Posted by Robyn on May 9, 2008 in
Technology I finally gave in and installed XP on my Eee PC. After struggling with the space constraints for a few days, I think I finally have a very handy little unit here. I can access my Exchange account in Outlook 2007, sync files with FolderShare, access my other computers using WHS — it’s awesome.
Believe it or not, XP loads a lot faster than Ubuntu Gutsy, and feels more stable on the Eee’s somewhat puny hardware. Of course, the fact that it’s six years older could have something to do with that.
Linux, it’s not that I don’t love you. But Windows and I have had a long history together, and it just feels… comfortable on the Eee. I know I promised you space on the MacBook Pro, but with Leopard and Vista on there already, it’s getting a little crowded.
Don’t worry, though. I’ll always save a partition for you on my desktop. 
Posted by Robyn on Apr 23, 2008 in
General As many of you know, I teach for an online high school, and I love it. However, with a wedding coming up this summer, I have picked up a few shifts of subbing per week for extra income. Today, I had to brave the school cafeteria for lunch.
Big mistake.
The line was long, so I went back to the classroom and waited it out for a few minutes. By the time I got back, all they had left were curly fries and pizza rolls. Not being a huge fry fan, I reluctantly reached for the pizza rolls, and they are currently sitting on my desk.
Another big mistake.
I am not exactly sure how these relate to pizza. Pizza must be a challenge for a school lunch room, as these seem to consist of a cheese stick wrapped in mystery dough, with a side of marinara sauce. I can’t eat them. I am going to be hungry this afternoon.
I feel bad for the kids who have to eat this crap every day. Seriously. 
Posted by Robyn on Apr 13, 2008 in
General Justin and I are at the coast this weekend, and we are having a great time. We went for a walk on the beach tonight, and we found a little abandoned fire with a few embers still glowing. Justin carefully tended it for over 20 minutes, and gradually, lovingly brought it back to life.
Once it was a nice crackling fire again, we just huddled up and talked for over an hour. We had the flickering firelight and the peaceful sound of the waves in the surf. It was one of those memorable moments. 
Posted by Robyn on Apr 1, 2008 in
General April Fool! Haha, you thought I had a new journal, but I didn’t. Gotcha!
<– me
Posted by Robyn on Mar 25, 2008 in
General I am posting this from a brand new MacBook Pro. And this time, it’s all mine.
Posted by Robyn on Mar 12, 2008 in
Technology Well, after several days of tweaking, I have Ubuntu Gutsy running smoothly on my Eee PC! There are fortunately some scripts out there that make everything work all nice and pretty on the Eee, like the wireless adapter, webcam, and special function keys.
Unfortunately, I could not get Evolution to sync with Exchange because my Exchange provider (1and1) uses Exchange 2007. However, I managed to get Outlook 2003 working via Crossover Linux. What a great piece of software, by the way. It’s essentially WINE for nubs. I also installed Firefox 3 Beta 4, and it’s running smooth like butter on the Eee. Can’t wait for the final release!
But the crowning glory? I got USB internet sharing on my Shadow to work flawlessly!
So, I accomplished the two major things I had hoped to accomplish by switching from Xandros to Ubuntu: I can access my Exchange account, and I can use internet sharing through my phone. So hooray for me. And hooray for Ubuntu!
I am loving Ubuntu so very much. I don’t know why I stayed away from Linux for so long. I plan to install Ubuntu on my desktop over spring break. But since Evolution can’t solve my Exchange problem, I’m not really tied to Gnome anymore. I might try KDE to see what all the fuss is about. There seem to be fierce loyalties on either side!
I might also try XFCE on the Eee, since it’s a “lighter” desktop system, but I’ve got everything running so smoothly in Gnome, I’m almost afraid to touch it!
Posted by Robyn on Mar 9, 2008 in
Technology As many of you know, I have an Asus Eee PC. It is a wonderful little laptop, and I carry it in my purse. One of the things that first attracted me to the Eee PC is the fact that it runs Linux, which I had never really played with much. I know, I’m losing geek cred here, but stay with me.
It came with a very cute customized installation of Xandros, running something called “easy mode” by default. It has a handy tabbed interface, with plenty of productivity software out of the box. Firefox, Thunderbird, and Open Office are all included. Here’s what it looks like.
While I loved the interface at first, I started to feel a little confined by it, so I enabled “Advanced Mode”, which gives you a full KDE desktop interface. It looks a little something like this.
But then the Xandros OS itself started to cramp my style. The more I used the Eee, the more comfortable I became with Linux. The problem is that a highly customized version of a pay distro isn’t really the best introduction to Linux. Linux is all about customization, but all the juicy repositories would break Xandros.
So, I am officially waving “goodbye” to Xandros. I am installing Ubuntu on my Eee PC as we speak.
Posted by Robyn on Feb 26, 2008 in
Technology I am posting this from a brand new MacBook Pro!
Again, from the Apple Store. I have to wait for my student loan disbursement, but I would so walk out of here with one of these if I had the money right now. This thing rocks!
Posted by Robyn on Feb 24, 2008 in
General Taco Del Mar is one of my new favorite spots to get out of the house for a few hours during my work days, as they have free wireless internet. That way, I can have lunch, but still keep in touch with my students, check assignments, and so forth. It’s pretty nice.
However, a couple of days ago, I was blithely sitting there enjoying a delicious burrito and some free interblags, when guess what song comes on the radio?
That’s right. I got Rick Roll’d by Taco Del Mar. 
Posted by Robyn on Feb 11, 2008 in
General As soon as one realizes that one has stayed up too late, one should immediately go to bed.
Though I have tried repeatedly to make time move backwards by staying up even longer, I have conclusively proven that this is impossible. The longer you stay up, the later it gets. This has been universally confirmed by every single one of my tests. I welcome any studies proving the contrary.
So… it’s almost 4:00 AM. I guess I should go to bed now. And stuff. Like I was saying. Yeah.
Stupid space-time-continuum… thingy.