Archives for May, 2007

This video of Beryl on Ubuntu tempted me to join the dark side.

There’s been a lot of hype recently surrounding Ubuntu (”Linux for humans”) so last week I decided to give it a try. I’ve been using XP for a few years now without any troubles, but I noticed that I’ve been naturally gravitating towards open-source programs, like Firefox, Thunderbird, VLC, and many more… Switching the OS seemed like a natural next step.

That was my first mistake. I assumed that Ubuntu would be like, say, Firefox. That it would somehow be more efficient, faster and easier to use. Unfortunately, it is not. My second mistake was thinking that my long years with XP (and before that my years with a Mac, an Amiga, and even an Atari 800) would somehow be of some use to me. Unfortunately, they were not. My third mistake was in thinking that I could fight my way up the steep learning curve and come out on the other side triumphant. Unfortunately, I could not. After a week of slogging through every kind of tedious problem, I gave up and went back to XP.

I didn’t want to. I was even ready to make some sacrifices. For example, the impetus for my switch was seeing the beryl video above — but my graphic card was listed as being unsupported. I decided to keep on trucking anyway. (As a sidenote: the installation instructions for beryl are a prime example of what’s wrong with Linux. If you use Windows, then you probably know that installing a program means double-clicking on a file, clicking “next” a few times, choosing where to save it, and maybe deciding what parts you want installed. Now go check the instructions for installing Beryl. Keep in mind that that’s page one of three.

I know that Linux is touted as giving you greater control and everything, but to me it’s like someone wanting to drive one of those old cars with hand cranks because you get better “ignition control.”

In the meantime, my problems continued: Firefox looked uglier and lagged when dealing with flash files; audio sometimes crackled and sometimes didn’t; some programs weren’t showing up in the menus as they should; turning on desktop effects turned the screen entirely white; and online help guides were a giant convoluted mess — you would find solutions applicable to previous versions of Ubuntu, or text that read like it had been wrung through babelfish a few times. When Firefox inexplicably crashed on me, I knew it was over.

Ubuntu hit me with one final parting shot — the damnable Grub Error 17 — but, like this gentleman, I’m now happily back with XP.

It wasn’t a total loss. For one, I learned that Linux is not quite for humans. And for another: It was a worthwhile experience for its own sake. If anyone’s interested, this page has tips on how to make Windows more Linux-like, including improvements like adding multiple workspaces and the free ObjectDock.

If you want to give Ubuntu a try, you can download it for free here. I would recommend doing a dual boot, in which case I found this tutorial to be the best by far.

Jim McKay talks about the famous clip of Slovenian skier Vinko Bogataj on ABC.

Last year, I posted about the Slovenian skier Vinko Bogataj, who appeared week after week in the opening montage of the hugely popular show ABC’s Wild World of Sports. Since then, some new and interesting things have come to light.

First, it seems that Bogataj (who is now retired and lives in Lesce) is also a painter; a rather good one, in fact. You can see some samples of his work here and here.

Second, he appeared on the pilot episode of Scrubs, playing (appropriately enough) a patient.

Third, boxing legend Muhammed Ali once asked him for his autograph.

Finally, he received a rousing standing ovation at the show’s 20th anniversary special, which you can see here:

Vinko gets an ovation.

He apparently got into a fender bender on the way to the ABC studio, prompting him to quip that “Every time I’m on ABC, I crash.”

It’s a strange world.

(Via Metafilter)

The now-infamous Lecce school video. Potentially NSFW.

If you haven’t seen them already, some videos have been floating around that were allegedly taken in a classroom in Lecce, Italy. Right now, the only media source I could find that mentions the story is the hitherto unknown Malta Star, whose story is here.

The paper claims that Italian authorities have suspended the lecturer, presumably because she doesn’t react to the boys’ wildly aggressive harassment — even when they take it up a notch, as they do in their second cellphone video. (Again NSFW)

I suppose my revulsion while watching these videos is a clear sign that I’m getting old. The fact that the comments on YouTube seem generally positive and appreciative, while I just feel squicked out, pretty much confirms it. I now belong to the “goddamn-kids-these-days” generation.

The videos also reminded me of a rambunctious cellphone video that surfaced here in Slovenia a year ago. I had pretty much forgotten about it but if you want to see an example of the Slovenian educational system at its not-so-finest, here it is:

Slovenian dingleberries in action.

The video is of some high-school kids (aged 16-17) in Domžale, honing the skills they will need (screaming, arguing, roughhousing) for a lifetime of unemployment and heavy beer-drinking.

A bit blurry, unfortunately.

Jumping Horse

It will be happy while
riding on the lovely small horse!

Naughty child looks like an adult.
Available to fly and jump while playing
Feel comfortable, happy and balanceable

———-

Why naughty?

And, yes, it’s Made in China. And, no, I’ll never criticize a lousy Slovenian-English translation again.

I just wanted to remind everyone that the Third Annual Satin Pajama Awards are out and that it’s time to vote!

