Now, in my web design class, we’ve been working with two development environments for HTML and CSS. there was Adobe’s Dreamweaver, and the considerably less fantastical Crimson Editor, whose only real upside was that it was free. As the deadline came closer, I decided I would throw the site together over a couple days on Dreamweaver by staying at the lab late, but thanks to some kleptomaniacs in the building, the room that I was told would be open until as late as 10 at night, was locked by 4 o’clock and not accessible to the public. Thus, over the course of a weekend, I hammered through the antiquated Crimson at home, productivity and morale boosted by Kit’s graciousness to lend me a 17″ Samsung he had laying around for dual-screening.

Development went rather well, my only real obstacles consisting of aesthetics such as rounding the corners of divs. One trouble, however, ended up being a stalking predator in the grass, waiting for the opportune moment to strike; I was having issues with my divs moving to where I wanted, and accidentally planted the seeds of woe by designating their position as “fixed” in the CSS.

The following day, I wrote the final few pages, and posted the link to my site on our class discussion boards. When I went to view the site and make sure the link worked, to my horror, I discovered that the “fixed” positions that had been defined to me as keeping a div in one spot, “even when scrolling,” had in fact removed the idea of scroll bars completely! Sections of the pages were cut off by the window borders with no way of viewing them. After researching the positioning system deeper, I was enlightened to the concept of absolute positioning with relative positioning for divs within divs.

One would think that this task would be simple to carry out, and for a seasoned web-designer, I’m sure this scenario is a non-issue, but this was hardly my case. Diving back into my code and changing the positioning caused my page to detonate beyond all readability. The following battle that lasted for 3 hours straight showed me just how much my page was a cobbled together catastrophe of ropes, crudely nailed wooden planks, and duct tape. divs, and classes were created and destroyed like the primordial matter in the early stages of planck time following the big bang. Phantom divisions shunted my text about on the page while I struggled to re-size images and rebuild navigation bars. At last, I emerged somewhat victorious, my mind flayed by the channel cast of HTML and CSS syntax. At a time during the war, I thought Dreamweaver, which I at last had access to, could prove a secret weapon, but by that time my code was so gnarled that Adobe’s interpretation of my code was unintelligible.

It was submitted at the eleventh hour, and is almost everything I wanted. Feedback is appreciated:

Welcome to Your Future.

NX Technology, to briefly summarize, is similar in concept to RDP or Terminal Services on Windows, it basically provides a network ready way to log in and connect to a graphical desktop environment on a computer that you are not physically in front of.  The X Window System, the de-facto graphical backbone for Linux, has been able to send GUI over the network for years, but in practice it has proven inefficient and only feasible on the fastest of networks.  NX on the other hand, uses a combination of compression and caching on top of traditional X11 making for a much more bearable remote desktop experience.  As always, Wikipedia has a better explanation than I’m able to provide here.

A company called NoMachine provides commercial client and server NX software, selling Linux and Solaris server software while providing a free NX client for all the major OSes (including Windows).  Until recently, the only notable freely available NX server for Linux was FreeNX which took NoMachine’s open source core libraries and wrapped it up in a bunch of convoluted script files.  A small team has been incorporating the FreeNX code into an Ubuntu PPA, but have been having trouble maintaining compatibility and releasing bugfixes to the FreeNX code.  One quick glance at the author’s site reveals that it has been a couple years since any official updates have occurred.   Now here’s where it gets interesting: last year Google GPL’ed its own internal version of the Free NX server called Neatx, which gives the open source community a fresh platform to work with.

Installing Neatx on Ubuntu 10.04

I found the process of installing the NX server to be fairly straightforward, using the new PPA add script introduced in 9.10, I added the FreeNX Team PPA repository:

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:freenx-team

This slick command takes care of finding the FreeNX Team’s Launchpad PPA software repository and adds all the necessary keys etc. to be able to get the software contained within.  After the script has finished its magic you’ll need to update the repository cache:

$ sudo apt-get update

Then, install the necessary pieces:

$ sudo apt-get install neatx-server

This will gather all of the necessary NX server components and dependencies including things like the OpenSSH server.  And that’s it!  I had to reboot to get the SSH server up and running, but other than that, no additional configuration was required!

Update: a comment left by a reader indicated that rebooting the server is not necessary even after a fresh OpenSSH server install, and I am to expect that everything is ready to go as the install finishes (thanks to Woden for the feedback).

