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January 21, 2005
6 months down...29 1/2 years left...
Finally got off probation as of 9:00 this morning and all I got was more work :) So It's getting close now to when I head up to Calgary, 2-3 weeks or so. I'm looking forward to taking some time off work and just relaxing out of province. Most people decide to go south of the border to the heat and sun, like my boss who is going to Panama. No no...I'll have none of that. I'm going to vacation in an even colder place than Waterloo...joy :)
So Linux has made me it's bitch, it's official. I can't get my video capture card to work for the life of me...no matter what I do. So close but yet so far from getting MythTv working. I have everythign else setup but I just can't capture video, kinda important eh? I've tried rolling back on the ivtv drivers and re-compiling a kernel but both to now avail. I'm tempted to wipe it all and put WinXP on it, I would be up in 2-3 hours with a working PVR. So if anyone is going to setup a MythTv box beware that it can be a dirty whore, a big dirty whore. Not much has happened since my last post so this will be a short one...
Godspeed!
btw: If you're using FireFox you can setup an RSS feed from my site :)
Posted by Daryl Martin at 03:16 PM | Comments (0)
January 13, 2005
Almost off probation....almost
Yeah, kind of freaky when I think about it that I've been up here for almost 6 months straight. On the plus side this means I'm finally going to come off probation at RIM. Pretty funny I've worked here for almost a year now, including work terms, and I'm still on probation. Ah well...
So a lot of shit happened over x-mas that I never posted on so I will try to write a quick summary here.
- Moved into my new apartment near the end of December. Nice 2 bedroom apartment in uptown Waterloo, close to work and all the bars. I also decided to spend a small fortune on the place to get my furniture up to speed so to say.
- Spent New Years in Guelph with Sarah and had a pretty good time. Let's ignore the fact that she got sick around 12:00 ;)
- Picked up a few good deals for my computer @ boxing day, got 2x250 WD 7200 drives for 129 each and 300 DVD blanks for around 100.
- I will be buying a cheap case, mb, chip, ram to make a MythTV box. I have the HD space, video card, tv-tuner and the time to configure it properly too. I might start as soon as this weekend. I will post regarding my failure/success
- Work is still going good. I'm losing my office on Friday and going back to the cube life, whatever! :)
- My stock is pissing me off, had a 40-45% gain and I didn't sell because I was greedy, now it's back down to a 20% gain. It's a solid stock so I'm expecting it to pop back up a bit more before I sell...I'm in no rush.
I think that's about it for now. I'm to lazy to really write anything else. What are the odds eh?
l8r on
Posted by Daryl Martin at 06:14 PM | Comments (0)
January 07, 2005
In response to "Oh Danny Boy, pipe down"
Just an e-mail I wrote to the author, Margaret Went, of a lovely piece of work at The Globe and Mail.
I was really sad to read such a negative article towards the current situation in Newfoundland and Labrador. While your numbers and facts are correct there is such bias in your words it shames me to think your article is actually released to the public. Did you ever stop to research the history of Newfoundland before making a decision or did you just see red, or lack of red, when the Canadian flags were taken down.
The term Newfie first off is a derogatory term that was used by US soldiers positioned in Newfoundland to tear down the uneducated fishermen, but I guess it stuck over time. I'm looking for your past prose with references to those silly N*!!#$@ who complained about slavery. The connotation of this word makes it seem to me slightly racist.
I apologize on behalf of my province for being exploited for 500 years by British, French and Canadian rule. Even when we choose to join Canada in 1949 there were broken promises when we joined and promises are still being broken today. Don't forget that we are still a very young government that has, in my opinion, just gotten it's roots and is trying to grow. A similar promise was made by Brian Mulroney's government that ensured us to keep our resource revenues with no penalties or clawbacks, if this word was kept then maybe your Chinese, or would you rather refer to him using another term, dry cleaner wouldn't have to work 90 hours a week to support me and my family.
The flags were taken down as a response to being slapped in the face by the federal government for the last time. We only want a fair chance at being a have province and this deal maybe our last chance. Is it wrong to fight for a higher standard of living? Lower taxes? To finally receive the respect of the rest of Canada and shed our "Newfie" stereotype? No, I don't think it is and a lot of Premiers and people across the country agree that Newfoundland deserves a chance! Still nothing is being done about it. I am very proud to be Canadian, I can't ask for a better country to grow up in, but I am also a very proud to be a Newfoundlander. Pulling down the flags in Newfoundland is a legitimate attempt to stand up and voice our opinion, which is our god given right, that we feel we have been exploited for the past 55 years and we want a fair chance at economic prosperity.
I only ask that you do not use or publish my e-mail address, everything else is fair game. I would really like to hear your comments though so please feel free to reply.
Cheers,
Daryl
Posted by Daryl Martin at 05:07 PM | Comments (3)