Journal Ra5pu7in's Journal: Up and at em 1
Well, first a belated Merry Xmas to anyone who actually celebrated it for any reason, a happy Chanukkah to those who celebrate that (which probably includes my first daughter whose adoptive mother is Jewish), and a "Thankfully that's over with" or a "Hip Hip Hooray, the days are gonna start getting longer again" for the rest of us.
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For the first year since my kids were born I didn't have to do any of the Christmas shopping for them (both gifts for them and the gifts they got for others). That was massively freeing - none of the commercial aspect of the season to deal with. I did get my kids gifts of a sort, but without having to buy the first and the second being put off till after Christmas. The first was a 30G iPod video my company's owner in her great wisdom and insight (yeah, laying on the sarcasm thick there) got for all the full-time employees. Errr, yeah. I have an mp3 player I'm completely happy with and a PSP - and a distaste for the control setup on the iPod. My son, however, had (yes, had, let me finish the story here) an iPod mini from last year's commencement that he really enjoyed. Hmmmmm, younger sister's mp3 player is broken, son has his 6G iPod mini about 1/4 full already and lots more songs he wants
Oh, yeah, that after -Christmas thing. Well the computer at their dad's house died a month ago and finally got tossed. They don't need a gaming rig, and the printer and monitor are still there, so we'll be watching the specials and getting them something a bit more modern. Even more important, it will be one that I can set up with proper protection since spyware, adware, viruses, and other nasty bugs were a large part of the old one's demise. Not from my kids, but from everyone else who lives or visits there and uses (read abuses) that computer. From an older second cousin staying for a month and downloading oodles of porn to young cousins who want to download all sorts of games to other adults who don't know the front end of a computer from the back, there wasn't a lot of care taken to keep the old one in good condition. We'll see how much better I can set this new one up.
Actually, I should consider a another one here at my house. We currently have four computers: mine (dual-boot linux and Win2K), my brother's (was solely linux until I got him hooked on Guild Wars - now has Win2K dual boot), one for my son to use in the living room (having three of us together in Guild Wars rocks), and the last one for my daughter. She's not a gamer, so she's got the leftovers - we had enough lying around to put it together and it works for her surfing and IM'ing and drawing and scanning and so on. But it is notably slower and would only work with Linux (Windows was incapable of figuring out the ethernet even with the drivers installed, while Mandrake stepped up to the plate quickly and easily.) She's fine either way - happy with GIMP and delighted with Kopete.
happy whatever back at ya (Score:1)