The World of Stuff .com

Us and them

It’s still spring break, believe it or not, and boy, do I need this break. I think everybody should get breaks like this; not just students. Well, actually, working people have things called “vacations,” but they don’t really get enough of those. And the result is that they hate their job and yet they have to keep doing it if they don’t want to risk being unemployed for who knows how long and hoping that they can actually get a job that pays better.

A few months ago or whenever it was, the University of Florida beat Ohio State University in the football championship. Now they’re at it again, but with basketball. So everybody (well, not everybody) is asking me if I’m going to be watching the big game. After all, UF is my future alma mater, so I have to support my future team, they say. So, am I going to watch? Hint: it’s on right now, and I’m writing a blog post.

I don’t care about sports. Depending on my mood, I might even say that I don’t like sports. I really don’t see any redeeming value in them other than giving people with muscles something to do. They’re a big waste of money — have you seen how much athletes get paid? — and they just create more walls for us to put between ourselves. Fans heckle and boo each other; they hiss and spit and cuss and fight. And who knows which is which and who is who? If you like Ohio State, is there any reason I should boast about the Gators to you if they win? Is there any reason for you to do the same to me if your team wins? No. It doesn’t mean anything. Allegiance to a particular sports team doesn’t make anyone a better or worse person, so there’s no sense in acting as if it does. I understand that not all sports fans are positively rabid, but if you plaster your car with your favorite team’s paraphernalia, how are you not saying “Look at me, I’m better than you”?

Of course, you are free to debate this point, and you may do so if you like. That’s the great thing about this World of Stuff of ours.

I’ve been using Ubuntu happily for about six weeks now, and I’ve been happy with the things I can do with it. The things I can’t do are generally limited to my lack of expertise (my friend Luke had to explain to me how to get out of less) and by the physical limitations of this computer. Most notably, this computer doesn’t have a printer hooked up. Luckily, I haven’t really had to print anything for any of my classes this semester (programming, physics, and calculus), so it hasn’t been much of an issue, but I’d like to know that I can print from Ubuntu if I need to.

That’s where my other computer comes in. It runs Windows XP, and there’s this network thingy between them so that they have the same DSL router or whatever. After searching the web quite a bit (and that’s what you do if you want help with most Linux distributions without having to pay for anything), I found out how to print from Ubuntu to Windows XP on a local network. I followed the directions there, and everything worked. However, there were a few quirks in the process that I thought I should explain for those who will be using that guide in the future. Copied directly from my response to the post, here they are.

So now I can print from Ubuntu. It was actually very easy to do because it recognizes most printers. After setting up the printer, the only snag I hit was in the Gimp, where printing is configured separately. To set up an existing printer in the Gimp, all you really have to do is select the model of the printer, and you should be good to go. Actually, I think there was a little more to it than that, but it wasn’t hard to figure out after going through the process of setting it up with the OS.

Apparently it’s possible to get some Super-Close Google Maps Zooms. We’re talking privacy-breachingly close here — in some cases, at least. Have a look for yourself. (And just think: if private satellites can zoom in this close, imagine what secret government technology can do…)