Incotro?

Claudiu | 28 Martie 2006 | 83240.03 | Tags: , | 1 Comentariu 

Stanislaw Lem ne-a parasit. La fel a facut-o si Asimov, cu ceva timp in urma. Nu pot sa nu ma gandesc ca nu va mai ura mult pana cand si Arthtur C. Clarke ii va urma. Care a fost ultima carte SF (buna) citita? Nu-i asa ca a fost scrisa inainte de anii ’80? Oameni buni, tocmai mi-am dat seama de ceva ce Cristian Tudor Popescu a mirosit in urma cu 17 ani: SF-ul este pe moarte. Nu mai exista SF contemporan bun. Marile opere, Dune, Ciberiada, Odiseea Spatiala, Fundatia (Imperiul, Robotii), unversurile intrepatrunse a lui k. Dick, toate acestea au fost scrise demult si pana in prezent nu au fost egalate. Alamnahul Anticipatia nu mai exista nu pentru ca nu se mai cumpara, asa cum ne place sa ne lamentam, ci pentru ca nu mai are ce publica. Aselenizarea a avut loc in 1969 si impactul ei a dus la moartea lenta a SF-ului. Abia acum resimt unda de soc, originara de acum aproape 40 de ani. Am visat sa ajungem pe Luna si am ajuns. A fost un vis care ne-a intains pana la limitele noastre umane, dar am pus piciorul pe luna (si orice sustinator al teoriilor conspiratiei sa se abtina) si o data cu asta, visele noastre s-au spulberat si ne-am trezit la realitate. Marte e prea departe, Alfa Centauri si mai departe. Motoarele cu antimaterie au ramas o idee SF prafuita, vesnicul raspuns: nu sunt bani. Insa cand te gandesti ca Apollo 11 si Eagle au fost comandate de niste calculatoare a caror viteza si putere este astazi depasita de calculetele pe care le avem in buzunar, si cand te gandesti la cate un B2, iti dai seama ca sunt bani, insa prioritatile sunt altele. Credeam ca moartea Columbiei va schimba lucrurile. M-am inselat. Nu mai vrem sa visam, ne-am saturat de vise, vrem realitate, vrem conflicte, ne place razboiul. Nave spatiale, astronauti… Pentru unii acesta nu mai este viitorul, ci trecutul, adica tocmai acei ani 60.
Am deviat. De ce nu mai avem SF? Pentru ca nu mai stim sa visam. Suntem self-suficienti. Copii se multumesc cu o partida de Counterstrike, tinerii cu un join si o bere, adultii cu un meci, pe un ecran cat mai mare, batranii cu 500 de lei castigati la o alimentara mai ieftina. Ne minunam din cand in cand atunci cand o bomba mai explodeaza intr-un colt al lumii din ce in ce mai aproape, ne culcam si ne trezim la fel, avem un somn fara vise, doar cu franturi de realitate
Si totusi… intr-un colt al sistemului solar s-a descoperit apa. Doi robotei se tarasc in desertul martian si refuza sa moara. Poate, candva, vom fi din nou dornici sa visam. Poate, candva, viitorul va fi ce a fost o data.

Go Slack Go

Claudiu | 27 Martie 2006 | 83236.59 | Tags: , | Comentează 

Un hard de WD 250G merita un sistem de operare pe masura. Adica Slackware. Am instalat repede si Xp-ul, just in case, si mai mult ca sa imi scrie MBR-ul si sa mi-l lase in pace, nici macar nu mi-am configurat reteaua sub Xp. Apoi am pus Slack. Nu mi-am ales o zi tocmai buna, pentru ca in current era un bug la xorg, insa a doua zi s-a rezolvat. Acum sunt pe current si sunt foarte multumit. KDE 3.5 arata superb, se misca foarte bine si bate de la distanta Gnome, cel putin pentru mine. Iar yakuake este ceva extraordinar, nu ma descurc mai nou fara el. Pentru ca sa nu am librarii lipsa, mi-am instalat si Freerock Gnome 2.12, care mi-a adus si noul HAL si dbus, pe care KDE s-a si apucat imediat sa le foloseasca, fiind deja pe kernel 2.6, asa ca am fost placut impresionat. Un init 4 imi asigura o pornire in mod grafic, cu gdm, care arata mult mai bine decat kdm. Am oprit hotplug-ul, ca sa castig timp la bootare, insa am ramas fara detectie la placa de baza, asa ca l-am pus inapoi. 2-3 secunde un plus nu ma deranjeaza chair atat de mult. Gaim imi crapa cand primeam mesaje, insa am banuit ca e din cauza xorgului. L-am dezinstalat, am pus xorgul care merge, apoi gnome si apoi iar gaim. Acum nu mai sunt probleme.
Cine spunea ca slack nu e pentru incepatori sau pentru desktop?… Works fine for me.

