Oh man, am I ever glad that I’m doing those really stupid beginner projects. Stuff that looks like it would be super easy to do (and probably is for an experienced woodworker) takes me forever to figure out, and then I still get things wrong. Right now, I’m working on a simple SIMPLE simple box….
Author: bkjones
Blow away your disk partitions? Maybe not!
I did something kind of dopy today in my pre-coffee hours. Luckily, my officemate helped me find some clarity in dealing with a bit of a dodgy issue: partition tables. Operating systems like Linux keep track of where different partitions start on your drive by placing “super blocks” at the beginning of each partition that…
Woodworking Lessons 2: Table saw safety is in the details
I have a rather large, hulking, bulky, heavy table saw. It’s one that real men generally like to have, because it’s big, and it’s heavy, and it cuts stuff. However, cutting safely on a table saw apparently is a more detailed operation than I thought. I had a problem where every time I’d rip a…
Woodworking Lessons 1: A matter of trust
I decided to start a little series based on the lessons I’m learning in woodworking. I’m a total newbie, but if I can help other newbies, hey, I’m all for it. So here’s the conclusion I’ve come to after doing just a couple of small projects: it’s all just a matter of trust. It seems…
All Linux Desktop Environments Suck…
….Some just look better doing it. Honestly, I’m at the point where I don’t even care what desktop environment I use. I use fluxbox at work (mostly), KDE on one machine at home, and GNOME on my laptop. They all suck to some degree, so choice of desktop, if you plan on sticking to just…
Woodworking 101
In the world of computer programming, there’s a sort of tradition which dictates that the first program you ever write in a new language does nothing but print out “Hello World!”. Usually, the program can be written in seconds, in only a couple of lines of code. Even this small a program is encouraging to…
Flock looks sweeeeeeet
Instead of firing up firefox, going to blogger.com, logging in, choosing “create new post” and all that stuff, I thought I give this new thing a try that I’ve been hearing about. It’s called “Flock”, and it really just makes a whole crapload of sense if you live half your life in the digital realm….
Degree Status
I went to speak to my advisor at the community college where I’m pursuing an associates degree in computer science. Some good news came out of this meeting: 1. Two humanities classes transferred from the classes I took in, like, 1992. Together with the two that I’ve taken recently (this past summer), the entire humanities…
I stand corrected
Well, you’re never too old to become even more geeky. I was informed yesterday by coworkers that my 32nd birthday is, indeed, significant, because it will take another 32 years before I am again at an age that is a power of 2. Another email said “Happy 2x2x2x2x2nd birthday”. For my non-geek family members, most…
I Turn 32 Today
It’s my 32nd birthday today. I had a great weekend with family and friends, but it’s time to get back to work. I did no work whatsoever all weekend, but I actually have a lot of it to do. Not only at the office, but at home as well. Our trees are just about bare…