Eh just general worn outness, well that and the mono (that sneaky devil) it is really annoying that way. Just wake up certain days and feel like total fucking hell. I'm actually surprised I got into school on time. Quantum didn't get finished, that sucked, but well after getting back from Argonne so late it would have been at that point (especially considering my mental state of being tired and not sharp) an all nighter which there was no way in hell I could have pulled.
Ah rant and bitch, rant and bitch... I know that is what I do the most here which is funny because well that's not always how I'm feeling (though that does fluctuate heavily throughout the day) But thinking about it I guess that's what I do the most here, so it's bad sampling issue. I'm usually writing this like now later at night when I'm not in a very chipper mood to begin with and usually am mulling over future work to be done and what hasn't been done. I wish I could blog on the spot during the day, I do get many better and more well varied ideas and opinions as the day goes on, but that's alas not possible so for now it will have to stick with the evening wrap up which by observation seems to settle as rant and bitch.
Ooooo and the really fun news today is we got our new group laptops in (it's a dell but still well ok it's a new computer I get to play with so I'm excited.... has that new computer smell to it)
Actually that's pretty much what I did today was dick around with that, fuck I even blew off E&M because I was to curious discovering all the fine details and nuances of it's construction. I won't deny I'm a total computer snob, I love my super refined and sexy Apple powerbook with the smooth lines and brushed aluminum finish. Super form and super function, I crave that kinda thing so usually I look very down on any of the boxy slap job laptops most other companies put out. It's like the difference between a well tuned BMW and a fiat.
However, I will say that after thorough review, this new dell has changed my opinion about their quality a bit. I like it's option to have an internal cellphone boradband card(which took me for fucking ever to figure out that it was a sim card slot underneath the battery) I also like how easily swappable the hard drive and DVD drive are while still maintaining a smooth appearance. Actually a lot of it's parts were replaceable even the damned processor, so yeah it got me because I absolutely love things that can be tinkered and upgraded. That is one downside of apple, damned its slick and refined but getting at stuff is a bitch and you can't change much. Ah and though I don't know how useful it is, there's a smart card reader which in a way is kinda cool because you can lock out users in theory who aren't carrying a smart card and know the correct pin number. Not useful for me, but I did think it was a cool feature.
Though I should also balance this apparently blasphemy of approving of anything other than an apple with my gripes about this new machine to. The connectivity ports suck shit, only one mini firewire 400 port, the thing still wastes space with a legacy serial port, the only video output is through a very outdated VGA connector, and while it does have 4 USB ports which is nice (they're very crammed together in blocks of two) The DVD drive isn't slot loading (hey I have a mac I'm spoiled to think that's a must) They put this huge as docking port on the bottom which by itself is ok but they don't give you anything to cover it up with so it will by default get gunked up and nasty over time. Track pad just has a very tacky and cheap feel to it, thank god for the pointing nub. Oh and the RAM slots, they put one easy to get at one on the bottom and the other you have to rip off the entire keyboard (that's dumb)
Oh it's a Dell latitude D630 if it matters. Well the screen is nice and I like the keyboard, so yeah I think I'll get along with it alright for the next couple years despite it's many unrefined flaws.
Got to have my first experince with Vista too, heh it was cheaper to order it with vista than XP! Yeah that says something, but whatever it's getting written over with Scientific Linux in the next day so it won't matter. Though I will admit there are time when windows is needed so thank god I found this wonderful piece of free software called vmware server. It's pretty slick, it's free and I can partition off a space on my drive and install a virtual windows machine that I can run anytime over linux. I was very happy to find that because it's just what I wanted. So getting all that stuff set up and going will take up the next week more or less in between classes I'm guessing. I've never had good luck with getting linux distributions to work right out of the box as you might say. There's fun in tinkering though, and its time well spent because it does lend itself to a deeper knowledge of using linux.
On a good note I found out I'm getting reimbursed for lots of fun things. Well the expenses for the Argonne trip were expected, but in chatting with folk today I found I can get my money back for this webcam the group made me get (though I would equally wish I didn't have it and never endure another EVO video conference again) ah and the price to get my passport replaced. Ha! didn't expect that one at all, but threw it out there and I was rewarded. Couple hundred more bucks for booze and hookers and blackjack I guess.
On the annoying note I found out to be worthy of being reinstated as a member of the IOP I have to mail those bastards a copy of my diploma. Actually I was surprised to find out BU does that for free! Still kinda in disbelief about that, but whatever that's cool. I guess when I was a member before I classified as a student so they didn't give a crap and just mailed me cool magazines. I want those magazines again though so I guess it's worth it.
Heh, even renewed my membership with APS. Oh I have a firm history of hating them, actually the reason why I joined the IOP. APS could never for the life of them actually mail me PhysicsToday, well that was only for a few years when I lived in a dorm so who knows. Now I have a more legit mailing address so we'll see.
Why does my Tissot watch always like to change the date 5 minuets exactly before midnight. In a way that kinda annoys me.
Ha and on a last funny note, apparently the fine infallible and ever wonders Harvard University had their systems hacked and now lots of my personal information they got out of me (social sec # and the like) when I applied has been pilfered. Ah thanks Harvard, not only do you reject me among other things but you have a shit for shit security system and have now opened me up to identity theft. I donno they sent a letter about this, but well hey they're willing to front the cash to pay for credit/loan monitoring for me so actually in the end it's not that bad of a deal. But still I got good chuckle out of that letter.
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