March 8th, 2010

A look at Ubuntu 10.4

Fedora Firewall GUI

Fedora Firewall GUI. The services checked in this picture do not represent my personal configuration.

I downloaded the latest version of Ubuntu Linux, version 10.4, and installed it as a virtual machine with VMWare on my Fedora 12 pc. I also ran it as a live CD from boot. I’m still not convinced that Ubuntu is better than Fedora for me. Ubuntu is missing two GUIs (software with a graphic user interface) I use all the time in Fedora. There is

  • no firewall GUI
  • no services GUI

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March 5th, 2010

Michael Rood's explanation of the true meaning of Matthew 23:1-3

If you are a believer of the Jesus Christ of the New Testament, you just gotta see this video clip of Michael Rood and what he has to say about the true translation of Matthew chapter 23:1-3. I was absolutely thrilled to hear it!

I really like this guy. He looks like a person right out of the Bible. :-) I don’t know yet all his doctrines, but he did confess in disk 2 of his “Jonah code” series of having been previously wrong about his view of pre-tribulation rapture, and that earned my respect of him and caught my interest.

March 4th, 2010

Dramatically restoring the performance of an exceedingly slow Windows XP machine

PIO Mode

IDE channel set to PIO mode.

Last night a young lady asked me to look at her Windows XP laptop. It was running much slower than it did when she first got it. Usually I first consider that the system is probably infected with malware or spyware, and I installed and ran SuperAntiSpyware to scan the C drive of her PC. But later I realized that she being the type of girl she is, would not be going to dangerous web sites from where she would be infected. SuperAntiSpyware reported no malware present. I then remembered that the primary IDE channel of a Windows XP system sometimes reverts from DMA to PIO. The graphic on the right shows what the current transfer mode should not be!

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March 3rd, 2010

Aspartame, Brain Cancer & the FDA

Beware of consuming any so called sweet sugarless products containing aspartame!

March 2nd, 2010

The smallest and lightest electrical bicycle in the world!

I love to ride bicycles and think the bicycle is perhaps the greatest invention of the 19th century. And I think the “Yike Bike” may be one of the greatest inventions of the 21st century! Check out the vid!!

March 1st, 2010

Using Gnome Shell

Screenshot of Gnome 2.8 desktop with Linux Tux zapping the MS Logo!

Screenshot of Gnome 2.8 desktop

I installed a beta version of the new Gnome Shell desktop environment on my Fedora Linux PC, and it seems to be very cool indeed! And it’s free, not only free in in the meaning of “freedom” but even free as in “free lunch.”

Gnome is the standard desktop graphical environment for many Linux distributions, including Fedora, the Linux distribution I’ve been using on my PC since February 2005. Another popular Linux desktop environment is KDE. Some people like it better than Gnome, because it looks a bit more like Windows®, but I found KDE buggy and unstable, at least it was 5 years ago, and stuck with Gnome. There are even more desktop environments besides these two.

The first screenshot shows my normal Gnome desktop using a top bar to show open applications, and a bottom toolbar showing the standard Gnome toolbar. The wallpaper contains a not so subliminal message.

By default the Gnome toolbars are on the opposite sides, but like to change them because it’s more what I was used to when I worked in Windows®. Click any of the pictures to see an enlargement.

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February 26th, 2010

Top Climate Official Resigns

On Feb. 18, 2010, Yvo de Boer, the UN’s top climate change official, said he will resign after nearly four years in the post.

A very interesting video clip with comments about de Boer’s resignation! Only 6 minutes long.

February 25th, 2010

Nattou - fermented soy beans

Nattou in the styrofoam package it comes in

Nattou in the styrofoam package it comes in

Recently I’ve been eating a traditional Japanese food called nattou nearly every day for lunch. Nattou is also known as “sticky beans. ” Click the photo to see why! Normally people eat it on top of rice, but I often eat it right out of the package with chopsticks after sprinkling on the soy sauce that comes with it. Nattou is very nutritious and good for health.

When I first ate nattou shortly after coming to Japan, I didn’t like it very much then, but I’ve grown fond of it over the years. It’s an acquired taste. I often ate nattou on the road in the early days because it’s the cheapest protein available.

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February 23rd, 2010

Second hitchhike adventure 2010

Hitomi, (single, 27 years old) who took me back home

Hitomi (27) who took me back home

Princess the little Shih Tsu dog I am temporally taking care of was taken to be shampooed, and this set me free from caring for her to do other things. It’s a beautiful sunny day in normally cloudy Niigata and so I just had to grab the opportunity to get out again, hitchhike and meet people.

The first driver was a man who appeared to be in his upper 60s, maybe lower 70s. He drove at least 10 kilometers out of his way to take me to a convenient location from where to continue my trip. I left him with an Activated Magazine.

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February 21st, 2010

Snowy winter in Japan

The photos below shows bamboo trees bent over with the tops stuck in the snow! The snow causes the trees to bend over till the top of the tree touches the snow on the ground. Further snow buries the top branches tying the top of the tree to the ground, and it will stay like that until enough snow on the ground melts, even though the original snow that bent the tree in the first place melts first like it did shown in the photos.

This winter of 2010 has the most snow I’ve seen in the Niigata area of Japan since moving here in January 2002. A couple days ago it snowed again, and the trees were covered with snow, but it melts in the daytime. Only at night the temperature will drop before freezing. In spite of the snow, I consider the winters in Niigata to be pretty mild compared to that Siberian like city in America where I grew up — Chicago. And to think that a few newspapers in the United Kingdom ten years ago ran a story that snow would be a thing of the past by the year 2010. Ha!

Bamboo stuck in snow

Princess

Princess

In the circle is my little Shih Tsu dog, Princess. She’s white hardly noticeable against the white background of snow.

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