Connecting to the NX server from another computer

On a your client machine, point the freely available client from NoMachine to the new Neatx server’s address, accept the key and presto!  You now have a slick remote desktop solution for Linux, congratulations!

MSI Wind Nettop 100

• Intel Atom 330 (Dual-core with Hyperthreading!)
• Small Form Factor (11.8″ x 9.5″ x 2.6″)
• Low Power Consumption (31 Watts idle, according to my Kill-A-Watt)

Okay, so now for some pictures:

Here we see that the machine is quite an exercise in minimalism.

Rather than waste what few bay expansion options I had, I opted to install this SATA hot-swap bay in place of a seldom-used CD drive for future storage/backup needs!

Here is a shot of the front of the "mini-server" after the SATA bay was installed. Note the presence of the multi-card reader...

MSI “Netserver” Final Specs

• CPU:  Intel Atom 330 Dual-core @ 1.6GHz with HTT
  • This processor appears as four logical cores to the OS which could come in handy for dealing with many threads at once (simultaneous background tasks and multiple server requests)
• Memory:  2GB SODIMM
  • For the stripped down Linux Distro I’m using, this is overkill.  But at $19 there was no reason not to go for max capacity!
• Storage:  74GB Raptor 10,000 RPM
  • A trusty old standby from a previous PC build, rated at twice the lifetime of standard hard drives and for continuous operation, this is server-grade stuff.
• Network: Gigabit Ethernet

Conclusion

So far, I’ve been quite pleased with how the build went—there were a couple of snags when I set out to install the OS from a USB stick, my advice: just plunk down the cash for an external CD drive and save yourself the grief.

Low Power Consumption, Kills 66% Fewer Baby Seals!

Operating between 30-40 watts, the Nettop platform sucks far less electricity from the wall than my daily PC (which idles at around 150 watts!), the Intel Atom has some serious “green” cred. (sorry Brian, I couldn’t avoid using the preppy word <g>).  Not to mention, stands to take a chunk out of monthly power bill.

In the show, a group of kids were chosen by fate to journey to the digital world and, with the help of digimon partners, rid the Digital World of its darkness and evil as the “Digidestined.” Along their journeys, the Digidestined had encounters where it was necessary for their digimon partners to digivolve, or move up a level in power. To do this, the digidestined had to find crests pertaining to one of their most notable traits, for instance, the computer wiz-kid, Izzy (who I suspect was a Linux user, by the way,) had the crest of knowledge. Tai, the de-facto leader of the group, had the crest of courage. Other crests included love, friendship, reliability and hope.

This is where I run into an error with the digital world: If this dimension is based solidly off of Earth’s computer networks, and is in fact, a digital world, then it would be built completely out of binary code.

Binary code is a style of encoding information using ones and zeros. A code consisting of only two digits being rearranged in varying numbers can quickly become complicated. For instance, if you type the word “cat,” the code representing each of those letters is 01100011, 01100001, and 01110100.

Now, I’m not saying that the combined computational power of ALL the world’s computers isn’t pretty hefty, but I just can’t see it being enough to generate an entire alternate world as the result of anomaly and chance, and then having that world subject to providence run by such emotionally abstract ideas as courage, friendship, and love. The binary code for love would be so complex that no form of technology known today would be able to decode it, even if given billions of years to do it in. In my opinion, a world based on binary, would be constricted to a far simpler, and much more rigid metaphysical state.

This is where I believe Quantum Mechanical reasoning comes in. The very idea of a digital world existing lends support to the “Many Worlds” Interpretation of quantum mechanics. In order to better understand, here’s a brief bit of information about a rival interpretation to “Many Worlds.” The “Copenhagen Interpretation” of quantum mechanics states that all particles can be described by a wavefunction, which is a mathematical representation of the probability of a particle to be found in a location or state of motion. Wavefunction is very delicate, as just the act of measuring a particle causes the mathematical probabilities of that particle to collapse into a “real” state. This is called wavefunction collapse.

Many-Worlds denies the objective reasoning of wavefunction, and believes that every possible outcome of every event exists in its own history or universe. Put simply, every event that can occur in our universe (but doesn’t) occurs in an alternate dimension alongside an infinite number of other universes. This realm is aptly dubbed the “Multiverse.”

Getting back to Digimon, using the “Many Worlds” Interpretation as explanation, I don’t believe that the digital world is derived from our world’s computing power, because we do not have the technology available. The digital world is instead fueled by the immense power of another dimension’s (or group of dimensions’) quantum computers.

