Zidane: Mommy’s boy.

It appears I’m not the only mommy’s boy

You can’t forgive mother of all insults

Zidane: Mommy’s boy.

It appears I’m not the only mommy’s boy

You can’t forgive mother of all insults

Parallels 2.1 on openSUSE 10.1 (Don’t waste your time!)

Today was one of those days when i awoke and after reading an article on virtualisation, I decided to give it a go. A comment on digg saying ‘Parallels works well on my Ubuntu’ made me decide to give it a shot on my openSUSE 10.1 lappy. Everything was going well; the site
had good documentation, the packages were all available, it even proclaimed that it had been tested on SUSE 10.. all i needed was a couple of packages installed (kernel sources, c compiler, qt3-devel etc) and i was good to go.. Indeed, the rpm installed fine.. and then came the configuration [ i beleive the command was parallels-config or somin ].

This was when the hell began. See, no where did they mention that the darn thing would take over 4 hours to compile and that while it was doing so, it would basically take over ur computer as the task is extremely memory-intensive (even with 512mb ram).  All i had to tell me that my computer was working hard was a blinking activity indicator. No progress bar, only a somber ‘Compiling parallels 2.1 drivers’ statement.
That’s not all, after over 4 hours the activity indicator jst stopped blinking.. I waited a good 15
minutes and still nothing..

And so after patiently waiting from 10 am to 2 pm, my computer was stuck. What had i acheived? zilch.
I calmly hit the power button, restarted and promptly removed any traces of the shitty prog.
I’m not blaming my beloved suse, i’m blaming the shitty parallels guys that dont give even the slightest
indication as to how long the bloody thing will take and that even after following their immaculate instructions, it will bloop on you.

I wonder if the windows .exe does the same thing.. or the mac’s installer.. i wouldn’t be in the least surprised if they took under 30 min to install.. I’m really sick of software vendors and some hardware manufacturers that victimise us linux users. There’s millions of us ffs and opensource is not goin anywhere so wake up and smell the coffee $#@!

There ends my rant . On a lighter note, at least amarok 1.4.1 managed to sync my ipod nano with no problems whatsoever.. ( 1.4 would hang sometimes or corrupt the itunesDB.. )

Why can’t I own a Canadian?

Very interesting question found it here:

Why Can’t I Own a Canadian?
October 2002

Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a radio personality who dispenses advice to people who call in to her radio show. Recently, she said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22 and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following is an open letter to Dr. Laura penned by a east coast resident, which was posted on the Internet. It’s funny, as well as informative:

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the other specific laws and how to follow them:

When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord – Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness – Lev.15:19- 24. The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?

I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination – Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this?

Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? – Lev.24:10-16. Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.

Your devoted fan,
Jim

Gamedriving

And so .. Warren’s 21st came and went. The much-anticipated trip to an exclusive lodge called Pitse was a great success.. we (and i believe i’m speaking for all 11 of us) had a FANTABULOUS time.. that’s a mixture of fantastic and fabulous..

What was so great about it? Well for starters, the exclusivity.. the place only caters for one group at a time.. so for the duration of our stay, it was just us and no other touristy types.. we had the full attention of the hosts.. the food was delicious (all 3 meals and snacks of it) i was stuffed most of the time.. the animals were great, with rhinos coming as close as 5m to the place we were staying.. We also almost got attacked by a lioness which was pretty fun..

Went for a game-drive this afternoon and saw some wildlife.. u know.. zebras, a lot of buck and.. lions.. or lioness to be exact. Only we almost got attacked by it! We’d given up sighting any of the higher-up-in-the-foodchain animals and were calmly havin a beer & snacks (outside of our vehicle) when James went ‘I think there’s a lion over there.. no seriously guys.. there’s a lion over there..’ and indeed, less than 100m away, stood a lioness with its eyes intently watchin us and poised for a leap!
The guide calmly said, ‘Please get inside the vehicle..’ ( which was pretty much where everyone was runnin to at that point…) and somehow it turned its attention to the zebra herd nearby.. anyway, so that was that.

