Geeky Baldismstag:www.baldguyweb.com,2010:/blog//22010-02-24T13:15:41ZI'm bald, I'm a geek, and I have an opinion. Check in every now and then and see how silly it is.Movable Type 4.261Microsoft Taxpaying as Opposed to Minetag:www.baldguyweb.com,2010:/blog//2.7922010-02-24T13:04:30Z2010-02-24T13:15:41ZIn 2008, I made a modest amount of money working for my employer. Well above the average mean income for my area, as befits my IT skills, but still quite modest when compared with other white-collar jobs. I make some...Ron Enderland
Ballmer, excuse me, posterior.
Read the depressing details here, if you dare.
Basically, M$ is getting unconditional amnesty from the financially strapped state of Washington for past tax evasion. We're talking OVER A BILLION DOLLARS.
Corporate crooks have long existed in American business. Meet the most prominent one today. ]]>
Compensating Musicians and Record Companies: a New Business Modeltag:www.baldguyweb.com,2010:/blog//2.7882010-02-13T13:59:03Z2010-02-13T14:51:53ZAre those who bypass the RIAA-affiliated record companies cold-hearted thieves? Well, obviously, the RIAA would like you to think so. And they're willing to sue as many grandmothers or eight-year-old little girls as it takes to convince you of that....Ron Enderland
5x12 wouldn't be willing to toss a few bucks or Euros their way because of the enjoyment that the venerable work continues to provide.
The problem is that there is no way to do that, short of mailing a check made out to Mick Jagger to what you hope is his home address. Their record company would never allow it. And the RIAA, of which their record company is an affiliate, would never, ever, EVER allow it.
Fans, it's time to change the business model.]]>
Tunnel of Love at least a thousand times, the ten bucks I paid for the CD at a used record store (probably illegally, according to the RIAA) back in 1989 just ain't enough. The point is, it's all voluntary, it would probably ride the general economic wave nicely with its ups and downs, and artists and record companies would benefit. And lawsuits against grandmothers and kids would cease.
The internet has changed a lot of business models. What say we change this one?
Let's put it this way: Either change your business model to a less draconian one, record companies, or face an eventual death. And RIAA? Just die, already.]]>
Michael Irvin and the Art of Slimetag:www.baldguyweb.com,2010:/blog//2.7862010-02-06T12:22:48Z2010-02-06T16:11:08ZWell, at presstime, another woman has accused Michael Irvin of rape. Irvin has the following incidents on his record: March 1996: cocaine possession at a hotel party celebrating his 30th birthday. Irvin showing up to court in a full-length mink...Ron Enderland
March 1996: cocaine possession at a hotel party celebrating his 30th birthday. Irvin showing up to court in a full-length mink coat. He pled no contest to the charges and was sentenced to community service, ordered to pay a $10,000 fine, and put on 4-years probation. My favorite part of the whole disgusting mess: Irvin asking an arresting cop "Do you know who I am?"
1998: Irvin allegedly inflicted a two-inch cut in the neck of Dallas guard Everett McIver. McIver did not press charges, and rumors swirled that Irvin brokered a six-figure settlement with McIver to drop the matter. Accounts of this incident after the alleged settlement became difficult to find or research in the local Dallas press.
2000: Irvin was arrested on drug possession charges.In this case, Irvin was in a Dallas apartment with an unrelated woman. Police entered the apartment forcibly and found drugs. Irvin and the female were placed under arrest, though charges against Irvin were later dropped.
]]>
2005: Irvin was pulled over in Plano, Texas, for speeding Irvin was arrested on an outstanding warrant on an unpaid speeding ticket in Irving, Texas, and also cited for misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia after police searched his car and found a marijuana pipe and plastic bags with marijuana residue.
2010: Irvin was sued by an unnamed woman for an alleged rape that took place in 2007. The incident was reported to Seminole tribal police on July 20, 2007, but the woman later signed a waiver of prosecution. Now WHY would she do THAT? Perhaps as time goes on, we'll find out. More likely, all lawsuits will be dropped and no more will be heard.
