I’m writing this from a brand-new installation of Kubuntu 9.10. This is the third time since I bought this netbook earlier this year that I’ve reinstalled Linux. I seem to be pretty good at blowing up operating systems.
I really liked (K)Ubuntu 9.04. It worked, it was nice looking, and hey, free is good. I learned enough about bash (the command-line terminal) and sudo to make myself dangerous, and the forums would help me out when I inevitably got in trouble. I’m still a Windows guy, and was very excited about Windows 7, but I don’t currently have enough licenses to put it on this computer. I installed the Win7 release candidate, but didn’t really play with it that much, as I am learning the Drupal content management system and playing with it on Linux. So I decided, since there wasn’t much on this machine anyway, I’d do an in-place upgrade from 9.04 to 9.10.

It seemed to go easily enough, with only a few simple questions. Since they were so simple, I didn’t pay enough attention to the boot menu choices. I was dual-booting with Windows, so I told the installation program to keep my current settings. The install continued, and at reboot time…

Problems.

There was no option for 9.10. I selected the default 9.04 and it booted normally. Except, the touchpad (mouse) wasn’t functioning. Our friendly Google search revealed I should rebuild my xorg.conf file, so off to the command line I went (sudo dpkg reconfigure xserver-xorg). Then, when that didn’t work, they said to edit the xorg.conf file to manually include the touchpad. Then I found out that xorg.conf isn’t really used in this way anymore, and everything’s done with something called HAL, shades of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

So I have to find out where HAL is, gain permission to access it, then hack the file to find out that didn’t work, either. This is when I went into pseudo-panic mode, typing anything into the command-line Terminal I found that seemed related. I only succeeded in facing the infamous “Checking Battery State…” bug, or issue, so now I was staring in the face of a command line, not able to get into the Kubuntu shell. The problem is, there’s almost too much information out there. I decided at some point that this fight was not worth my time, so I attempted to back everything off the machine and clean install Kubuntu 9.10. That’s where I ended up this morning.

Of course, the Kubuntu Live CD, installed on a USB flash drive, sets itself to read-only, so I couldn’t copy the files I needed to my USB drive. I had to wait to get home last night (because, being offline, the propietary wireless network card drivers trying to install completely froze the machine), connect directly to my router to install the network drivers, and then copy everything to one of my home PCs. Thankfully, there’s really only one folder structure you need to back up – the Home/username folder. The Samba networking client works really well out of the box; transferring files was quite quick. Chalk another one up to home networking.

I really like Linux. I just can’t see myself using it daily, as the Gimp is not Photoshop and Inkscape is far from Illustrator, and at this point there’s no complement to Adobe Framemaker, which I use for my job. Until the command-line Terminal goes away completely, Linux won’t be ready for the mainstream: people who use Internet Explorer, are afraid to edit their Start menu, and have no idea what Windows Explorer is. Kubuntu 9.10 seems to hide the command line, and you will always find people who maintain that you don’t need the command line, ever. But when problems occur, and problems always occur, the command line and config files are still the primary option. So I think this time I am going to avoid Terminal as much as possible, and look at Kubuntu from the GUI only. I’ll let you know how it works out next time I format my machine.

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So we went to a Halloween party this past Saturday night. We were misled into thinking that the host rented a hall, instead of merely frequenting it, with its in-wall taps of Bud and Coors Light and walking proximity to the host’s home. So, our evening was shared with The Older Folks Who Frequent These Types of Organizations. However, some good friends were there, some who had moved back into the area, and even though it’s Bud, it still gives you a buzz.

There was another couple our age there, the Wife with whom I went to high school. However, she being the Cheerleader and me being in the Band, our paths never crossed, and I didn’t even know she went to my high school reunion just two weeks ago.

In her attempt at small talk, she opened with “So how are you, Ed?” and then went into a huge diatribe about Her Kids. Her 10 and 11 year old kids, the older of whom is a Nerd because he gets straight A’s and then they go and do this and this and this and isn’t that funny, Ed? And of course, Husband is right there chiming in with his version of the stories, and recalling different details than Wife is. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Great fucking times. Chalk another up in my list of reasons I’m not having kids.

