Hugh's Worthless Blog

Warren and the folks at MEPIS have released a test version of SimplyMEPIS, which is now versioned with numbers so it is version 3.3, not 2005.01 or anything, and it comes with options to boot using either kernel 2.4.29 or 2.6.10 with a final release around Feb 15. It has many of the features from the ProMEPIS betas as well as a "new look", so I am interested to try it out myself. Grab the ISO from my MEPIS mirror on wuarchive .

Firefox is great, but on my one computer, a 166 MHz Pentium MMX w/ 64MB RAM, even Firefox ran a bit poky (although it flies compared to IE 5.5 or Netscape 7.2). But today with the release of its new version, I heard about this fantastic Gecko based open source browser K-Meleon . It has actually been around a while but does not get the press that Firefox does since it is Win32 only, and not as easily configurable with plug-ins. Instead you have to configure it by (gasp!) editing text files, like on that horrible Linux operating system (unlike the wonderful Windows systems, where you must click through layers of menus to configure things -- much better, of course, Bill!). We won't mention the countless GUI interfaces that have been written for Linux to easily modify those text configuration files if you prefer things that way, but I digress. I was talking about K-Meleon, which truly flies on my antique Pentium MMX and works with most any site that works fine with Mozilla or Netscape.

Well, not too surprisingly the Patriots and Eagles moved on to play each other in the Super Bowl. As a Rams fan it is fun to watch two defenses play who can really make some good plays. The Patriots shut down both the Colts and Steelers convinvingly, and the Eagles defense did the same to the Vikings and the Falcons. I think the game will be closer than most folks think, but the Patriots will pull it out at the end. I am now hosting a new distro both on my Linux Mirror site , and at WUARCHIVE , which is a stripped down Live Linux CD which boots into Mozilla Firefox and nothing else. It is called KioskCD and it runs on any PC with a CD-ROM and an ethernet port using DHCP. It is a small download but works quite well. Visit the KioskCD web site and download it from my site or wuarchive .

This year for the first time in about 5 years I did not purchase TurboTax to do my taxes. Why? Because this year I can file them online completely for free, and so can you! Just go to the IRS Web site and click on the link for Free File there. It then tells you which of the free services you can use. Some of them are free for everybody, and they just assume you will pay the extra $8-10 extra to file your state taxes through them too. However, since most state returns are pretty simple, you can just use the free federal on-line and do the state returns manually easily enough. If you feel uncertain sending all that information online, you can also grab federal tax preparation software completely free from TaxAct , which hopes you will at least e-file through them for $7.95 (or for free through the IRS link). In reality, paying $8-$10 to file both returns electronically is a pretty good deal, but I prefer going the completely cheap method myself.

I wasn't sure when or if they would ever release a new ISO, but after the big success of the the Game Knoppix releases, the Live Linux Game Project has released a new version of their Knoppix based Games CD: llgp-0.1pre0.iso . Grab it from the KNOPPIX directory on WUARCHIVE .

Well, unlike last weekend where 3 of 4 underdogs won away from home, this weekend all 4 favored home teams won, even if the Steelers did so by the skin of their teeth. The Jets sure make games exciting, but alas, their kicker ended their possible Cinderella season. The mid season Rams reappeared in Atlanta to watch the Dunn, Vick and Rossum running show trample them down into the ground. It was ugly to watch as a Rams fan, but it was cool to actually watch a special teams return team who knew what they were doing. The Falcons were actually blocking for the return back on kick returns, instead of trying to take the ball away from him. Plus they even knew how to tackle which means the kicker does not have to do it. The true display of a defense this weekend, though, was the Patriots who just shut down Peyton Manning up in wintry Foxboro. After squeaking by the Jets, the Steelers should have a tough one again, even if they did beat the Patriots during the regular season. My predictions

This last weekend the MEPIS folks released a new beta of the ProMEPIS product, namely ProMEPIS-2005.b04.iso which includes the 2.6.10 kernel which should give it a performance boost. The b03 release was very solid, so I am anxious to see how this new release fares.

Amazingly, the Rams, Vikings and Jets all advanced this weekend. Not surprisingly, though, Peyton Manning and the Colts destroyed the Broncos. This sets up a great game next week in New England with the Colts vs. the Patriots, and some interesting games in Atlanta and Philly. The Rams could actually do it in the Atlanta dome if they can slow down Vick, but I am not holding my breath. And the Vikings looked really good yesterday, and if the Eagles are rusty (and being without Terrell Owens), that could be a close game as well. Most people are expecting the Steelers to beat the Jets, but you never know there either. It should be an interesting weekend of football. Does any "expert" out there think any NFC team can actually beat the Steelers, Patriots or Colts? The "experts" are pretty much assuming whatever AFC team makes it to the Super Bowl will win. Hey, they all said that the Rams would beat the Patriots a few years back, and that sure didn't happen!!

The new 3.7-0.2 release of the Games Knoppix CD has been released. Find out more at their site or download it fast from wuarchive.wustl.edu . Microsoft has released "its own" (i.e. they purchased Giant software) anti-spyware utility in a Beta release. I wonder how it compares to AdAware and SpyBot (my two favorites). I will have to download it and find out. Some folks on SlashDot joke how it probably detects FireFox as spyware. I wouldn't be surprised.

I never would have believed it, but due to beating the Jets in overtime along with a Vikings loss, the Rams actually made it into the playoffs to meet the Seahawks in Seattle. They actually have a reasonable chance to beat the Seahawks too, but once they have to travel to Atlanta, Philly, Green Bay or where ever, they are destined to get beaten. The defense actually showed some energy yesterday and Steven Jackson again showed his value in some key plays. I think it is time for Marshall Faulk to be used in special situations and to make Jackson the primary running back. After a nice holiday break I am back in the office at the university, with a lovely new Tux poster on my wall from Cafe Press . Time to see what is new in the world of Linux distributions ! I also have to update my St. Louis Buffet page . I ate too much over the holidays, but it sure was fun...