Microsoft vs Linux.

Yanknow, I'm no big fan of microsoft, but I do understand something about user interface design, and Microsoft products have it. Okay, they make incredibly lame blunders like the nigh-universally hated 'clippy', but I can understand what they thought they thought they were doing. Underneath the gilt and satin surface though, its all ugly pus-oozing nastiness. XP has some actual claims to be an OS, but thats kind of new to Microsofts way of doing things.

Linux on the other hand is exactly the opposite. There really is an operating system under there, and it actually operates, but they've piled all of the oozing-pusness into the user interfaces and so you donna wanna touch it.

So, Microsoft OSes are essentially crap held together by gold thread and satin while Linux is solid chunks of gold held together by crap and mucus. Its no wonder that I can't really claim to be a fan of either. If it ended there, I think I would declare it a tie. But with Linux I have the option (actually, I would find it absolutely necessary) to go in and fix the stuff that's more horribly wrong, because they give you the source if you ask for it.  With Microsoft all you get is Bill, and you REALLY don't want him.

These thoughts have been brought to you by the fact that I've now completed the second day of setting up a Linux server and I know that if _sps_ hand't been here to provide support and 1337 5killz, I don't think I would have gotten past the first non-helpful help screen. Sigh. You know I REALLY want to be able to punt microsoft XP and go Linux, but right now, I don't think I'd survive it.

Missing Internal Organs.

Did you ever had one of those days where you belatedly realize that you've inadvertantly mailed the wrong one of your internal organs to Brazil? Of course, you don't discover your mistake until hours later when you inexplicably can't find your bile ducts and you've now got an extra kidney...

Today was a LOT like that for me, and I'm beginning to think my brain headed off on vacation in the night and my left shin has been desperately trying to cover for it. For example, I put a sandwich I was making in the fridge in an attempt to heat it up this morning. I only realized my mistake when I couldn't find time or power buttons on the fridge. Later I was trying to diagnose a problem on my firewall, so I shut it down and then couldn't understand why I couldn't google for info. While I was still recovering from THAT, taxlady informed me that I'd been running the dishwasher for the last hour with the taps turned off, so it was just sort of steam-cooking the food onto the plates...

I think I'm gonna give up while I'm behind and call this a night.