What makes me ill about this is that this person is obviously a slime. Enough cocaine, hash pipes, and topless dancers in hotel rooms while your wife and kids are waiting at home will do that to a person. Yet, ESPN continues to pay him for his insight. Additionally, he has appeared on Dancing With the Stars, the regrettable remake of The Longest Yard, Burn Notice, various throwaway reality TV shows, and a regular gig on the NFL Network.
In these days of massive unemployment, and good, decent people struggling because of corporate incompetence and governmental bailouts paid for by taxpayers, it really makes me sick that people like Michael Irvin get paid big bucks while living a depraved lifestyle that involves lots of arrests and mysteriously dropped charges. This dude needs to drop from sight. Anyone paying him for entertainment purposes needs to be boycotted, and to be told why.
Not that it will make a difference or anything.]]>
GREAT Forum Software!tag:www.baldguyweb.com,2010:/blog//2.7842010-01-31T15:45:29Z2010-02-06T16:23:53ZI just started a new website, I Hate the Home Team!, a forum for folks to gripe about having relocated somewhere far away from their beloved favorite teams, and who are now forced to deal with local media and fans...Ron Enderland
I Hate the Home Team!, a forum for folks to gripe about having relocated somewhere far away from their beloved favorite teams, and who are now forced to deal with local media and fans of teams which they likely don't care about.
Anyhoo, I decided to give SMF (Simple Machines Forum) a try. The open-source product is absolutely amazing! I recommend anyone out there starting/running a forum to give them a try.
Not only does it install painlessly (with shell access, anyway, my preferred way of doing business), but the platform is absolutely loaded with add-on modules written by the community.
There are hundreds of themes to choose from. I settled on the Black Phoenix look, simply because I didn't have hours to peruse every example. I was looking for a lean, mean, clean look, and Black Phoenix worked perfectly.
It's in the modules themselves where SMF shines like a beacon.]]>
For example, I was able to quickly and painlessly add a plethora of avatars and smileys, important features to forums. Additionally, I added buddy list functionality, an ability to ignore users, an IP tracker (I'm anticipating spam issues with more popularity of the site), and a whole bunch more little niceties which make the difference between an average forum and a fun one.
The add-ons install easily, just upload a zip file through the forum's control panel, it handles the rest.
More mods are on the way, as I have time to experiment and evaluate.
So if you're looking for great forum software, I heartily recommend SMF!
The Problem With Being a Long-Lived Musical Geniustag:www.baldguyweb.com,2010:/blog//2.7802010-01-24T13:46:51Z2010-02-06T16:15:37ZWhen I was eighteen years old, Rolling Stone magazine and myself began a relationship that continues today. Though I gave up the extreme left-wing articles several years ago, I continue to hit their website to get the only truly unbiased...Ron Enderland
Rolling Stone magazine and myself began a relationship that continues today. Though I gave up the extreme left-wing articles several years ago, I continue to hit their website to get the only truly unbiased opinions of what music is good or otherwise.
Now Rolling Stone album reviews aren't perfect. I remember they trashed ABBA pretty hard during the late 70's, and I've come to appreciate the tight harmonies and flawless engineering of their stuff in my more mellow years. And so has, for that matter, Rolling Stone, being kinder to them in retrospective reviews than they were at the time.
But the fact is that when RS gives out an infrequent five-star review, it's because the artist has earned it, producing a great work that transcends musical genre. Thus, a rock and roll fan can listen to Bill Monroe's Bean Blossom and know that he was hearing the best bluegrass music that is out there. And that's how my own musical appreciation eventually spread out to include music other than that produced by loudly amplified electric guitar.
However, five stars is the highest honor that can be bequeathed upon an album by the Powers that Be over at RS. So, the question arises: what can you do when a master has accumulated a lifetime of musical accomplishments that all rate five stars? How do you discern the greatest of the great?]]>
The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle, Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The River, Born in the USA, Tunnel of Love, The Rising, Devils and Dust, Magic, and Working on a Dream.
All of these albums have gotten perfect five-star reviews from RS. But how does one pick the best of the best?
