Finally, there is a free software package that makes writing screenplays easy.

My brother lent me his PS3. I’m not sure why. But I do know I’ve already wasted several hours on it, first playing my old Ratchet and Clank games, then Resistance: Fall of Man, and Flow, and so on.

After I bored of the games (about an hour after turning it on), I decided to explore the home media functions of the PS3. The first thing I noticed was the menu item at the top of the media areas: “Search for Media Servers”.

Three hours later, and a lot of experimenting, I have discovered the wonders of serving up media.

My neighbor Jim is obsessed with vintage gasoline pumps. He collects them. He restores them. He named his dog Petro. He stores them in his garage, and under his carport. They are beautiful things, I must admit, all shiny and strangely elegant. And though he suffers from severe fibromyalgia, he spends much of his free time restoring rusted and neglected pumps to their original beauty.

I don’t know why he does it. Nobody claims he does it out of boredom, or that he’ll stop doing it because he isn’t getting paid. But I don’t know why he does it.

Neither do I know why I write free software. But I know it’s not from boredom.

MS-Windows can be a good operating system.

Okay, that’s probably overstating it. There is a nugget of good code in there, somewhere, the bit that Dave Cutler originally designed back around 1989. There’s been so much cruft added on, MS-Windows seems more like a large tank designed by committee; powered by a very fast, very solid, very small sports car engine; and painted a very soothing shade of blue. It’s not really pretty, and it’s not really fun, but it does move, mostly.

But, if you must use MS-Windows, there is a way to make it a tolerable operating system. Just make it more like GNU/Linux.

As much as I despise MS-Windows, I live in a world that requires at least a working knowledge of the Worst OS In The Universe (tm). From my earliest experiences with MS-Windows 3.0, I looked for ways to make my life bearable: from the Workplace Shell demonstrations to the registry hacks of today, I try to make MS-Windows very unlike MS-Windows.

We make many sacrifices in the name of employment. Giving up our soul to MS-Windows should not be among them. It should bow to our will, not the other way ’round.

Spicy food should cause chemical burns, or spontaneous human combustion. Your mouth should feel as if it’s tangled with an angry badger. Capillaries in your nose should burst. Your gut should sue for punitive damages. If not, your food just isn’t spicy enough.

At least, that’s how I feel. So, when I say things like, “Here, try some of these mild command-line recipes; they’re really quite tasty”, you might keep that in mind. One man’s “mild” is another man’s, “I think you’ve poisoned me”.

If you are ready, settle in, dish up, and keep a nice lager handy. You’ll probably need it before we’re done.

I love the command line. If the command line were a dog, it would be a hard-headed labrador: big and somewhat intimidating, but really kind of even-tempered and friendly once she gets to know you.

I just compared the command line to my dog Roscoe. I love them both, and they both frustrate me.

I can’t do much with Roscoe, but I can help out a bit with the command line. And so allow me to introduce four of my favorite utilities: df, du, file, and find.

You never forget your first.

Whether it’s your first car, or your first significant other, or your first day of college, they say you never forget your first. That’s not always true, of course, but I do remember my first: Softlanding Linux Systems, one of the earliest GNU/Linux distributions, and progenitor of the Slackware distribution. It came on a few dozen floppy images, and took forever to install.

Jump into the Astonishing GNU/Linux Time Machine, and via the magic of qemu and iBiblio, you too can experience the earliest days of GNU/Linux. It’ll only take an hour. I’ll have you back by supper.

I am lurking on the OpenMokomailing lists. This is an educational experience for me. Although Ihave participated in many heated discussions concerning Free software, I have never watched such a high-profile full-fledgedFree software project start from the ground up.

It’s fascinating watching different sorts of geeks interact.

You know what I’d like to see? I’d like the various Free software groups (whether they use “open source” or “free software” doesn’t matter) get together to produce the greatest educational tool the world has ever seen:

A website dedicated to Free / Open Source code. Not programs. Code.

