Off-Hook

And just like that, Unkymoods is back on the air!

And, as you can see, I’m simply

Anyways– I really like the little icon and even when I have nothing to blog, I will at least take the time to change my mood. Anyone who knows me knows I change moods quite regularly, so I usually update my blog to show my general mood (as opposed to my more specific mood, which tends to change by the hour).

I have more reason than that to be happy, though. My Uncle Sonny passed away recently. I was a pall-bearer at his funeral. It was truly an honor. It may have been the best funeral service I have ever been to. My uncle’s relatives and friends filled the funeral sanctuary past capacity. Many were standing just outside. The service included many examples of my uncle’s dedication to God and family. The service ended with us all singing, according to my uncle’s wishes, his favorite hymn, if it counts as an actual hymn. I don’t even know what the real name of it is. Picture, though, if you will, at least 400 people singing “I’ve got that joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart…” I could practically feel my uncle beaming down on us, hoping that in our mourning, we might take a moment to appreciate where he is, and what it will be like when we see him again. At the graveside service, a friend of my uncle’s (a genuine Scottish piper) played “Amazing Grace” in the traditional style on the bagpipes. There was mourning, to be sure, but there was also a sense of contentment in the knowledge that Uncle Sonny was now joyfully greeting our Savior in a place much more wonderful than this where there is no pain and no tears. I so look forward to seeing him again!

I’m also looking forward to seeing my dear friends in New York again (or should I say New Jersey?). They’ve just moved to a wonderful new apartment in Jersey City overlooking Manhattan. They still work in New York, of course, and I still consider them “New-Yorkers,” but the difference between where they live now and where they have been living in Manhattan is AMAZING! I simply can’t wait to visit…

And, of course I still miss my dear friends in Little Rock, as well… but our mutual friends, the rest of the commune, are still here in Monroe and we still keep the commune going along with the rest over the distance. The travel has actually proven to make things more fun. Sure, I miss not seeing them every day, but it’s true that absence makes the heart grow fonder and I love a good road trip!

Anyways– I thought it was past time I posted about something other than geek-updates. I’ll be back later with updates about Ubuntu Linux, sweet low-cost hardware, free software, and my ongoing fear and loathing of java.

I haven’t got much further on my computer construction. Only a new power supply, but a very, very nice one. I am still considering debian over Ubuntu for the next box, but lately, due to the vast improvements noticeable in the “hoary” dist of Ubuntu, I’m leaning back towards my old friend, Ubuntu again. The construction may be going slow, but it hasn’t yet stopped. Next– the motherboard. I’m still dead-set on Albatron, who makes an AWESOME mobo for an Athlon 64 cpu.

My blog will look a bit different… Unkymoods appears to be dead. The admin/owner was having bandwidth issues the last time I could access his site. He appears to have given up. A shame. He was an extremely talented artist and the unkymoods script was a must-have for any blog. I’ll miss it. I’ll keep an eye out for it, though– In case he makes a come-back.

Ran into some interesting software for accessing MySQL lately called Navicat. Navicat offers ports of their software for Windows, Linux and Mac. The Windows version is excellent, but the Linux version kinda sucks (at least it does for debian/ubuntu). It appears that the Linux version was written exclusively for Red Hat. I used alien to convert it to a debian package, then dpkg to install. Works ok, but not as well as MySQL Query Browser, which I highly recommend for Linux users.

Well, Since I’m finally getting around to updating my blog and junk…

I had a great new year celebration. No fireworks… no resolutions… no predictions… Just a road trip, good friends, great food, some shopping and an excellent message Sunday morning.

We went to Little Rock, AR to visit friends (or family– same difference in this case).

We had a GREAT time! We visited Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas and hiked down a cliff into a beautiful valley with a stream making small falls all the way down. At the bottom, we took off towards Cedar Creek Falls (below). All along the trail were picturesque views from the towering cliffs to the beautiful stream. Mix with a 6-year-old and 2 more couples of great friends and you have a guaranteed recipe for fun and memories!

If you’re ever within distance of this park, I HIGHLY recommend exploring!

We also got to eat at Tia’s. I’ve been aching to eat there again ever since the last time we went to visit and I ordered chicken. It was suggested I try the steak fajitas, but I went with what I know, and I know I like chicken. I did try my friend’s steak fajita, though. This time, I went with a purpose, and if you ever find yourself looking at a Tia’s menu, JUST ORDER THE STEAK FAJITAS! They really are awesome!

I’ve decided since coming home to change my name to “evil jj.” Yes– There are 2 of me out there, and my dear friend had the good fortune of marrying “good jj.” Anyways, it’s always comforting to know that there’s someone else out there that’s so easy to relate to on a personality level. Now if we can just figure out how to get everyone ELSE to understand us…

Anyways, Every time I see them, I’m reminded how much I miss them. However, the road trip IS fun… and I just love Little Rock. It seems to take too long between visits, but you know how life goes. Fortunately, God never runs out of time-outs, but you never know when He’s gonna call one, so you just gotta make the most of ‘em when they happen!

And for tradition’s sake, here’s my prediction for the new year: Lots of things will change, as they must and always do, and lots of things will grow. I intend to experience both.

Now after a few weeks on Ubuntu, I’ve become even more enamored of Debian. Ubuntu is an easy-to-install flavor of Debian. Ubuntu offers an interesting commitment. There is always a new, stable release of Ubuntu every 6 months. The current release is “Warty” and the next will be “Hoary.” Ubuntu offers an excellent gnome desktop. Current predictions of the final release of Hoary contend that both kde and gnome will be offered.

I have run into one problem regarding Ubuntu, and that is its limited repositories. Due to the nature of its stability, it is unwise to upgrade any of the packaged apps using debian repositories… Oh sure, some of the apps non-essential to the gui or networking can be upgraded using a deb repository, but I have first-hand experience about the disaster that can happen if you try to upgrade gnome or networking tools. I had to re-install. Lesson learned, though, and I’m more careful now about how I use debian repositories on Ubuntu.

Basically, if you wish to stay current and update apps in real-time, and you like Ubuntu, you’d probably like Debian equally– Especially if you’re looking for a nice, full-featured, easy-to-update OS for your 64-bit box. However, If you like a nice, neat, stable OS and don’t venture far outside of packaged apps, Ubuntu would be the wiser choice. I’ve decided Ubuntu will stay on my admin box and will most likely be on my new 64-bit home box, though possibly with kde (kubuntu) instead of gnome. Nothing against gnome, but there’s a few apps unique to kde that I’m looking forward to checking out, and I’d like to explore similarities/differences in desktop customization. I’ve experimented with kde in the past and, until recent updates in gnome, preferred it. Now I’m more experienced in gnome, so I’ll be looking forward to a fresh start with kde.

The bottom-line is that both Ubuntu and Debian utilize the best application in Linux, apt-get. Once you’ve tried apt-get, it’s near impossible to go back to traditional linux software installation and updating. If you must have apt-get, you must have Debian or Ubuntu.