Archive for April, 2007

19
Apr
07

Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) officially released!

By Scott Leave a Comment
Categories: Linux & OpenSource, Tech and Ubuntu

Time to celebrate!

If you’re trying to download, please use BitTorrent to reduce the load on the Ubuntu servers.

In case you don’t know, Ubuntu comes in two primary flavors:  GNOME and KDE.  Choose whichever you prefer and enjoy the Ubuntu goodness!  If you want to know more about Ubuntu, visit the website or ask questions in the forums.  If you want to read the documentation while you wait for the download to finish (what, you mean read the manual?!?!) it’s located here, although it doesn’t appear to have an official 7.04 version yet.

Xubuntu CDs (using XFCE) are not yet available, as of the time I’m writing this. You can check for them here (and please use the torrent files).

For other CDs, visit http://releases.ubuntu.com/7.04/ or your local mirror (just put your two-letter country code in front of releases, i.e. http://us.releases.ubuntu.com/7.04/ ).

If you prefer, you can get the latest version as a DVD image at http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/7.04/ .

18
Apr
07

Has the world gone mad?

By Scott 1 Comment
Categories: Charlotte Metro, News and North Carolina

OK, I wasn’t going to post anything at all about the Virginia Tech shooting mess, since the people involved in that have enough to worry about already, thank you very much.

Then I saw on today’s news that there was a school lockdown in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, while police searched for a homicide suspect. Then in a completely unrelated story, some schools in Mecklenburg County were locked down until the gunman shot himself. And in yet another story, some Cabarrus County schools were locked down while police searched for a man who was charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

I’m suspecting that the two North Carolina stories are possibly related, since the affected areas are so near each other. Still, could somebody tell me what, exactly, makes people with guns head in the direction of the nearest school? Even if they don’t enter, they still seem to be drawn to schools of all descriptions much as a moth is drawn to a bug zapper. Maybe there’s something of the Virginia Tech incident that’s stuck in the crazed gunmen’s brains?

UPDATE:  WCNC has an update on the Mecklenburg County story.

12
Apr
07

Don Imus fired: have we ignored the First Amendment again?

By Scott 2 Comments
Categories: Commentary, Free Speech and News

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

What Don Imus said was tasteless. I am in full agreement with those who want to lambast Imus for his “nappy headed hos” comment. I’m somewhat disbelieving that it’s considered perfectly fine to print and say the phrase over and over, while the N Word, as it’s now euphamistically called, has finally become so taboo that even the outspoken Whoopi Goldberg says she will no longer use it. My only question is: why is “nappy headed hos” more acceptable than that word? Maybe it’s because this particular phrase could only be offensive to women, and not to men, since we rarely refer to male prostitutes as “hos?” It’s something to think about. Continue reading ‘Don Imus fired: have we ignored the First Amendment again?’