I recently upgraded from Debian 5.0 to Debian 6.0, and it went great, except that lighttpd began to complain “Cannot load plugin mod_redirect more than once”. This is because the new default lighttpd configuration shipped with Debian 6.0 includes the ‘mod_redirect’ module, which was not included by default in Debian 5.
Continue reading `lighttpd hackage: Smart module loading` →Filed under: debian lighttpd Linux Perl Programming
This last weekend, I had the pleasure of making a run to the border. I’ve had my car with me in Guadalajara, Mexico, since August of 2010, and as a tourist, I can only keep my car in the country for 180 days before I have to take it out of the country again.
Continue reading `Adventures in Monterrey` →Filed under: culture Life in Mexico mexico
I don’t remember exactly which day I received my electric bill, but it was probably early the 2nd week of September. I stashed the electric bill on the shelf in my kitchen, and made a mental note to pay it soon; next time I went by an Oxxo. (Oxxo is a convenience store chain popular in Mexico, and there you can pay your electric bill, water bill or cell phone bill; all while grabbing a magazine and half liter of Coke).
Continue reading `The Cultural Experience of Paying a Mexican Electric Bill` →Filed under: culture Life in Mexico mexico
Since my last post, describing my to-do list on my newly acquired 1986 TurboDiesel Jetta, I’ve been knocking items off of that to-do list, in preparation for taking the car to Guadalajara, Mexico, where I intend to live for the next year. One of the maintenance items on my to-do list was to replace the timing belt–this should be done every 60,000 miles on most diesel cars, or you risk a broken timing belt, and a destroyed engine.
Continue reading `Customer service at its worst: Kirke's Import Parts` →Filed under: Cars consumer review customer service
Well I have a new toy, of sorts. Anyone who knows me very well knows that I have an affinity for diesel-powered vehicles, and the last 5 vehicles I’ve purchased (now 6!) have all been diesel-powered. I’ve been in the market for a new diesel-powered “toy” for a while, with three specific purposes in mind:
Continue reading `My new toy: 1986 Turbodiesel Jetta` →Filed under: Cars diesel jetta turbo diesel
“Mao” is a card game I was first exposed to in junior high, but didn’t learn to play until high school. Since then, I’ve met a number of other folks who have been exposed to Mao, but never learned to play–perhaps because the first rule of the game Mao is that you may not tell the rules to anyone.
Continue reading `How to play "Mao"` →Filed under: card games cards Games group activities rules
I enjoy reviewing movies I have seen. Sometimes I think I have a unique perspective on a movie, and sometimes I just enjoy hearing myself talk, I suppose. But at any rate, I do enjoy reviewing movies. There was a time many years ago when I would write movie reviews that I would just share by e-mail with a few friends.
Continue reading `Movie Reviews, My Way` →Filed under: movie review Movies
My rating: Wait for HBO Last night I watched Knowing, staring Nicholas Cage. The movie takes place in Lexington, Massachusetts, and begins in 1959 with the burial of a time capsule to commemorate the opening of a new elementary school. Fast forward 50 years to 2009, when the time capsule is opened, and Caleb (Chandler Canterbury), son of MIT astronomer John Koestler (Cage), receives an odd letter from the capsule: Two pages covered entirely with numbers.
Continue reading `Movie Review: Knowing (2009)` →Filed under: doomsday movie review Movies nicholas cage review scientology
I was recently approached by an acquaintance who told me he was learning “The Magic Bullet System,” and wanted me to join him in his ventures. His description of The Magic Bullet System (MBS) was full of buzzwords, and lacking in any substance. Hrmm! Enough to make me very skeptical. So… I called up my trusty friend, Google, and after about 3 hours of research, here’s what I learned:
Continue reading `The Magic Bullet System` →Filed under: business get-rich-quick review Reviews spam