A new version of Debian stable has been released! My firewall machine, entropy, is currently running the “old” Debian stable (etch). Sometime soon I’ll update to the new stable release, Debian 5.0 Lenny. Just for reference, here is how I will update: edit /etc/apt/sources.list, change all occurrences of etch to lenny, then run these commands as root: aptitude update aptitude install apt dpkg aptitude aptitude full-upgrade when it is done, then I’ll have to reboot to start using the new kernel.

Purchased via Citroenpers. This pen had a rough ride from the Netherlands to me. It took nearly a month! The plastic case the pen was shipped in was cracked in several places, but the pen itself was unscarred. There was some condensation inside the barrel, so I took the nib off and it dried out over night. Then I was finally able to ink up and write with it. Nice writing experience.

I’ve been looking for some programs to restore functionality I lost when I left kde 3.5. glipper is an ok clipboard history application. although each entry only gets 99 characters. liferea is almost as good an RSS Reader as akregator-kde3 (and MUCH better than akregator-kde4). evolution is a mixed bag. it’s great for contacts, calendars, and imap, but LDAP won’t work, so no corporate address book, which is going to be a problem.

the first one I tried, liferea, has most of the good points from the kde 3.5 akregator: feeds with unread articles stand out with bold text, and the number of unread articles is tucked up next to the title. if there are no unread articles, there is no number. simple yet effective and readable at a glance.

I can’t believe I’m typing this. I’m logged in with gnome as my desktop. I’m going to use it on all my computers for the next few days or a week and see how it goes. KDE4 bothers me this much. KDE4 keeps getting better, but I believe it will take at least another year to reach the polish of KDE 3.5. and I’m finding that in ubuntu, gnome is actually MORE polished than my beloved KDE 3.

good fountain pen for $20.

I put Waterman cartridges in this pen. Once the current cartridge is empty, I’ll be cleaning the pen thoroughly and packing it away, probably never to write with it again. (I’m now spoiled by my Pilot Vanishing Point.) The wood is bocote from Central America. You can mostly read the labelling in the large pictures. The nib reads “IRRIDIUM POINT GERMANY” on the front, and “6” on the back.

Considering I think I got it for about $8, this is a good fountain pen.

Let me start off by saying that CVS and Subversion are both outdated systems that no one in their right mind should use for a new project. (If you are starting a new project, I would recommend managing your source code with Mercurial). Unfortunately, I have in the past been forced to use CVS, and I am now forced to use Subversion. I had hoped that Subversion would truly be an upgrade over CVS, since Subversion promises merge tracking.

Shots without the flash, and a longer exposure. the color shows through much better.