Sometimes people you’ve helped don’t take the time to say, “Not only have I read your entry on X, it helped me out. Thanks.”

Ron Miller helped me out with a particularly annoying issue between RoboForm and Firefox 1.06, but he didn’t realize it.

For that, thanks Ron.

Then it occured to me that I could use WordPress to maintain the static stuff.

So, I read the instructions on the WordPress Codex. Several times. And I changed my options, moved the files, then updated the permalink structure. Several times. I even deleted .htaccess. Several times.

All to no avail.

Then, magically, it just started working. I hate it when stuff just starts to work. That is, provided it didn’t initially work.

edit: I think GoDaddy uses be some kind of caching mechanism. That would explain a lot.

Here’s the computer equivalent:

Once you allow WinXP to install updates, it generally prompts you to “restart your computer for changes to take effect.” I invariably select, “Restart Later.”

I’ll need to create a new category just for this type of thing, because while this does piss me off, it’s not nearly as bad as comment spammers, blue-haired drivers in vintage Detroit steel, or korinthenkackers.

Back in the good old days, “Restart Later” meant, “Yes, I am aware that I need to restart my computer. I just want to do it later.” Now, it means, “Restart later, but please remind me I need to do so with the precision of a mercilessly sadistic Swiss watchmaker.”

It’s been so effective, I have to write about something else, I suppose…

So, here’s what I’ve been doing for the past couple of days (besides working, of course):

• Working on a CSS-only (read: non-table) version of my resume
• Looking for a very lite content mangement system for the site’s static content
• Fixing overheating issues on the other computers laying around the house and playing family System Administrator
• Playing around with a second-hand copy of SuSE Professional 9.1

CSS-only Resume
Like any decent technology, I have a love/hate relationship with CSS. Why the hell can’t it just do what I want it to do?

Lite CMS
I’ve been playing around with Rodin on localhost. It may do the trick, but I’ll have to tweak the theme a bit.

Family System Administrator
Teri’s machine was overheating, so I plunked down some cash on a couple of fans. One’s an adjustable drivebay fan that sticks out from the front of the case, and the other was a 60mm rear case fan.

Other than hunting down the power pins on the mobo, installing the drivebay fan was a no-brainer.

The 60mm rear case fan came with mounting screws… Assuming you had a freakin’ wood computer case. Wood screws. Needless to say, I was rather torqued.

Fortunately, the drivebay fan worked like a champ, negating the need for the rear case fan.

Naturally, the kids’ computer system was having similar overheating issues, especially when playing a CD-based game. So, back to the computer store. I got the same fan I put in Teri’s machine.

You won’t fool me twice, ya bastads. Wood screws. Grrrrr.

How sad is this?
As I mentioned above, I’ve been playing with SuSE 9.1 I bought a couple of months ago at Half-Price books for 45 bucks. I spent about 45 minutes slapping it on an old laptop, and it works great. Now, I need to put it on my dedicated linux box, which is currently running SuSE 8.something.

Getting to the sad part… Here’s the list of the devices attached to my network right now:

• WRT54g Router
• a 6 port switch
• a 4 port switch
• The Heathen’s WinXP Home box
• Teri’s WinXP Home box
• my WinXP Pro box
• my Linux file/web/MP3 server
• my WinXP Pro “work” laptop
• my Linux “play” laptop
• my Rio Karma MP3 player
• and, my Sharp Zaurus

I am so glad I’ve been replacing all my energy wasting incandecent bulbs.

LIN-you-ex
I’ll have to get around to writing about my favorite Linux story, but the gist of it is a guy I used to work with pronounced “Linux” as “Lin-you-ex”. I usually say that when I’m being extraordinarily geeky — Well, more so than usual.

I couldn’t think of a good title for this post, so for now, “It’s Lin-you-ex.”