One way might be how many times each particular album has been listened to by an individual. If that's the case, then Born to Run edges out E Street Shuffle in my book, followed by Tunnel of Love, Darkness, and The River. But is that accurate? Are the Boss's trilogy of recent albums any less great, or is it just that my musical collection is so huge that I just can't give individual attention to albums like I once did?
I have every word of Born to Run memorized, as well as Darkness (except for parts of Streets of Fire that simply can't be decoded). That will simply never be the case with anything he puts out again. That's because such musical familiarity comes from wearing out two or three cassettes with an album on each side while tooling around in my 1973 Celica right out of high school. Nowadays, I put nine hours of tunes on a memory stick and very rarely hear the same album twice in six months.
So what's the answer? How do you rate the very best of a great artist?
I guess it's up to the individual.]]>
Linux With a Minty Flavortag:www.baldguyweb.com,2010:/blog//2.7752010-01-06T18:33:30Z2010-02-06T16:16:37ZI love Ubuntu. It's been my choice for a desktop Linux for three years. But I just veered down a side road. it's still Ubuntu under the hood, but the distro is actually Linux Mint. Mint is basically Ubuntu with...Ron EnderlandI love Ubuntu. It's been my choice for a desktop Linux for three years.
But I just veered down a side road. it's still Ubuntu under the hood, but the distro is actually Linux Mint.
Mint is basically Ubuntu with all proprietary codecs thrown in. It also comes with its own menu manager. It's released a month or so after Ubuntu.
I recently upgraded from 9.04 to 9.10, and something went screwy. I was getting X crashes, anywhere from one a week to several a day. I've successfully upgraded in the past, but this was a bad one. So I was going to have to rebuild.
I decided to give Mint a shot. I'd heard good things about it. I wasn't disappointed.]]>
It was solved by following the instructions here.
Problem #2: my home directory was not the one I wanted. Problem solved by adding this line to fstab:
/dev/sda2 /home ext3 relatime 0 2
Of course, my /home partition was /dev/sda2/home. Put your own values in here.
After that, it was a matter on installing my favorite Ubunbtu apps that were not included in Mint, including Evolution, Amarok (I know, Kubuntu, but I always add it!), gFTP, DeVede, Virtualbox, etc.
Once I rebooted, I was delighted to see all of my apps exactly as I remembered them. I was particularly glad to see crossover Pro in place, with Dreamweaver ready to roll. This shouldn't have been too surprising, since Crossover installs itself and any Windows apps in home.
Interestingly, my Nvidia driver had to be installed from the manufacturer, unlike Ubuntu. But it has proven to be rock-solid.
So here's to Mint, a flavor of Linux I find very refreshing, indeed. Not a single X crash since my install!]]>
Two Golfers Take Time Offtag:www.baldguyweb.com,2009:/blog//2.7722009-12-20T14:45:19Z2010-02-06T16:17:17ZThis is a tale of two golfers who decided to suspend their play. The first one found out that his wife of thirteen years had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The golfer immediately decided that golf was a secondary pastime,...Ron Enderland
This is a tale of two golfers who decided to suspend their play.
The first one found out that his wife of thirteen years had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The golfer immediately decided that golf was a secondary pastime, pushed far to the rear by the more immediate concern for his lady's health. So the first one made an announcement that he would be taking a break from the Tour, to be by his wife's side as she began aggressive treatment to wipe out the dreaded disease.
His fellow golfers joined in on the cause. His good friend John Daly wore a pink pair of pants during a tournament. ALL golfers at the following week's tournament wore pink, in support of the golfer, his wife, and his family.
Two months after his announcement of a hiatus, the world rejoiced when the golfer revealed that his wife's cancer had been contained. He would be rejoining the Tour. In September, two months later, the first golfer, four strokes back on Sunday morning, would go on to defeat the second golfer at the Tour Championship. The first golfer would epitomize the well-loved and and admired family man and good sport, and would earn the admiration of untold millions.
That brings us to the second golfer to take time off from the Tour.
The second golfer was raised from childhood to be a competitive machine. He was raised to be, without a shadow of a doubt, the greatest golfer in the world. He was trained from an early age to stay steely-cold in the face of adversity, to never show fear or weakness, and to never, ever let up on his opponents.
