Archive for January 2008
Updated: 15 Feb 2008 07:01 am by
Filed: Linux
Tagged: gnome • Linux
I like the looks of the Clearlooks controls, but It has always seemed like most of the control sets in GNOME themes have scrollbars that are just a skosh too wide. Based on a comment I found in response to a blog entry on a related topic, it’s pretty easy to squeeze them. Locate the “gtkrc” file for the theme (most of the Debian-based distros will have the stock themes installed in “/usr/share/themes/”) and tweak the size settings for
GtkRange    ::slider-width = 15
GtkRange    ::stepper-size = 15
Clearlooks has those at 15 by default. The slider-width setting is the width of the scrollbar itself; the stepper-size setting is the height of the “stepper” at each end of the scrollbar. I bumped both of those down to 13, and they feel like they are closer to the right size for me. Small change, but it feels better visually.
Updated: 15 Feb 2008 07:04 am by
Filed: Faith
Tagged: bible • Faith • james • reflections
I came across something this past week in preparing to lead our Bible study at church. We are studying James and are moving from the end of chapter 1 into chapter 2. We’ve talked a bit the past couple weeks about how James’ writing is discussing how the way we live our lives, the way we treat people, the things we say all are a reflection of what we believe — and how there can be such a big difference between our actions and what we say we believe. One of the resources I am using to help be ready to lead this study touched on something that got me thinking. That resource mentions that, while Paul’s writings emphasized the purpose of faith (salvation), James emphasizes the results of faith: a changed life.
That led me to one of my favorite books: “God’s Blogs” by Lanny Donaho, and this is where my “Aha!” moment came from. Chapter 16 is titled “In His Image” and provides an explanation of what exactly it means that we are created “… in His image.” Donaho takes the perspective that this is not focused as much on how, but more on why. We are created to reflect Him, what He’s done for us, what He means to us into the world around us. We do that by how we live our lives, how we treat people, the decisions we make, the things we say — those are the things that show what we really believe and hold dear. Which is precisely what James is writing about…
I particularly liked the conclusion of that chapter:
BTW… reflections happen best when you are standing near to that which you want to reflect. (That which you were made to reflect.)
Updated: 15 Feb 2008 07:02 am by
Filed: Music
Tagged: christmas • Music
We spent part of the Christmas holiday break over in Boise, so Ian and I had a chance to zip into the Record Exchange downtown for a couple hours to poke around. It is one of those places that we just don’t have here at home, where you can find just about anything you might be looking for in terms of music… I walked out with the following:
- “The Best of Elvis Costello — The First 10 Years”: I was hoping, probably unrealistically, to find a copy of “Armed Forces” with my favorite track “What’s So Funny (About Peace, Love, and Understanding)” but when I looked at what was in this collection, I couldn’t pass it up. 22 tracks covering that 10 year period, and the progression and evolution of his (and his bands’) sound is amazing to listen to. Highlights, in addition to “What’s So Funny” include the early sound from “Watching the Detectives” and the richness of “Good Year for the Roses” and “Beyond Belief”.
- “The Traveling Wilburys – Volume 3″: I had been trying to find a copy of this for several years, and the Exchange had a couple in the used bin. An amazing collaboration of talent, and an all-around pleasure to listen to them. Just fun to have on the box.
I should have written earlier about this next one, but just never got around to it last yeaar. By far the best album for 2007 in my opinion is the Robert Plant/Allison Kraus collaboration on “Raising Sand”. Pour yourself a glass of red wine, put it in, turn it up, and just let it wash over you.
Updated: 15 Feb 2008 07:03 am by
Filed: Geek Stuff • Linux
Tagged: Linux • zenwalk
I’ve run Zenwalk on some or all of my various Intel-based boxes at various times in the past, initially out of curiosity, and have even used it for several weeks on my primary system here at home as the primary OS. I have always been impressed, in general, with this distro so when a beta for Zenwalk 5 was announced late in December, I thought I would give it a try. Bottom line: I’m not at all disappointed.
The release announcement touches on some fairly significant changes in the basic components comprising the distro, including the latest Xorg 7.3 and HAL. The distro also includes for the first time two components that I view as very positive inclusions: wicd now replaces the older wifi-radar for wireless network connection/configuration and the Intel wireless driver firmware is included as part of the distro’s ISO rather than being something we have to download and install after the fact. I stumbled across wicd earlier this year while briefly trying the XFCE edition of Mint Linux and was impressed, so I was glad to hear that it was now part of this distro. Having the firmware included as part of the installation process is a great convenience, eliminating one step that I always had to take care of myself.
I’m running the beta on a Dell Latitude D600 laptop with 1G of RAM, dual-booting it with WinXP. The installation process is largely unchanged from previous versions, with the exception that the process now provides opportunities to read and accept the license agreements for several packages (including the Intel firmware drivers). Although the installation is text-based, I have always found it to be quite straightforward and fast (less than 10 minutes from start to finish on this box!). Zenwalk has been dinged in the past for it’s installation process being text-based in various reviews, with the biggest complaint being that it can be intimidating for people new to Linux, but I’ve never found it to be problematic or obscure in the least.
Once installed, the system is quick to boot (less than 35 seconds from power-on to sign-in screen), and very responsive. It runs the latest XFCE by default. The first things I have always added are stock Mozilla Firefox (I’m running 3 beta 2) along with Abobe’s Flashplayer plugin and Sun’s Java JRE and plugin. In addition, I always pull in the OpenOffice.org suite (version 2.3.1 is available in the distro’s repos), along with the Liberation font family. Codecs for playing DVDs are available in a separate repo, as well. Within an hour of that first boot, I was finished with adding additional software, including Apache, MySQL, the Railo CFML engine, and Aquafold’s Aqua Data Studio, giving me a platform for local Web development. Sound, video, and removable media all just work. So far, it has been rock solid and stable.
The verdict: Zenwalk has again put together a nice evolution of their distro. It is quick to boot, quite responsive, stable (even accounting for it being a beta), supports all of my hardware without any major tweaking, includes a great cross-section of the software I want (and the rest of what I want is either available in the repos or easily downloaded and installed). The developers continue to push this distro in positive directions with their changes to the underlying architecture and their selections of software tools that fit within their general philosophy of including one tool for each task. The forums continue to be active; both users and developers within the Zenwalk community are quick to respond to questions, suggestions, and requests for help.