David asked me to help out with the nominations this year, so I submitted some candidates for the “Best Southeastern Weblog category” (Belgrade 2.0, Balkan Baby, Our Man in Tirana, Neretva River, Anegdote, The Balkan Yankee and Illyrian Gazette) and the “Best Expatriate Category.” (Isoglossia, Loxias, Our Man in Tirana, and The Copy Dude.) I like all of these blogs — and not just physically. I like them for who they are inside. And in case anyone is wondering, I also tried to pick blogs that haven’t appeared in the contest before, which is why I left out some big guns like East Ethnia or histologion etc…

The interesting question now is whether Slovenia can manage a trifecta. So far, there has always been a winner from here, thanks to La Poulette’s rip-roaring victory last year. For this illustrious tradition to continue, Isoglossia would have to win the expatriate category this time around. Right now, he’s trailing Meg of Le Blagueur a Paris.

Interestingly, Meg’s got a ringing endorsement from blogging heavyweight Petite Anglaise. Most of you probably won’t remember this, but it was PA and Carniola that went head-to-head in the first award competition, during which Carniola unwittingly and suspiciously won.

Now it seems that we’re again (indirectly) up against one another. History repeats itself, as they say. I’m not sure if this time will be tragedy or farce but I suppose we’ll see.

At any rate, go show Slovenia and Isoglossia some love and go vote!

UPDATE: It smells like victory. And I love that smell. So does A. Medved, whose victory speech is here. It doesn’t end with a hooah but oh well. Big congrats to all the winners, and hooray for Slovenia’s three consecutive years of victory!

From an old Onion story about Wild Bill.

Remember that time TV host Bill Maher took a swipe at Slovenia and some other countries? Well, he’s at it again. Last time it was America’s poor showing vis-à-vis Slovenia when it came to believing in evolution. This time, in an article for Salon that talks about health care, he chides Slovenia as being “years away from discovering dentistry.” What a pecker.

Luckily, nobody reads Salon.

(Thanks to A. Medved, who I’d like to remind everyone, is up for a Satin Pajama Award!)

Lidl’s imitation newspaper advertisement.

I always get nervous when the line between journalism and advertising is blurred. For example, I really resent those “special” advertising sections you occasionally find in Time magazine and its ilk. Advertisers seem to hope that people will actually think that the ads are Time articles, only in a slightly different font and with headlines like: “Nigeria is a great place to invest!” or “Bangladesh’s booming economy: Why is it so booming?”

I recently got the above faux paper in my mailbox and it seems to be going for the same effect. (Does it work?) It looks very similar to the free weekly newspaper Dobro Jutro, except it’s all about how fresh the fruit is in Lidl. Not to be outdone, Rutar also sent out something similar:

Slovenske novice just called; they want their layout back.

Here the retailer Rutar has shamelessly copied the exact layout of Slovenia’s most popular tabloid. Is anyone fooled? And isn’t there some sort of law against this? I can understand parody being protected, but disguising ads as popular newspapers?

Look closely and you will see…

I know some of you have mix-up fatigue at this point, but this is one for the books.

Hansol’s map of Europe kind of reminds me of one of those annoying autostereograms that you have to stare at cock-eyed for a while before the solution pops out at you. The contours of Europe seem crude but normal. Then you notice Slovakia and Slovenia have been interchanged. And then Croatia pops up in a place you never expected to find it.

What’s odd is that they actually have authorized service centers in Ljubljana and Bratislava — you’d think someone would have shot them over an e-mail saying: “Hey, guys, really liked the flashy map BUT…”

Or perhaps not.

(Thanks Bober!)

You’ll never guess what Slovenia’s in fifth place in.

How did people waste their time before the Internet? Was it even possible? I suppose television and radio were around, but I’ve never seen a t.v. show that asked you to “tap on the glass of your screen a thousand times.”

This game does. The object of clickclickclick is to click on a yellowish-red box… forever. Or as close to forever as you can imagine. Some people have already come very close, because Slovenia is currently fifth out of 216 countries. Japan is currently in first. (I’d be surprised if it wasn’t) while Chile (??) and Poland are currently the other two medal holders.

Slovenia is a mere 250 million clicks from first place. Nothing that couldn’t be accomplished in an idle afternoon.

(Via the appropriately named Kratkočasnik)

I dropped out of the scene for a while there, but here’s some good stuff I found recently among Slovenian bloggers:

—> The new Magnifico single Land of Champions
It’s based on “House of the Rising Sun” and is freely available.

—> Sometimes the Slovenia-Slovakia Mix-Up just isn’t funny
They seem to have botched Tina’s traveling document.

—> Jernej wishes he had a faster camera, I wish I had his dog
I love Swiss mountain dogs in any form. More pics here.

—> Some nice pictures of Kresovanje bonfires
Slovenia is an arsonist’s fantasy come true every May 1.

—> A clever redesign of the EU’s official new logo
You can see the original here.

—> Pengovsky & Co.’s Liberation Day Hike! (Archives)
He live-blogged the hike, which I think is a first for Slovenia.

—> All aboard the Alexa train!
Learn how to bump up your Alexa ranking. (More from Had)

—> The Poulette is back in town!
About time, too. I hate when bloggers take long breaks.
(Welcome back!)