40 using Mwave’s pricing and as of May 15, 2006. I’m assuming that the price will come down overall by the time I can buy this thing sometime mid- to late-summer. The processor, especially, should drop in price by the time I can afford this…and things like the motherboard, hard drive and video card probably will change. Honestly, I don’t really need much so far as video cards go, but I’d like to have something cheap yet capable for whatever I want to do with it in the coming years. I’d really like to get 2 GB of RAM in there running dual-channel ’cause I think the 64-bit dual core system would really like to use it, but that’ll depend on RAM prices… I’ll also have to figure out Linux drivers. This is an nForce4 chipset and I think it’s support is somewhat limited under Linux…
Anyway…suggestions? While I like Ubuntu a lot, I’d probably try Gentoo again initially so I’m sure that the 64-bit and dual core shenanigans are being used to their full potential, just to see how blazing fast I can run it…may switch back eventually…who knows…
It’s about time…
…for another computer upgrade (that title, complete with “…”, is for you, Kai…). I’ve had my Shuttle motherboard running since late-Sophomore year when I started running Linux and Windows on separate systems…and I maxed out the processor to an Athlon XP 1900+ early in my Junior year… So yeah, essentially, I’ve been using the same hardware (with minor upgrades/replacements) for about 5 years. That’s an eternity in computer time, so I’m ready for an upgrade. Recently, I’ve noticed the system slowing down with every reformat and I’ve had yet another Maxtor hard drive go out, so I’m ready to make the jump.
Here are the specs I’ve been looking at, using Mwave‘s pricing for a barebones system:
- Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (Manchester) — $297.00
- MSI K8N NEO4-F — $73.50
- 1 GB DDR400 RAM (dual-channel 512 MB) — $83.00
- NEC 16x DVD+/-RW — $38.90
- Black Apex SQ-328 case (350W PS) — $41.00
- Seagate 160 GB SATA 7200 RPM hard drive — $69.00
- Gigabyte GeForce 7300GT PCIe 128 MB — $63.00
Total cost for the specs listed above comes out to a grand total of $665.40 using Mwave’s pricing and as of May 15, 2006. I’m assuming that the price will come down overall by the time I can buy this thing sometime mid- to late-summer. The processor, especially, should drop in price by the time I can afford this…and things like the motherboard, hard drive and video card probably will change. Honestly, I don’t really need much so far as video cards go, but I’d like to have something cheap yet capable for whatever I want to do with it in the coming years. I’d really like to get 2 GB of RAM in there running dual-channel ’cause I think the 64-bit dual core system would really like to use it, but that’ll depend on RAM prices… I’ll also have to figure out Linux drivers. This is an nForce4 chipset and I think it’s support is somewhat limited under Linux…
Anyway…suggestions? While I like Ubuntu a lot, I’d probably try Gentoo again initially so I’m sure that the 64-bit and dual core shenanigans are being used to their full potential, just to see how blazing fast I can run it…may switch back eventually…who knows…
…minor adjustments…
A slight shift in address… You can still go to https://linsenbardt.net/, but now you’ll be presented with an option of where you want to go. Â Now, the direct address to this page is https://linsenbardt.net/andy/. This is all being done, of course, because Brooke now has a blog under this domain, at https://linsenbardt.net/brooke/.
…enjoy…
Long week…
So, it’s been a relatively long week. Unfortunately, my grandmother passed away on Dec. 26th in the early morning hours after complications from breaking her hip on Dec. 23rd. While it was unfortunate, it’s best that she wasn’t relegated to a nursing home; it would have taken 6-8 weeks to recover from the hip surgery, and even then, it was likely that a). she would have had to stay in rehab or a nursing home even longer and b). that the other hip joint would have given out within two years. She had a stroke 18 years ago that caused her to spend a lot of time in rehab and she vowed to never do it again. I’m just glad she didn’t have to. It really sucked that it had to happen at Christmas time, let alone that she was to turn 84 on Jan. 3rd. Regardless, it’s likely that she shouldn’t have survived the stroke in the first place; she fought to recover and was able to spend the last 18 years watching her grandkids grow up. And for that, and many other reasons, I’ll never forget her.
Anyway, that ordeal has taken up most of my Christmas break… I start class again on Jan 4th (grrrrrrrrrrrrrr…), so I’m going to spend the next few days being as worthless as possible. We had a few people over last night for a New Year’s shin-dig and I think we all had a good time.
I’ve also been having problems with the web server…I’m trying to get the whole thing fixed up, but I’m afraid it’s a hard drive failure… The system keeps requiring a reboot to fix it and then I have to run the equivalent of a “scandisk” to fix it (“fsck,” for those Linux-users out there). So yeah, I’m trying to fix it, but this site may be up and down from time to time.
Inspiration
So yeah, new theme…and I’m still toying with it… I was inspired by Kai and Goodspeed to try messing with a new theme for once. The banner at the top is random, so it’ll put up a random banner at the top with each refresh…also, if you click on the oval at the top of each posting, it’ll minimize and then maximize the post (which is useful in the archived posts…). Also, there’s a built-in feature for random pictures to show up in the right-hand column, but I haven’t quite figured it out yet.
Anyway, new stuff…instead of studying…w00t to me… Happy Christmas Break, Truman folks!