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A friend contacted me on Facebook to ask if I knew any web site designers for her sister’s newly-opened store. I replied with this, which is probably way more than she asked for. Then I realized I could repurpose the content. I think they’re good tips for anyone looking to find someone to create and maintain their web site.

• Depending on your business, there could be niche designers. I know there are designers who work solely with race car drivers and teams, or restaurants, so that may be something to look into.
• Before you talk or meet with anyone, find some of your competition’s sites, see what features they have, list what you like and dislike. Do the same thing with sites you visit regularly. Ask yourself if you are one of those people who hated Facebook’s re-redesign. Why? Why not?
• Don’t walk into any conversation with “I’m not really tech-y, but…”. You’re already giving them the upper hand.
• “Web 2.0″ doesn’t mean all that much.
• Make sure they respond to emails within a reasonable amount of time, especially if it’s the only way you communicate.
• Don’t trust anyone who tells you they can get your site in the top 10 on google. Don’t listen to anyone who is a search engine optimization (SEO) expert. SEO simply doesn’t work, and in some cases will get you worse results than if you haven’t done anything.
• Make sure you see an online portfolio, and that you like what you see.
• Navigation and search are extraordinarily important; make sure they work on the sites in their portfolio you visit, and are logical.
• Don’t use the lowest bidder, but don’t necessarily use the highest either. Pay for experience.
• In this economy, tons of designers are looking for work. Make sure you like them and are someone with whom you can see yourself having a long working relationship.
• Give them as much clean, grammatically correct text as you can. Remember, designers generally aren’t writers or editors. They take what they’re given and put it on the page.
• Make sure you give value back to the customer. Maybe start a blog about your sister’s area of expertise, and make sure it’s updated regularly.
• Keep the site fresh, too; just like with a designer, you want to start a long relationship with the people who visit your site. You can’t make it look like no one’s minding the virtual store, or no one will come back to check after awhile.
• Listen to people who talk about content management, content management systems, or CMS. If they use words like Drupal, Joomla, or WordPress (all great CMS), make sure they explain it to you. Ask questions.
• And remember – it’s not just a page anymore. You can’t just slip some nice graphics on a page and a little bit of vague sales-y text. We call that ‘brochureware’. It’s a site.

In 1998, I was diagnosed with late-stage Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a form of cancer. The original course of treatment was supposed to be chemotherapy, followed by radiation; both are standard cancer treatments. However, it was determined by doctors after the chemo that the tumor on my lung didn’t shrink enough for radiation to be effective.

Great.

Thankfully, my oncologist sent me to Hackensack University Medical Center to see if I could take part in a relatively new form of treatment for 1999: the stem cell transplant. The doctors there concluded that an autologous stem cell transplant was my best bet for survival (this while I’m only 28 years old), so plans went forward. Of course, as an experimental treatment, it had to be approved by my employer-provided health insurance.

The process for the stem cell transplant required me to be hospitalized for several days while I was given high-dose chemotherapy. “Day Zero” was the day on which the stem cells are re-introduced, and then they keep you until your blood counts rise to a certain level, because the chemo essentially wipes out your immune system. (Please do not consider this a complete view of the process, since it’s been 10 years since I had it.)

On Day Zero, you literally have no immune system (post-transplant, i had to get all of my baby immunizations again… hmm, wonder if one of those vaccines gave me mental retardation… ). Since hospitals are germ-laden, the hospital typically moves patients after Day Zero to a floor in a nearby hotel kept specifically for these kind of procedures.

My insurance provider at the time, Guardian, thankfully approved the overall procedure. However, they refused to allow me to be transferred to the hotel after Day Zero. They refused, depsite the fact that putting me up in the hotel was cheaper, and better for me personally, as the risk of infection in the hospital was pretty high.

Thankfully, 10 years later I’m still here, but it goes to show that the insurance companies aren’t terribly efficient, and don’t necessarily put the patient’s health above all else.

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I’m leaving work last Thursday, walking towards the New York Stock Exchange, home to unbridled optimism and beaming stock brokers, fat on profits taxpayers’ bailout money. What do I see? A bee. But not just any bee. Samantha Bee, senior correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where liberals go for all of their unbiased, comedy-ridden news. And she’s dressed as a bumble bee, with $100 bills for wings.

And that’s why, despite the weight of a DSLR, I always carry my camera with me.

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