Yes, this is for you.

Owens, Shane
English 10 Honors
Mrs. Falkner Per. 4
09/14/08

I’m the kind of person who’s idea of a good day is to sit in front of a lit screen, then crawl back to bed. I guess this all started with the introduction of the non-proprietary operating system called Linux. Before then I was a normal kid; I played five sports, I went to school dances, and I even kept my room clean. Not that changing my lifestyle completely is a bad thing, it’s actually better in my mind. I mean, if I kept on the same train I was going on, I would just be the same as everybody else. I would continue to work in high school and get a normal desk job after college. Now, with all the acquired skill I have gained writing programs, as well as having the knowledge to fix other peoples computers, I might have the opportunity to work without having to work just doing what I like to do. Isn’t that what we all dream of? Doing what you want to do, and getting paid for it? Might I add that some of the highest paying jobs have to do with dealing with computers? But all these chances wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for James A. Laslavic.

*Part I added for the people in my Writing Responce Group that thought their computer was a Windows. Yeah, they seriously did…*

Five years ago my sister, Kendra, became friends with a kid named James Laslavic. James was a person that knew a lot about a bunch of things. One of the many things he had knowledge about was the open-source operating system called Linux. Linux is an operating system. An operating system is what basically speaks to the computer, it’s like Windows XP, or MAC OS X, or others that you might be familiar with. Basically, it’s an open source (Free and anyone is allowed to edit and pass along the changes) operating system that has a ton of different flavors including things like Gentoo, Ubuntu, Fedora, Slackware, along with the other hundreds upon hundreds. The thing most people like about Linux is that everybody contributes. When there is a problem, you don’t wait on the phone for seventeen hours, you have the right to fix it. Chances are people have the same problem as you and it will be fixed within minutes to hours.

I never really knew that much about James, all I knew was that he was a friend of my sister. One day my mom was kind enough to give my sister and I rides to places where we needed to go. My sister needed to go to James’s house for a school project and I needed to go to one of my overly-repetitive water polo practices. First stop was James’s house. My sister gets out of the car, forgetting the project she was going there to do. My mom and I ride off and around four blocks later I saw she forgot the project. When I walk in to deliver the project to them, the door was open and they were upstairs in his room. I walk in greeted by a large 30 inch monitor presenting a thing called Linux. I was quickly drawn to the screen. I asked what it was and James spent 10-15 minutes explaining what it was. I said, “How can I put that on my laptop?” James, being a computer consultant told me he could come over and install it on my computer free of charge. I sat around all week, waiting for this thing he called Linux to be installed on my laptop.

James came over to my house and put a CD in my computer. He partitioned my hard drive to two segments so I could dual boot, Ubuntu(Linux) and Windows XP. While doing this, he didn’t just install and get out. He explained to me why and how it works. He installed the basic programs which made it look nicer, etc. all explaining his preference and the reasons why he likes these things. Most people that would do such a thing would just install what they need to install and leave. James was different; he was more of a teacher. He taught me the basics, gave me a door to open and I opened it. As odd as it sounds he changed my life in those three hours he installed Ubuntu. After I got used to Linux, I moved away from depending on Windows, I started to only use Linux. Sooner or later, Windows became my backup. After a while I didn’t need to go to James about Linux questions, I just figured them out on my own.

James introducing me to Linux was a gift. He taught me a skill, which turned into a hobby, which eventually turned into a lifestyle. Not only did I learn about Linux, but it opened my eyes to electronics in general. I’m not a hard headed person that only learns about one thing, and that one thing only. I have my mind open to anything in the field of electronics. Not only was I interested into Linux but, I had my mind open to things like, creating custom firmware patches for gadgets, providing computer services to the nice people of Coronado, hosting my own blog and website, and so many more interesting things to me. It’s just amazing that after a couple of hours in front of my computer would change my life drastically. I might grow up, and work devolving something towards the Linux kernel, or something. Who knows? The only thing I do hope, is that I do something that has to do with computers, I don’t care what it is. I just really hope that it’s not something I don’t like to do.