All in all, a very memorable two nights.. Thanks Warren (and your folks of course and everyone else that i played poker with, drank a coupla beers with, sat by the fire with and had a good laugh with.. )

Another strange but sad thing happened yesterday (saturday).. As I was having my hair plaited like a little girl [or shld i keep it masculine and say "havin my 'rows done"], my hairdresser got a phonecall informing her of her brother’s death! (
So there I sat, with half my head plaited and the other looking mad-scientist’ish.. at loss for words. Was she gonna carry on? Was the other half gonna be done by someone else? What in the hell should i do? .. Anyway, after a lot of ’sorry about your brother..’ from everyone around.. and after she’d made a phonecall she came back.. teary eyed.. and attempted to finish up.. it felt really wierd.. and i asked her if she was sure she wanted to carry on to which she replied ‘yea.. it’s ok.. i’m alright.. i’ll finish up.. ‘ etc. I decided to give her all i had in my wallet leaving transport money.. I hope she gets the support she needs during this very trying moment…

Asides that.. well the weekend’s finished. Sunday evening.. and, here’s the best part, no varsity tomorrow!! or for the next 3 weeks actually i’m lovin life. i’m probly gonna talk to some friends online.. if not i’ll watch a movie.. or read.. or whatever.. anything but engineering. ( oh wait, tomorrow i officially begin on our project for next semester : a hovercraft that can find its way through any maze w/out touching the walls of the maze.. freaked out by the seemingly daunting task? good. so am i )

Finally..

I’m made my move to wordpress. Livejournal’s layout was too ugly and somehow i felt it was “old”;. And so, after a million guesses, i’ve got drivel working. [As you might recall, i dont blog w/out a desktop client]. So here goes.. pretty soon I should be putting in all my older posts..

12 weeks..

It’s been 12 weeks! wow. There’s laziness and then there’s being busy and then there’s procrastination and there’s lack of interest.. there’s a lot of reasons why i havent posted for such a while. mostly it’s attributed to the fact that after 5 days of an engineering schedule every week, i simply lacked the drive..

And then there’s the burning question. Why write when no one reads? If it wasn’t for it would’ve easily rolled into the 24th week! so thanks audrea.. good to know at least one person out there wanted me to post something!

That said, im gonna try to make my posts have a general theme. i think i’ll keep them short and interesting (or at least to me) to serve as a reminder for me later on as to what i was interested in at the time of writing.. as well as just what my life was.

It is friday and my friday habits haven’t changed [ beer + pizza + chilling]. i’m 3/4 exams done. have one more on wednesday and LOOKIN FORWARD! the third year of my degree is rolling by rather fast!

My eyes sting so I’ll stop here.. But here’s 3 things that caught my attention today:

1. Trials for drug that leaves HIV defenceless :

This is different from anti-retrovirals.. and I quote: “A small human trial of the drug, reported last August, showed that when given on its own it rapidly clears most HIV from the blood, driving down the levels tenfold in a matter of hours.”

2. World’s first cancer vaccine ..
Title says it all..

3. Super Battery:

Combining nanotechnology&capacitor technology to form a “super battery” that charges in seconds.
“It could be recharged many, many times perhaps hundreds of thousands of times, and … it could be recharged very quickly, just in a matter of seconds rather than a matter of hours…”

From my favourite news source.. digg.

To err is human..

I’ve been meaning to write up on quite a number of things but I jst never got the time.. Varsity’s taking it’s toll.

Anyhow, thingie #1: I found this spam from my university one day:

Dear respondent,
We ask that you spend a few minutes assisting us with a piece of research. All you will need to do is to take an online survey, which you can do by clicking on the button below. The research investigates experiences of, and attitudes towards intergroup contact. You will be asked questions that require you to write the contact and quality of your own experiences, as well as rating your feelings towards one or more ethnic groups. Please note that your responses will be made anonymously and treated confidentially.
… We know that this is not an insignificant request on our part, and what we are able to offer you is the opportunity to WIN ONE THOUSAND RAND …

One thousand big ones huh? I shrugged, clicked on the survey link and off I went.
Now, as with any form that asks me to tick a box so I can be categorized, have things assumed about me such as ‘previously disadvantaged background’ and whatever other ’statistical reasons’ they use these little boxes for.. When asked to choose between Black, White, Indian, Coloured or ‘Other’, I chose the latter and specified ‘Human’.. What happened next was quite hillarious.. check out some of the questions asked:

7a. I am a person who sees myself belonging to the Human population group.
1 Never 2 Seldom 3 Sometimes 4 Often 5 Very often
7g. I am a person who is annoyed when people refer to me as being a Human
7j. It upsets me when other people speak negatively about Human people.