The strategy worked. The second golfer had physical gifts that were greatly enhanced by his mental toughness. He became the greatest golfer the world has ever seen. Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson, and Sam Snead put up numbers that were so ridiculously superior to anyone else's that there was no chance that their own individual records could ever be broken. That was before golfer number two showed up. This superhuman was in a position to not only break Jack's Major wins record, but also Sam's total tournament wins AND Byron's consecutive win streak. That's sort of like a baseball player hitting more home runs than Aaron, having a higher average than Cobb, and stealing more bases that that idiot who holds the record.
One November night, the second golfer hit a fire plug with his Escalade. Oh well. Maybe he was drunk. That happens. Maybe he had a fight with his own wife. That happens too. We're all human. We all goof up from time to time.
Only... this story kept getting bigger. Turns out the wife had taken a golf club to the Escalade's window. To rescue golfer number two? Hmm...
As the days went by, the press circled. Being a celebrity can be a real bear, especially if by nature you prize your privacy. It's tough, but at least you're not sweating your next house payment.
Suddenly, from the depths of the sleazy ocean in which swam the tabloid sharks, the names of various women began surfacing. Women who claimed to be having affairs with golfer number two. Golfer number two, who had guarded his privacy as viciously as he had drilled long putts to destroy opponents, was being forced to come out and make some sort of statement to stem the tide of ill will caused by interviews with various women who claimed to have had illicit relations with him whilst he was married.
Finally, golfer number two came out and made a statement. He had engaged in various infidelities. He was sorry. And he would be taking an indefinite break from the Tour in an effort to repair the damage to his marriage.
His own mother said that she was furious with him, but, as mothers should, said that she would support him.
The golfer who introduced golfer number two to his shamed wife ripped him in public.
The number of other women, at presstime, had reached seven. Sponsors have followed one after another in either dropping golfer number two, or else severely limiting his exposure (and, presumably, his financial compensation).
And while golfer number one was celebrated when he finally returned to the Tour, golfer number two will likely be jeered, laughed at, and outright booed. How will his steely competitive side handle that?
Ironically, the aforementioned John Daly has had his own marriage woes. That surprises nobody, the reckless abandon with which he plays his game suggests that he would be quite the free spirit off the course. If anything, that just adds to his appeal.
But golfer number two is all about CONTROL. Deeply ingrained discipline is what drives him.
How could such a disciplined player have a mistress at virtually every tournament city?
Thus, golfer number two is seeing his reputation crumble faster than Richard Nixon's after his White House aides began testifying.
Is that fair? Maybe not.
But one thing's for sure: at tournaments, golfer number one served as runner-up to golfer number two far more often than the reverse took place.
But in this particular match, the one involving public perception of you as a human being and as an honorable person, golfer number one has golfer number two beaten by twenty strokes.
Oh My Dear Lord, What's Happened to Windows Server?tag:www.baldguyweb.com,2009:/blog//2.7642009-11-12T20:51:57Z2010-02-06T16:18:03ZAt my workplace, I've managed to integrate Linux and Active Directory so that I can use AD groups to control access to intranet sites. That was quite a breakthrough, allowing me to move my MySQL/PHP-driven apps onto Linux, where they...Ron Enderland
At my workplace, I've managed to integrate Linux and Active Directory so that I can use AD groups to control access to intranet sites. That was quite a breakthrough, allowing me to move my MySQL/PHP-driven apps onto Linux, where they feel most at home.
I'm going to be learning asp and asp.net web development, so I built a Server 2008 machine this week where all of my new development will be living.
I've managed 2000 and 2003 Server installs, so I know how things work. But let me say this: If you think Vista was an abortion, it's NOTHING compared to the piece of crap that is Windows 2008 Server.
Basically, an admin is treated like an idiot. Things like managing services now involve at least two more mouse-clicks. I'm behind a strong firewall, I don't need Windows Firewall. But guess what? You CAN'T turn on Terminal Services unless Windows Firewall is running!
Here's what it amounts to: our OS is so inherently unsecure that we are going to forbid you to make a connection to it unless our firewall is on. What rubbish.