James completely changed the person I am today. Five years ago, there is no way I would think that sitting and learning about Linux and other things involving electronics would be more fun than going to the beach or participating in other silly shenanigans. I’m glad to know that I’m spending my time on something that will help me in the long run, not worrying about the latest style of clothing or how to impress the ladies. Not only did Linux change me as a person, but I’m proud to say that I use and learn more and more about Linux everyday. Linux introduced me into many other things that define me as a person today, and towards the future. I hope to continue using Linux and learning about computer for the rest of my time on this earth. Hopefully I’ll participate in the Linux/Open Source community sometime. Overall, Linux and electronics define me as a person, which never would have happened unless I walked in on James on his computer which led to the install of Linux on my own computer.

So, that’s about it. Be nice in the comments…Neil…Also, James, I’m expecting a Dig. XDXDXD

I think I’ve stepped through the door to high school. I mean, a test everyday of the week? Seriously. I don’t want to sound like I’m whining, I mean. I like school and learning, but srsly? I’m sure I’ll get used to the “routine” and it’ll be all honkey dory. I’ll just sit it out. But, hey I’m learning.

School has officially started. I think I’m going to do good this year. Umm, well, for anyone that wants to know my schedule. Here it is:

Schedule

E Per: AP World History, Mr. Heaphy
1st Per: Spanish II, Mr. Merrill
2nd Per: Geometry, Ms. Walker
3nd Per: Technological Support Services, Mr. Dice “Aka Bryan”
4th Per: English 10 Honors, Mrs. Falkner
5th Per: Chemistry, Mrs. Eddingfield

As you may have noticed, I have chosen to take E-5 as I explained in my last blog post. I have only had periods E-3, account of the fact it was a block Tuesday today. Though I’m looking forward to meeting my other teachers tomorrow. Well, I guess that’s all, nothing really interesting. But, just for fun. I’m going to throw this in the post.

LOLcat
LOLcat

more animals

I don’t know how I’m going to be once school rounds the corner. I happened to Sign-up for the E-5 schedule. Which means, early mornings. :’( Over the summer I have been getting lots and lots of sleep. I mean. Last night I went to sleep around 12-1ish and woke up at 12-1ish. That’s twelve hours of sleep. So, sadly I have decided that I need to start my sleep regiment. So, I can be pre-pared for school. Well. Hopefully I’ll be fine. But no more late nights, etc. Meh… School…..

Honestly. I don’t care if I can get a free credit estimate. My inbox for my primary email address has hundreds of spam emails each day. Actually today a site went on the internet. Known as Spamza.Which is now down. But, it gave you a simple text entry which entered that email, through thousands of email newsletter sites. Well. For now. The email and phone number are not going out via web. Though you can contact me through a service which I found from a friend of mine, James Laslavic, via his blog.It’s known as kontactr. So, for now. You contact me through kontactr. At http://kontactr.com/user/mangospork. You can fill out a message to me as well without leaving. Via the side bar.

I don’t tend to do this often but, I really wanted to pass this link on. I thought it was just plain hilarious. Chuck Loore is one of my favorite producers on Television, he is responsible for shows such as, “Two and a Half Men” as well as “The Big Bang Theory”. He has written a “Guide how to create a sitcom” I have been reading his blog/Vanity cards since, well a long time, and I never clicked on, “how-to” on the side of his blog. Well, I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. I think it’s hilarious. Well, here it is.

Paypal…Turns out that it takes just 3-5 business days, just for money to go from a checking account to your paypal account. Eh.

It’s “freakin” hot. Woo, I need to get to the beach or something. I want to go swimming down at the community center, diving boards!

I need money, bad. Hrumph. I apply, I call back. No responses, ever. *sadface* Ya’ know if you have some extra coin just floating around in that paypal account of yours, send it to coronadotechgeek@yahoo.com

Okay,

So I go to the beach today with one of my friends, and we get out into the water and then we get yelled at by the lifeguards telling us, “Due to the conditions today, it’s illegal to swim”. Though the waves were big, I didn’t know what we had to get out for. I mean, it didn’t rain, so that rules out pollution. I dunno’ it was kind of disappointing, though, there is always tomarrow!