Quantum Computers do not use binary code. The ones and zeros of binary code represent the two standard states of electrons, negative and positive. Alternations of electrical current in the patterns described by binary code is what runs our computers today. Quantum computers, however, use the thirty-two quantum states of electrons. Although it’d still be a monumental task, I believe that quantum code could have the potential for facilitating providence based on emotions in another dimension.

The reason people think that the digital world is the result of our computing power is because the digital universe only intersects our world at specific points: our communications network. That provides us with a way in. The multiverse provides all else. I may come back and revise this essay later, but right now I must go to bed.

Processor: Intel E8400 @ 3.01 GHz
Video: ASUS 9800GT Ultimate (OC to 725 MHz core)
RAM: Corsair XMS 2×1GB (CAS latency 4)
Storage: Seagate 250GB SATA

Here are the 3DMark06 Scores:

SMS2.0 – 6301
CPU – 2838
SMS3.0 – 6239
Return to Proxycon – 52.41 fps
Firefly Forest – 52.6 fps
CPU1 - 0.89 fps
CPU2 - 1.44 fps
Canyon Flight – 60.53
Deep Freeze – 64.25
3DMark06 Composite Score -13269

Almost there...

It’s been a slow, and rather lame-ass march, but it at last seems like I’m closing the gap to that epic 5,000 gold in World of Warcraft that shall guarantee me the right to ride a flying mount capable of speeds in excess of 279% percent my normal running speed.  They are true SR-71′s of Outland, and after being badly beat to the finish line by Brian’s wife, Kim, I’m more anxious than ever to prove that I don’t totally suck at earning fake money.

Ironically, however, it seems that real money is holding me back from my position as a flying ace.  My WoW account runs out on the 7th of October.  I’m still kicking my self for not having been able to save up the 5k over the summer, but pulling off a stunt like that would require me to live as a hermit in an Internet accessible cave high in the Andes Mountains above Chile.

I have a plan to reclaim my glory though.  I’m going to re-open my status as a commissioned artist with a few tweaks to make dealings more streamlined.

Firstly, I will no longer be doing fully-photoshopped pictures unless someone requests so and has the means to pay fifteen dollars to me.  I find myself excruciatingly slow in photoshop, especially when under pressure.

Secondly, The standard commission will cost eight dollars, and consist of a very finished looking pencil drawing of either the client as a cartoon character, or something that they request.

On a lesser note, thirdly, these commissions are NOT caricatures.  They are drawings of people and/or things in a cartoon style of my own, not drastic accentuation of facial features.  I’m not a guy working at a mall kiosk.

Of course, I’m not asking anyone who reads this if they’d like to commission me.  You all already fall into my “Do things for free” list.  However, encouragement would be psychosomatically helpful. ^^

1. Played in the dark when possible, and
2. Played with slow, elegant classical music playing in the background.

The design of ships and attention to detail never ceases to blow my mind.  The proposed mass Sins match is still planned, by the way.  We need only to wait for certain conditions to be met.  These conditions shall be achieved as early as Tuesday the 16^th.

I present my sister’s new gaming machine: Mystique

Processor: Intel E8500 @ 3.17 GHz
Video: EVGA 9800GTX+
RAM: Corsair XMS 2x1GB (CAS latency 4)
Storage: WD 640GB SATA

The unboxing:

Update: Note that I initially used the stock heatsink, but we quickly decided to upgrade it to the tried and true Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 which, as always, brought peace of mind that the CPU was in good hands.

Ignore the dazed looking fool in this pic...

Bottom cage out to accommodate the gargantuan proportions of the 9800GTX+

Behind the door: two quick-access covers for the intake filters.

Note the required removal of the bottom hard drive cage. This actually worked out well for two reasons. First, the 9800GTX+ is massive, and wouldn't have fit with the cage installed; also, use of the additional front intake fan forces the "sacrifice" of a cage so it worked out quite well!

9800GTX wants all your PCI-E powers!

Final setup, wiring complete.

All your base belong...

Here are the 3DMark06 Scores:

SMS2.0 – 6513
CPU – 2992
SMS3.0 – 6409
Return to Proxycon – 54.19 fps
Firefly Forest – 54.35 fps
CPU1 - 0.94 fps
CPU2 - 1.52 fps
Canyon Flight – 62.26
Deep Freeze – 65.92
3DMark06 Composite Score -13759