I can't find IIS manager! I select server management under administrative tools, and I can't see ANYTHING about IIS. What in blazes is going on here?
One of the things I love about administering Linux/UNIX is its consistency. Apache starts/stops on a twenty-year-old HPUX box just like it does on a CentOS5 machine. What are these vacuum-headed Windows developers doing forcing server admins to relearn their tasks with every new release??????
OK, I guess there may be motive behind presenting a fresh new look to desktops every few years. But why redo the server experience?
Tomorrow, I'll spend a few more hours trying to figure out the clownishly bizarre Server 2008 experience. And, once again, I'll wonder how these morons ever got to be #1.]]>
Have you heard of Titan Lev?tag:www.baldguyweb.com,2009:/blog//2.7632009-11-11T16:08:34Z2010-02-06T16:18:44ZWow, what an amazing distribution I just stumbled on to. It's called Titan Lev, and is distributed by http://www.affordy.com/. It's not free, but you get a bunch of test drives from the iso. And if you decide it's for you,...Ron Enderland
http://www.affordy.com/. It's not free, but you get a bunch of test drives from the iso. And if you decide it's for you, it's a measly 25 bucks. It's also Ubuntu-based.
Basically, these folks have duplicated the Windows environment for those wanting to try something else, but who have gotten used to the MS way of running your computer.
I'll have more to say after I actually run the desktop, but it looks extremely impressive. They're based in Israel (so a nice "up yours" to Al Qaeda fans by using it), and I hope that they've covered their tracks legally. After all, they actually include Internet Explorer in the distro.
Anyhoo, check it out.]]>
Running Windows Server? I Admire Your Patience!tag:www.baldguyweb.com,2009:/blog//2.7572009-10-14T12:07:01Z2010-02-06T16:19:21ZI run a Windows XP virtual machine (VMWare) that was living on a three-year-old Dell 2950 server with dual Xeons, six gigs of RAM, and Windows Server 2003. I say WAS. That machine was a dog. It was as slow...Ron Enderland
WAS.
That machine was a dog. It was as slow as a GX1 with a 350 MHz processor that I once had. It was driving me nuts to see its processor pegged at 100% for a full minute every time I switched websites in Dreamweaver. It has a gig of fully-VMWare-dedicated RAM, BTW.
The server, FWIW, runs ONLY VMWare. No other applications at all, except for McAfee in the background and periodically scanning.
And VMWare is running a total of TWO machines. Mine, and a utility machine running scheduled Access queries to keep databases of various flavors updated through the magic of linked tables.
So I suggested reformatting it and installing CentOS5, along with the Linux flavor of VMWare.
Good idea, said the powers that be, but we'll need to temporarily move those machines over to a new home. No prob, said I, I have a two-year old Dell GX620 with dual core Intel power and three gigs of RAM just sittin' around. I'll stick CentOS on there and make sure it and VMWare get along.]]>
Well, the results were quite enlightening.
My machine is running approximately twice as fast on this temporary desktop server.
The only explanation I have is that Windows Server adds a horrific amount of unnecessary overhead.
Next, I begin the process of rebuilding the 2950 hoss. Stay tuned for the results.
Ubuntu. It Just Works.tag:www.baldguyweb.com,2009:/blog//2.7512009-08-26T19:33:39Z2010-02-06T16:19:51ZI love Ubuntu. However, I'm not nuts about the six month rewrites. So, I decided to try a couple of less-often-rewritten distros on a Dell GX 755. A month later, I'm back to Ubuntu. Here's why:...Ron Enderland
I love Ubuntu. However, I'm not nuts about the six month rewrites.
So, I decided to try a couple of less-often-rewritten distros on a Dell GX 755.
A month later, I'm back to Ubuntu. Here's why:
The machine in question had an Nvidia card which supported dual monitors. Unfortunately, I don't know the exact model. I'm not at that machine as I pen this. But it's a problematic piece of hardware for most distributions.
The first I tried was PCLinuxOS. I've heard great things about it, and it was a quick, easy install. However, to get dual monitors, I had to download and install Nvidia's proprietary Linux driver.
