New Toys!

I have been ill all weekend.

YUCK!

In fact, I was so drained from the weekend that I stayed home from work today to rest and recover from sleeping all weekend! :-) It sounds like a scam but I don't think it is at all. I'm tired. I knew I would not be able to concentrate at my usual levels, so going to work would have been a waste of everyone's time and energy.

I also thought I could use the time to work on the project I'm working on for Linux.com (more about that later). I sat down and started pounding on emacs and finally the screen on my venerable HP zv6000 finally died. The hinge(s?) has been broken for several months now and the laptop has needed a brace (like a wall) to keep the screen up. I tried giving the laptop some viagra, but it just can't keep it up anymore. Sadly, the screen was otherwise fine. But, the lose hinge(s) have been wearing at the connecting cable and recently the screen developed a dead-space line in the middle of the screen. I called HP to see what it would cost me to buy the parts to repair the machine. The hinge kit was ~$80.00 US.

Ouch! This is a ~4 year old machine! Instead I chose to buy a brand new 19" LG-flatscreen monitor. It's purty. It cost me $215 w/ tax. I'm going to buy myself a new desktop system for my birthday, and now I won't need to buy a screen for it! I also bought a MS ergonomic keyboard. It's a strange world where the only ergonomic keyboard in the store is "made" by a company known for it's crappy software. Ironically, they make wonderful hardware. Maybe Bill and ilk missed their true calling! Unlike most of the other keyboards, this is NOT a battery powered keyboard. It actually plugs in to the computer, so I don't have to worry about my battery fading on me when I'm on deadline. And, I have to say that it feels groovy on my wrists.

Well, I should get back to the project that I'm getting paid for and write some more about this later, butI though I would mention that Ubuntu was able to locate and use BOTH new peripherals WITHOUT needing any new drivers. However, setting up the screen would have been intimidating for a new user. I had to go CLI on it, and force Ubuntu to reconfigure my xserver, and I'll admit that my log in screen is still kinda creepy looking.

Oh well. I'll get these things all working one of these days!