SuSE 10.0

Claudiu | 20 Martie 2006 | 83216.8 | Tags: , | 1 Comentariu 

A trecut ceva timp de cand nu am mai scris. De vina este lenea acuta de care sufar zilele astea, impreuna cu o usoara senzatie de descompunere spirituala si uneori si trupeasca. Plus o raceala care nu a facut decat sa imi accentueza starea.
Doua palmi, o aspirina, o masa si un somn bun si mi-am mai revenit cat de cat.
Am cumparat de la Oradea (la cluj nu am gasit…) numarul din Ianuarie al Linux Magazin, mai ales pentru ca avea DVD-ul cu SuSE 10.0. Ce nu inteleg eu la SuSE si revistele astea, este cum de in EasyLinux am gasit SuSE Proffesional 9.1 cu doar 200.000 lei si acum, in Linux Magazin, gasesc varianta full a SuSE Linux 10.0… In fine.
L-am instalat ieri. Fata de 9.1, instalare e mai rapida. Iar instalerul arata extraordinar de bine (eu fiind obisnuit cu cel din Slackware). Surpriza, acum ne utem alege atat KDE cat si Gnome ca desktop, se pare ca in viitor, o data cu compiz si xgl, SuSE trage incet spre Gnome. Totul arata destul de bine, insa ce m-a enervat cel mai mult a fost sunetul de intampinare din KDE care, oameni buni, este absolut identic cu cel din WindowsXP… Give me a brake.
Pentru un easy-to-use si eye-candy, cred ca SuSE ramane distributia ideala. E putin cam lentam insa probabil daca se mai dezactiveaza din servicii, poate fi una decenta. O sa astept releas-ul viitor, care sper sa aiba compiz+xgl default si sa fie functional pe un KDE 3.5.1, totul pe un kernel cel putin 2.6.15 cu care sa pot scrie pe NTFS. Sper sa nu cer prea multe.
Saptamana trecuta mi-am cumparat hard-disk. Si nu orice fel de hard-disk, ci un Western Digital 250GB, 8M cache, pe IDE, din pacate, ca inca nu am SATA. Am tremurat putin, sperand sa nu fiu nevoit sa fac un update la BIOS, insa SiS-ul meu 730 a vazut hard-diskul la adevarata sa capacitate. L-am rasfatat si cu un cooler. Serviciile celor dela Intend Computers sunt ok, chiar daca a trebuit sa dau cateva telefoane pana sa imi faca o comanda, iar preturile destul de mici, de fapt, cele mai mici, din ce am vazut la celelalte. Ah, si sa NU folositi UltraPro Computers, or fi ei “ultra buni in calculatoare”, cum se intituleaza, dar… sunt scumpi.

Apa

Claudiu | 10 Martie 2006 | 83189.35 | Tags: | Comentează 

Iata si cea mai importanta descoprire stintifica avuta loc in cursul vietii mele de pana acum. Momentan nu imi vine in minte ceva mai BIG decat asta:

“NASA’s Cassini spacecraft may have found evidence of liquid water reservoirs that erupt in Yellowstone-like geysers on Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The rare occurrence of liquid water so near the surface raises many new questions about the mysterious moon.”
(Sursa: NASA)

Wow, daca e adevarat…

Dear Santa

Claudiu | 7 Martie 2006 | 83181.23 | Tags: , | Comentează 

Uitati si voi oameni buni ce am gasit, din nou, pe slashdot! Daca exista Mos Craciun, si daca ar putea sa mai imi faca un ultim cadou, promit sa nu ii mai cer niciodata nimic. Ever. (Am pus atat stirea, cat si comentariile)

The Ultimate Star Trek Collection
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Mon Nov 07, ’05 03:34 AM
roelbj writes “For those Star Trek fans wondering what to ask for this Christmas, you may wish to consider The Ultimate Star Trek Collection to be released on November 15. For just (cough) $2499.99, you’ll get 212, count them, 212 DVDs with everything ever produced under the name, including all seasons of all five telvision series as well as the ten feature films. Before loading up your disc changer and hitting play, remember to get up once in a while.”

–
For an extra $500, could I get the same collection without any of the Voyager episodes?

Well, let’s see…
-The Original Series
-The Animated Series
-The Next Generation
-Deep Space Nine
No, actually, that’s only four. There were only four Star Trek TV series ever made. I don’t see where you people are getting five, let alone six.
LALALALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!!!!

I swear, I hear angels singing right now. And is it possible for divine light to shine on a webpage?

Title: Does it include cool Yoda and Han Solo posters?
Oh wait… Star [b]Trek[/b]
That explains the 212 DVD’s too.