It worked okay, but I couldn't get it to recognize a separate partition as /home. When I booted up the system, my former home directory was browseable, but it wasn't ~.
So, I gave Mepis a try.
It, too, was a quick, easy install. ~ was right where I expected it to be. But once again, I had to install that proprietary Linux Nvidia driver to get dual monitors.
I felt like I had a winner. Until the first reboot.
My video was black. I restored my /etc/X11/xorg.conf file to a previous version and rebooted, and got basic X. But no amount of uninstalling/reinstalling that proprietary driver would give me anything but a blank screen upon subsequent reboots.
I figured I must have fubarred something, so I started over.
After a day's work, making the subtle connections to the AD world that a corporate user of Linux must endure, a reboot gave me the exact same results.
I was suddenly very homesick for Ubuntu.
I'm back with the big U on my business machine. It plays ball with my Nvidia card out of the chute, and dual monitors are a breeze. X always works after reboots, too.
However, this 50-year-old-geek is probably going to start picking and choosing which Ubuntu rewrites to actually install.
Thanks, VMWare, But It's Time to Move Ontag:www.baldguyweb.com,2009:/blog//2.7422009-07-07T15:22:15Z2010-02-06T16:21:14ZVMWare introduced me to the concept of running machines virtually, instead of physically. "Interesting concept" I thought in 2005, when I first learned about it. "But I'm not sure how it would benefit me." Well, let's just say that my...Ron Enderland
this fix for 8.10, but no amount of coaxing could persuade it to work with Jaunty.
Enter Sun's VirtualBox.]]>
I had to rebuild my 2K and XP machines from scratch, but it was a wise investment of time. I am now successfully running USB devices in virtual Windows environments which are putting less load on my processor. The machines are basically operating at hardware speed.
VirtualBox allows for multiple snapshots, a very nice feature only available with enterprise versions of VMWare.
I had to jump through some hoops to get my USB stuff working, but it was pretty simple. A Google search for VirtualBox USB problem will reveal a host of sites offering assistance.
Best of all, attempting to use my Epson scanner in XP would invariably result in a BSOD on VMWare. It works flawlessly with VirtualBox.
So once again, thanks for the memories, VMWare. But I must move on to VirtualBox.
Crappy Customer Servicetag:www.baldguyweb.com,2009:/blog//2.7412009-07-05T14:43:50Z2010-02-06T16:21:46ZUpdate: HSBC claims that I didn't request my credit balance to be mailed to me on 6/24/2009, the day I closed this account. In other words, they claim that I closed my account and, in essence, told them to keep...Ron Enderland
Update: HSBC claims that I didn't request my credit balance to be mailed to me on 6/24/2009, the day I closed this account. In other words, they claim that I closed my account and, in essence, told them to keep the money. It will now take up to 21 days. During this time, they deducted 19 dollars from my balance for what they claim is accrued interest. The saga goes on, and if you are doing business with these people, I strongly suggest you consider dropping them and giving someone your trade who knows how to treat customers.
I've been too busy posting lots of fossil pics over at my new site, What Is This Fossil?, to spend much time updating this blog.
So, it's time for a nice gripe-fest.
Why have so many companies forgotten what customer service is? Why do they tie their employees' hands so that they can't help their customers even if they want to?
Specifically, I'm talking about HSBC bank, their credit card program in particular.
We lost about 1500 bucks in monthly income last year, and it made things financially dicey. I did a refi on my house to stop the bleeding, and we're back on track now, I'm happy to say.
But there was a time in January when I made an online payment to HSBC, and unfortunately, the direct payment from my bank account bounced. They had to run it through a second time.
Jump ahead six months. The refi is closed, a cashier's check is mailed to HSBC. I log into their site and track its progress. Finally, credit is given. However, my card is unable to be used.
So, I call the 800 number and finally get a rep online. It's some dude from way overseas who obviously has no decision-making power, so I ask for his boss.
She gets on and explains that they have a"policy" of waiting five business days after posting payment in the case of someone who has had a payment returned.
I respect that, I said, but reminded her that payment was made in the form of a cashier's check.
Darn it to heck, she wished there was something she could do, but it's policy. She can't change it.
