New Random Blog Post, Updates, etc.
Ok, I apologize for not keeping up with my promise last month. Summer started to drag on, I had a cold for the first week and a half of June, etc. etc. So anyway, its July 1st, new month, and I figured, time for a new blog post.
So in the past month I've probably used Ubuntu 10.04 95% of the time, and Windows Vista about 5% of the time. So, I'm definitely using Linux hell of a lot more than I have in the past, which is definitely a good thing! Yes, I have gotten used to the buttons being on the left side of the titlebar, and even Ubuntu's new Ambiance Theme (although I changed it to something else eventually anyway).
So, around a week and a half ago I decided to order a new 500GB HDD. I wasn't running dangerously low on space, but I figured I might as well order one just to have the extra space, have one nice really large drive, and for performance too (the 32MB of cache is pretty nice). The drive I ordered was a 500GB Western Digital Caviar Black. Absolutely amazing drive. Boots up into Ubuntu 10.04 much quicker than the 40GB I previous had Ubuntu on. And just to bring it, my previous drive configuration was 1x120GB for Vista, 1x80GB for Storage, and 1x40GB for Ubuntu 10.04. Now its 1x500GB for Ubuntu, 1x120GB for Vista, and 1x80GB for Storage. I'll include the unboxing video of the HDD below. I gave the 40GB SATA to my younger brother to use as an extra drive, which brings up the next topic.
My younger brother having had suffered 2 months on a A8N-SLI board (after trading motherboards with my other younger brother) which wouldn't work with his video card or Processor correctly (it detected his Socket 939 Athlon x2 as a Single Core), he finally got a new motherboard/CPU with 3GB of DDR2 RAM included. He's now finally able to use his 512MB 8600GT again, and his new CPU is an Athlon II x3 CPU at 2.7GHhz. Of course, because that boards only IDE channel would have been taken up by his Optical Drive, we had to order ANOTHER 500GB Western Digital Caviar Black drive. The pure fact that it was on sale AGAIN when we realized he needed another drive was some pretty good luck, otherwise we would have had to go with a 320GB or 250GB drive instead. But basically we set up a dual-boot on his system w/ XP and 7, plus a partition to store games. My youngest brother also got an upgrade out of this, including an upgrade to 2.5GB of RAM, Socket 939 Athlon x2 2.4GHz, and an extra 80GB IDE HDD.
Another thing I would like to mention is I have an extra Pentium D + a Board laying around I am actually considering doing something with. I just need to get a case, HDD, an optical drive for it (and maybe just a little bit more RAM). What I was thinking is I could possibly set that up to do videos on AND I will also probably use that as a machine to setup and do distribution testing and reviews on.
Anyway, I did mention I was getting used to Ubuntu's Ambiance Theme, well, thats when I decided to install the Elementary Theme Package, including The Elementary Modification of GNOME's File Manager Nautilus. I absolutely love this theme, and its actually going to be the Default theme of a Ubuntu-based distribution coming out called "Elementary OS". I think I might do a review on that in the future. That, along w/ Installing the AWN Dock, and using GNOME-DO, I can definitely say this UI is heck of a lot better than Window's UI.
So to continue on with my aimless rambling (is it really aimless?), while I kind of didn't go through with my blog every day in June, I definitely plan on doing more blog posts this month. I have been messing around with some pretty interesting software packages lately, mostly ones I found via Ubuntu's Software manager, that I would probably like to talk about, including an application I'm using to type this blog post in right now. So thats what I might focus my blog posts on in the next week, and I might even include videos. So, I would recommend keeping your eyes glued to this blog.
Anyway, thanks for reading this rambling blog post just updating a few things. Please subscribe to my Blog so you can keep on reading the next series of posts reviewing certain pieces of software, and I would definitely love some Constructive Feedback/Criticism in the comments section.
~ Tyler J. Brown
Graduation and couple other things
Today, Wednesday June 2nd, 2010, was my graduation from High School as part of the Pleasure Ridge Park Class of 2010! 
After 4 years of being at the school, I can't believe that its all over. Got my Diploma Today, and its just wow. Graduation was great, although after it was over my ride wanted to rush me out of there so I didn't get a chance to talk to a couple of my favorite teachers that were there. In the process of rushing out the door, it took us 20 minutes to find our car as we forgot where we parked.
After graduation, we went straight home, but didn't stay there long. Probably about 15-20 minutes before we left and headed out to Golden Carrol for Lunch. Had a few plates of food, mainly the Roast Beef with some potatoes, and some dessert.
Sooo..... now that I'm done with High School, got my Diploma, etc. What am I going to do now? Well, considering I'm coming down with a cold, I'm probably going to rest for a day or two. I may end up having a graduation party, and I will probably end up going to those of a few friends as well over the weekend. Starting next week, I will definitely start looking towards getting a job. I have a couple places in mind that I'm seriously considering. This fall I will go to Jefferson Community College to start off my first two years of college, and I also plan on taking the test for my Network+ Certification this Fall (After studying over the Summer).
And yeah, Todays post was out a little later as well. However, Today was also one hectic of a day. I was barely on the computer until later in the day. With graduation, eating out, spending time with family, I definitely bugged a few people that felt like I was ignoring their messages, whether it be on any IM service I'm on or through IRC. Thanks for reading this short post, and check back tomorrow for another, hopefully tech related, blog post. And don't forget to subscribe using services or software like Google Reader, Thunderbird, in-browser RSS readers that are built into browsers such as Firefox or Opera, etc.
- Tyler Joseph Brown (Condoulo)
PRP Class of 2010 Graduate!