As a web developer, I’m open source all the way (LAMP 4 LYFE!). For home computing and consumer electronics though, I’m all Microsoft all the time:

• Vista Home Premium desktop (mine)
• XP Media Center 2005 desktop (Nadia’s)
• XP Home notebook (shared)
• Windows Home Server (shared)
• A few Windows Mobile devices (my smartphone, two PDAs)
• Xbox 360s (shared)
• Zune 30 (mine)

While there are a few maddening limitations regarding video codecs, all this equipment plays well together.

Every once in a while I feel the urge to break this self-imposed monopoly MS has over my home network. This phase of technological exploration usually starts with a trip to Apple’s site. I think about how cool it would be to have an iMac flanking my dual-monitor Vista setup, or how I could have a MacBook so both Nad and I can be on the Web while watching TV. Then I see Apple’s prices and I frown, then close the browser tab.

The second part of this phase is typically the last: sad that I don’t have Apple money, I go to Ubuntu’s site to download the latest version of their flavor of Linux. Every time I tell myself it will be different. Whenever Engadget or any other tech site discusses some failing in Windows or OS X, the Linux guys rush out of the woodwork and talk about how installing Ubuntu will fix all the problems. They say that it is ready for prime time, and best of all, it is free. I work with Linux all day, every day, so I feel comfortable with it. It sounds like a recipe for awesome.

Every time, hours later, I end up where I am now. I hate Ubuntu.

Last time, I battled with video card drivers. The OS seemed to install fine, but within a few days the screen resolution reverted to 640×480 and offered no option to go higher. Apparently this is a common problem (or was, at the time) and many threads were dedicated to it. There was no simple solution; diving into configuration files was usually the proposed answer. After a few attempts, I found my own solution: rm -Rf /*.*. With the hard drive wiped, I gave Ubuntu the finger.

As I type this, I am battling with Hardy Heron, version 8.04 of the operating system. I’ve reinstalled it a few times now due to the fact that Ubuntu doesn’t know that my 80GB hard drive is the primary drive, not one of the other two 120GB drives. Never mind the fact that the BIOS knows which one to boot from, or that Windows had no problem with this setup, or that I installed Ubuntu on that drive, or that I flagged that drive as the bootable one. Nope, the only solution is to yank the power cables from the two 120GB hard drives.

This has been a rocky start, but maybe this time will be better than the last few times I struggled with this OS. Have any of you had similar experiences? Or better yet, what can I do to afford that iMac?

I’m pretty open to non-Generation 1 Transformers. Much more than Nadia, who hates anything post-Rebirth (Transformers G1 season 4). The live-action movie is the only exception her overall hatred.

Despite my open-mindedness, I really can’t get into the new cartoon. I think it has something to do with the animation style they went with; it is so far removed from all of the other shows that I can’t accept it as part of the franchise.

I should note that I felt the same way about Beast Wars until a friend forced me to sit through a few episodes. Since then, I’ve considered that to be the best series in the Transformers franchise. Maybe if I sit through a few more Animated episodes, I would come around.

Regardless of my stance on the show, their toys are top-notch. During a trip to Target on Sunday, I found Megatron and Starscream. I was surprised that they were $2 cheaper than on Amazon. I think that the Animated line could be some of the best Transformers, with only the Masterpiece and Alternator/Binaltech lines being of higher quality.

I find it odd that Hasbro waited seven months after the premiere of the series to launch this line of toys, since the two typically coincide.

We were warned that Colorado has quite a bit of critters in the area. We have been here just over a month, an we had 3 critters visit us:

The cats are doing a great job of keeping the rodent population down (just today, we had a second mouse in the house…), but not so much with the insect population. I would not let them mess with the snake because I was not sure if it was poisonous or not. It actually got into the house for minute and I damn nearly lost my mind. I’ve handled 6′ boas before, but I didn’t want to pick it up without knowing it’s capabilities.

Leila is definitely a mouser. I am sure that she killed the first mouse and left the present in the middle of the floor.