I recently re-read David Brin’s essay, “Why Johnny Can’t Code”. He posits an interesting idea, one I’ve had for a while—we are raising a generation of techno-illiterates through our focus on high-level languages, rather than on the simple languages like BASIC, on which many of us cut our geekteeth.

What I observed had nothing to do with programming, and everything to do with Mr. Brin’s approach to computers. His point may be valid, but his sight is limited by his own understandable ignorance.

He forgot there are other options.

The shelves of my local bookstore are crammed with hundreds of computer titles, meters of space dedicated to titles such as, “Get Your MCSE In Three Days”, and, “Microsoft Exchange Explained”, and, “The Moron’s Guide To MS-Windows XP”.

I’ve noticed a dearth of free software titles. It’s a shame.

There are some scientists who believe the universe may be a largequantum computer. I follow this thought into the dark places, andI realize it implies we are nothing but information, as AntonZelinger believes.

This doesn’t bode well for modern artificial intelligenceresearch.

Apple’s big announcement yesterday was the long-anticipated iPhone, an Apple-designed PDA with GSM capabilities. Granted, many modern phones these days are PDAs with GSM, and Apple’s entry is very, very beautiful. It sports a large touchscreen, a lot of memory (with both 4G and 8G models), and that patented (literally) Apple touch.

While following the announcement, though, I had a feeling of deja vu all over again. Something about the description of the iPhone was strangely familiar.

Welcome, 2007!

The fresh scent of hope and useless prognostication is in theair. Journalists and bloggers all over the world are cranking outtop-ten lists of the best of 2006, and the most likely or mostoutlandish predictions for 2007. Will this be the year of the flyingcar? Secure MS-Windows? Duke Nuke’em Forever? One can hope!

Since my first exposure to an Apple ][ in sixth grade, I haveinteracted with computers primarily through a text-basedinterface. From my first `PR#6’ command to this little journal entry(I tend to use Emacs for writing), I eschew fancy heavy-weightprograms in favor of the simplest program possible. (I know, I said Iuse Emacs. Within that contradiction is the essence of simplecomplexity. Substitute vi if you wish.)

In the summer of 1947, President Harry S. Truman ordered formed asecret organization of military personnel, scientists, and members ofgovernment. A reaction to the Roswell UFO crash in July of that year,Majestic 12 (or Majic 12) was given the task of investigating andcovering up other UFO activity in the ensuing years. Since then, theyhave operated as a black-ops group within the government, one of manyUS government organizations that are secretly funded each budgetcycle.

I’ve been re-reading The Third Wave, by Alvin Toffler. Though first published over twenty years ago, there’s still some serious predictive mojo left in that book. The basic concept is this: there have been two previous “waves” of civilization. The first was the agricultural wave, which spread across the world over the course of several thousand years. About three hundred years ago, the second wave of civilization began—the industrial revolution. Now we are in the middle of the next wave, the information revolution.

I have always been a fan of fringe operating systems.

Between 1989 and 1992, I learned and used VMS, OS/2 2.0, NeXTStep on those beautiful cubes, GeoWorks, AmigaOS, and probably half-a-dozen others that I don’t recall at the moment. I loved the diversity, the differences, the similarities. Booting an unfamiliar operating system for the first time always gave me a rush of geeky machismo, usually accompanied by the irresistible urge to grow a thick mustache and learn to fence with a saber.

Perhaps it’s a sickness peculiar to geeks. Or maybe it’s just me.

In 1982, I attended computer camp.

I know, this sounds like a “One time, at band camp…” story, but it’s not. This was computer camp. It took place at the little-known Eastern Oregon State College, and it was the first year EOSC offered computer camp.

Growing up in Thorne Bay, Alaska, I realized I was odd. In sixth grade, the school district sent out an Apple ][. While others played Star Wars or Space Invaders, I studied Applesoft Basic. While others learned how to master Aztec, I delved into the mysteries of the Sweet16 assembler. When my mom told me her college was offering a whole month of computer studies for high school geeks like me, I couldn’t wait.