Which I found amusing.. Then came some annoying ones:

Question 9
How often do you have contact with Coloured people in the following situations? Please select the appropriate number by clicking on the circle next to it.
9a. With Coloured people in your residential area?
1 Never 2 Seldom 3 Sometimes 4 Often 5 Very often
9b.With Coloured people at your own home?
9c.With Coloured people at the homes of other people?
9d.With Coloured people at their homes?
9e.With Coloured people at religious events?
9f.With Coloured people at social events?
9g.Do you sit next to Coloured students during lectures?
9h. Do you have friendly conversations with Coloured people?

Like… wtf ?! But wait.. there’s more!

Question 10
Please indicate the percentage of your friends who belong to th Black, White, Indian and Coloured population groups (The percentage should add up to 100%).
Example: Black: 20% White: 50% Indian: 15% Coloured: 15%

Like honestly… who in their right mind is keeping tabs on their friends like this?
Then it got down to hilarious ones again:

Question 14
The following questions ask your opinion of why (some) students are reluctant to mix socially with other groups.

14b. Human students do not mix socially with Coloured students because they have different interests in sport, music, etc. [ i take it all people of a certain shade like the same sport? tssk tssk.. ]
1 Strongly Agree 2 Agree 3 Agree Slightly 4 Disagree Slightly 5 Disagree 6 Strongly Disagree
14c. Human students who mix socially with Coloured students are seen as dissociating themselves from the Human group. [ huh? ]
14d. Human and Coloured students have different ways of behaving, which makes it difficult for them to mix socially [lmao]

Good Lord.. it didnt stop there..

14f. It is difficult to mix with Coloured students because they have no understanding of the culture of Human students.
14g. There is very little social mixing because Coloured students do not want to have Human friends. [ rright.. ]

… alas. This obsession with a single mutation in one amino acid never ceases to amaze me.. Or perhaps this discovery puts it more clearly:

In fact, several scientists said, the new work shows just how small a biological difference is reflected by skin color. The newly found mutation involves a change of just one letter of DNA code out of the 3.1 billion letters in the human genome — the complete instructions for making a human being.

one letter people.. one letter of 3.1 billion.. this mutation doesn’t _make_ u like certain sport or _make_ u like certain music or _make_ you act this way and that.. leave that to where you grow up.

I guess i remembered all this coz yesterday I had one of those random unplanned-going-out nights [came back at 5am]. Had a good time.. but to cut the long story short, we were in this club called Sankayi [ my first time there and didn't even know there was a club in that part of Rivonia ]. Anyway, this club (rather posh with a steep R100 entry fee) was mainly playing Congolese music and Kwaito which aren’t really my faves.. And so while I was chillin, beer in hand, one of the guys we were with came up to me and the convo went sort of like this:
Him: Hey man, why aren’t you dancing?
Me: I don’t really like this type of music..
Him: Why not?
Me: Don’t know.. jst doesn’t appeal to me ..
Him: But you’re African..
Me: Yea.. so?
Him: So you should enjoy it then..
Me: Well I don’t.. *shrug*
Him: *Blank look*

Poor guy…I wonder if he thinks that all people with green eyes like the same type of music.. Or that people with albinism enjoy the same food.. *Rolls eyes*
Anyway, it’s gettin late. Gotta crash so there ends my lecture.. Comments welcome

mwahahaha! :)

Teehee!
I’m dead tired.. I’m revamping a website using a Content Management System called Joomla and now i sit here uploading a beta.. after 5 hours of workin on the darn site, it’s still not finished.. Don’t understand why the ftp is takin so long coz it’s only 7megs bt anyhow, imma leave it running and go get some sleep. Timecheck: 12am.

touch-screen ipod

Feast your eyes on this. Now I've gots to get back to some sort of productivity at uni.. I'm loving the new access provided at the varsity labs [i.e my laptop got access to the varsity's network ..]

Anyhow, back to 'work'