"Look" I said. One of two things is going to happen here. Either you're going to lift this hold, so that I can begin using this card for my corporation, or else this account will be canceled on the spot.
One minute later, HSBC and I had parted ways.
Bad move. I'll be making lots of purchases for my little corporation in my newborn favorable financial situation, and paying the card off monthly. Now, that privileged arrangement belongs to Capital One.
Oh well. At least HSBC can take comfort in the fact that their policies are apparently un-overrideable.]]>
Fossils from Soft Rock, Benton County, Arkansas, 6/2009tag:www.baldguyweb.com,2009:/blog//2.7232009-06-14T17:38:45Z2010-02-06T16:22:14ZI gathered these rocks from the roadside on a quiet country lane. It was at the site of a cutout about 10' deep. The rocks are brown in color, and very porous. They get very soft when saturated in water....Ron Enderland
A small brachiopod, but exquisitely detailed. The soft rock preserves extremely fine details, as you will learn by continuing.]]>
Closeup of the same brach, those little nubbins on its shell are perhaps 1/10 mm!
Bryozaon. The soft rock contains huge numbers of these critters
Another bryozoan
Closeup of bryozoan detail, with paper clip
Extreme closeup detail of bryozoan, each point is about 1/10 mm
Impressions left in very soft rock, practically mud!
Same sample, higher magnification
Stay tuned, I'll soon post some pics of creatures found in some very hard limestone that was nicely loaded with fossils.
For lots more fossil pics, check out What Is This Fossil?]]>
Fossils from a Recent Escapadetag:www.baldguyweb.com,2009:/blog//2.7222009-06-14T17:12:35Z2010-02-06T16:22:37ZThis post will concentrate on finds that I discovered that cost me a pretty penny. I mean, I'm in northwest Arkansas, I'm on a country road, a car passes every twenty minutes. No need to lock your door, right? Apparently...Ron Enderland
This is exactly the SECOND crinoid calyx I've ever found. The first one still lies in the wash in the woods on my Pea Ridge, Arkansas farm home I enjoyed when I was fourteen. It's in a slab that was too massive for a kid to mess with. It's just as well. I'm sure I would have misplaced it by now, as I did with a bunch of massive oysters I found in Austin, Texas construction sites as a kid.]]>
Horned coral casts, about 1" long
Trilobite cast. These bugs are VERY scarce in my Mississippian-era-area (Bentonville, Arkansas). Finding trilly evidence is a special treat. This is the same piece that is pictured above.
Again, the same rock, what I believe is a very tiny trilobite. That was one bonzer rock!
And finally, on the whimsical side, a tree root that managed to grow its way through a crinoid stalk. I would call that a mixture of the old and the new.
For lots more fossil pics, check out What Is This Fossil?]]>
I love Ubuntu. It's been my choice for a desktop Linux for three years.
But I just veered down a side road. it's still Ubuntu under the hood, but the distro is actually Linux Mint.
Mint is basically Ubuntu with all proprietary codecs thrown in. It also comes with its own menu manager. It's released a month or so after Ubuntu.
I recently upgraded from 9.04 to 9.10, and something went screwy. I was getting X crashes, anywhere from one a week to several a day. I've successfully upgraded in the past, but this was a bad one. So I was going to have to rebuild.
I decided to give Mint a shot. I'd heard good things about it. I wasn't disappointed.]]>
It was solved by following the instructions here.
Problem #2: my home directory was not the one I wanted. Problem solved by adding this line to fstab:
A small brachiopod, but exquisitely detailed. The soft rock preserves extremely fine details, as you will learn by continuing.]]>
Closeup of the same brach, those little nubbins on its shell are perhaps 1/10 mm!
This is exactly the SECOND crinoid calyx I've ever found. The first one still lies in the wash in the woods on my Pea Ridge, Arkansas farm home I enjoyed when I was fourteen. It's in a slab that was too massive for a kid to mess with. It's just as well. I'm sure I would have misplaced it by now, as I did with a bunch of massive oysters I found in Austin, Texas construction sites as a kid.]]>
Horned coral casts, about 1" long
