Author Archives: molecularbear
How to get started with a Treo 650 on SuSE 10.0 OSS
In your hand you hold a Treo 650. You look at the shiny new handheld, then you look at your Linux box. You look back at the Treo, then back to the Linux machine. “Maybe,” you think, “maybe I can … Continue reading
How to get a networked Brother HL-5170DN working on SuSE 9.3
CUPS comes with a driver that works with the HL-5170DN, but it does not seem to handle double-sided printing. Fortunately, Brother supplies Linux drivers on their website, though I found the documentation to be somewhat disorganized. This HOW-TO will describe … Continue reading
Gentoo: Enough is Enough
I’ve battled through a Gentoo upgrade for the last time. I’ve set my computer compiling for days, restarting after fixing the errors that crop up. I’ve run portlog-info.sh and painstakingly combed through all the little messages and warnings that would … Continue reading
Lightwing by Tara K. Harper
Lightwing by Tara K. Harper was first published in 1992 so I suppose it would be classified as contemporary sci-fi. Lately I’ve been sticking to Nebula and Hugo award winners, but I took a step outside that safety zone with … Continue reading
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Dragon Quest VIII would be really amazing if I had never played an RPG before. But seeing as I’ve probably played several dozen RPGs, the game isn’t all that enthralling. Here was my logic behind purchasing this game: Eurogamer gave … Continue reading
Final Fantasy X
I… I didn’t know it could be like this… You see, I’m not twelve anymore; I am twenty-nine years old with lots of gaming under my thumbs and discerning tastes. You can’t throw a Lord the Rings: The Third Age … Continue reading
Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov
Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov was first published in 1986 and represents the fifth book in the Foundation series. This is definitely the best book in the series I have read thus far; there were actually some parts where … Continue reading
Flatlander by Larry Niven
Flatlander by Larry Niven is a collection of short stories that detail the adventures of a futuristic detective named Gil “The Arm” Hamilton. I don’t see this on the Hugo or Nebula lists, but the book represents some quality sci-fi. … Continue reading
Foundation’s Edge by Isaac Asimov
Foundation’s Edge by Isaac Asimov is the fourth book in the the Foundation novels. This is the only book in the series to win a Hugo award for best novel – it did so in 1983. This book is a … Continue reading
Tip #1: All functions should include an unexpected, random operation
Beginning programmers often make the mistake of writing functions that perform a specific, useful task. For example, perhaps the programmer finds that s/he is often converting DOS newline characters into UNIX newlines. The programmer will generally make the typical novice … Continue reading