Author: Jason 'vanRijn' Kasper

Just wanted to post an update to my rant yesterday about getting cursors working, etc. I was up until 2 in the morning last night, wracking my brains about how to get a simple drop-shadow to work in perlmagick (ImageMagick-perl interface). Very grumpy this morning as a result and feeling in general rather bad. And the worst of it was that I couldn’t figure it out. ImageMagick is probably the most confusing and simultaneously powerful interface that I’ve yet come across. Anyway, at the end of it, instead of trying to get the perl modules to do what I wanted it to, I’ve cheated and used a system() call from the perl script to get the job done. And it Read more…

Meant to put this up yesterday, but I got distracted, etc…. Welcome to WordPress, Mike!! =:) It looks good on ya. =:)

Okay, how hard can it really be, honestly, to figure out how to get X to change its cursor without having to restart KDE/gnome/etc.? We’re in the stone ages, folks, when the our little user (me, at the moment) has to log out and log in again from his desktop environment to be able to affect changes to his/her mouse cursor. It sure feels like the dreaded Windoze answer of “reboot whenever possible”. Anyone know, is xorg planning anything to help this silliness? Maybe KDE 3.4? Heck, I’d settle for an explanation of what program is at fault here. Also, I’m tired of having to hunt and search for decent CursorXP cursors, then run a home-made script which runs sd2xc.pl Read more…

So, I’ve discovered BloGTK just now, and this post here will be the maiden voyage of said tool in combination with my WordPress blog…. (looks pretty good thus far!!! =:) ) In other news, I found a very interesting blog today from which I’ll quote… One of the joys of running Linux is that all the Windows problems – spyware, virii, worms, zombies, etc – don’t apply. There’s a flip side to this: when something goes wrong, it’s a private hell because you can’t just take your desktop to a shop. Heh. That’s a pretty profound couple of sentences, really. I think that’s why some of my good friends have abandoned Linux. To clarify, I think that when you no Read more…

sudo rpm -e openoffice.org-i18n Good grief. Also, I cannot begin to tell you how frustrating it is to play the disk space shell game every couple of months and try to free up space here and there so that I can compile a new kernel. DANG I need a laptop hard drive that’s bigger than 30 megs!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas, all!! =:) I have had a wonderful time with my family for the last several days, and am not at all looking forward to going back to the grind. Among other things, my beautiful kids and bride gave me a XXL Old Navy fleece hoodie (VERY warm and snuggly!!), and the new Tobymac CD (also VERY good and snuggly). OH–also, I got a cool little iced-tea maker!! We’ve probably gone through about 8 pitchers of home-made peach iced tea in the last couple of days. =:) So, here’s wishing you and yours a very blessed time with your family. Here’s to hoping you have/take the time to enjoy your family and friends. Here’s wishing Mike and Liz a Read more…

I just saw this $498 linux laptop the other day and thought I’d mention it. That’s a pretty danged inexpensive laptop. =:) All that, and without Bill!! =:)

At some point, in the most probably distant future, someone will stumble upon these ramblings and wonder what sort of maniac would leave such entries as these, mine. But for the present, as my readership exists solely of myself and Opera’s refresh button, I shall conclude my Chronicles of Riddick(ulous) : The Quest for One Good Camera. That is to say that I hope this is the conclusion of said Chronicle, because I have invested enough of my time on this planet on it already. The Kodak DX7440, combined with a free 256M PNY SD card, and a $20 coupon at my local Staples has declared itself as the most eligible bachelor. Thus far, I am very impressed with the Read more…

I have learned today that, despite what you might think, using an aluminum propane camping grill is not a good option for disposing of a large stack of paper. What you will find is that: – there is a LOT of smoke from said approach and your neighbors might be seen peering from afar at you – you will severely warp the grill of said camping grill – your clothes will smell like smoke and your teenage daughter and wife will complain that you stink – you will have an appreciable mess to clean up from all of the half-burnt paper and ashes, which don’t simply disappear on their own – you won’t actually be able to burn all of Read more…

Maybe I’m just feeling melancholy today. Maybe I’m just frustrated by having invested literally more than a dozen hours into researching what the best digital camera would be for my family, and still don’t know which one to get or where to get it from. Maybe I’m burnt out from work-without-vacation-days-off for quite a while. Maybe I’m just tired from not having slept consistently or well for a while. Maybe I’m frustrated by my career path. Maybe I’m suffering paralysis from prosumer over-analysis of the available camera choices. Maybe I’m dreading going out into the mad sea of almost-Christmas consumerism, cringing from the very thought of the fighting with traffic, unavailable items, checkout lines, ad nauseum. Maybe I’m frustrated at Read more…