So…it’s a very, very boring night at work…
Here’s the tally, this doesn’t include any special features, commentaries, or otherwise useless filler:

ST TOS:
47 mins, 79 eps, 22 discs, 3,713min = 2days 13hrs 53mins
ST TNG:
45 mins, 178 eps, 48 discs, 8,010min = 5days 13hrs 30mins
ST DS9:
45 mins, 176 eps, 48 discs, 7,920min = 5days 12hrs
ST Voyager:
45 mins, 172 eps, 47 discs, 7,740min = 5days 9hrs
ST Enterprise:
42 mins, 98 eps, 27 discs, 4,116min = 2days 20hrs 36mins

The Motion Picture (Directors Cut): 136mins 2 discs
The Wrath of Kahn (Directors Cut): 116mins 2 discs
III: The search for spock: 105mins 2 discs
IV: The Voyage Home: 119mins 2 discs
V: The Final Frontier: 107mins 2 discs
VI: The Undiscovered Contry: 113mins 2 discs
Generations: 118mins 2 discs
First Contact: 106mins 2 discs
Insurrection: 103mins 2 discs
Nemesis: 116mins 2 discs

Grand Total (Minus Commentaries, deleted scenes, additional features) :
212 Discs
32,638 minutes
3wks 1day 15hrs 58mins

* Available Subtitles: English
* Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
* Star Trek The Original Series: The Complete Seasons 1-3
* Star Trek The Next Generation: The Complete Seasons 1-7
* Star Trek Deep Space Nine: The Complete Seasons 1-7
* Star Trek Voyager: The Complete Seasons 1-7
* Star Trek Enterprise: The Complete Seasons 1-4
* The 10 Star Trek feature films in two-disc special editions
* Commentary by director Robert Wise, special photographic effects director Douglas Trumbull, special photographic effects supervisor John Dykstra, music composer Jerry Goldsmith, and actor Stephen Collins on Star Trek: The Motion Picture
* The newly restored, director’s edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture
* Commentary by director Nicholas Meyer on Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
* Extended 116-minute director’s edition of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
* Commentary by director Leonard Nimoy, writer-producer Harve Bennett, director of photography Charles Correll, and actor Robin Curtis on Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
* Commentary by Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner on Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
* Commentary by director/actor William Shatner and his daughter, Liz Shatner, on Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
* Commentary by director Nicholas Meyer and screenwriter Denny Martin Flinn on Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
* Commentary by Brannon Braga and Ron Moore on Star Trek Generations
* Commentary by director-actor Jonathan Frakes on Star Trek First Contact
* Commentary by screenwriters Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore on Star Trek First Contact
* Commentary by producer Rick Berman on Star Trek Nemesis
* Commentary by director Stuart Baird on Star Trek Nemesis
* Text commentary by Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda (co-authors of The Star Trek Encyclopedia)
* New and vintage interviews, documentaries, and featurettes
* Deleted scenes
* Storyboard archives
* Trailers

Every true geek already has them all on tape.

Does anyone have a torrent?

To be honest, the TNG box set that came in the Borg cube a couple of years back looked a hell of a lot nicer. If I go and spend $2400 on a box set, I’d better be getting a nice looking box as part of the deal!

212 Discs
32,638 minutes
3wks 1day 15hrs 58mins
Greatest SW freak in existance: Pricless

SW freak
Whoops. Now’s the part where you run for your life.

The sad thing, though, is:

TOS: 47 min
TNG, DS9, Voy: 45 min
Enterprise: 42 min
… those ad breaks just get longer and longer, huh?

3wks 1day 15hrs 58mins
Thank-you, Data.

Who set the price? Was it Quark? What do they think we’re made of? Latinum?

“I’m not a Starfleet commander, or T.J. Hooker. I don’t live on Starship NCC-170… (some audience members say “1″), or own a phaser. I don’t know anybody named Bones, Sulu, or Spock (picture of Dr. Benjamin Spock is shown on screen behind him). And no, I’ve never had green alien sex, but I’m sure it’d be quite an evening. (Pomp and Circumstance begins playing.) I speak English and French, not Klingon! I drink Labatt’s, not Romulan ale! And when someone says to me ‘live long and prosper’, I seriously mean it when I say, ‘get a life’. My doctor’s name is not McCoy, it’s Ginsberg (nude picture of Dr. Ginsberg shown on screen). And tribbles were puppets, not real animals. PUPPETS! And when I speak, I never, ever talk like Every. Word. Is. Its. Own. Sentence. I live in California, but I was raised in Montreal. And I believe in priceline.com, where you never have to pay full price for airline tickets, hotels, and car rentals! I’ve appeared onstage at Stratford, at Carnegie Hall, Albert Hall, and the Monkland Theatre in NDG. And, yes, I’ve gone where no man has gone before, but… I was in Mexico and her father gave me permission! My name is William Shatner, and I am Canadian!”
–http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shatner [wikipedia.org]

Not counting the movies:
703 episodes / $2500 = 0.28 episodes per dollar
$2500 / 703 episodes = $3.56 per episode

Title: Where’s the Bittorrent?
I mean, c’mon, I’m waiting here.

For those Star Trek fans wondering what to ask for this Christmas, you may wish to consider The Ultimate Star Trek Collection to be released on November 15. For just (cough) $2499.99
Well. I can ask.