11 days left and Ubuntu stuff

Next week is the last week of class, and there is one assignment due for each class. At this point, I'm honestly just looking to get it over with.

On a completely unrelated not, Ubuntu 11.04 Beta 1 was released today. Once I stop being lazy, I will read up about it and maybe post my opinion here. I am looking forward to this version of Ubuntu because it will be running on the 2.6.38 kernel and from what I've read, it will result in a noticeable leap in performance. I'm still not a fan of Unity, and after running the Macbuntu theme since Christmas, I don't want to go back to standard Gnome. I'm hoping the Macbuntu developers release an 11.04 version soon after the OS gets released.

Shaw bandwidth caps

With this whole UBB debate still raging on (not in the news), you may be curious to find out how much bandwidth you are using. If you are a Shaw customer, head over to secure.shaw.ca and sign up for an account. From there, you can see your monthly bill as well as a nice bar graph of your monthly usage. I am currently at 59.xxGB for March, with 12 days until April 1st. Let's hope I don't get any angry emails.

30 days left

There are 30 days left in the spring 2011 semester and I seriously need to stop slacking. This week I have three assignments due. I really should start doing them, but the force of procrastination is strong. I also need to look into doing more job applications for summer co-op, but I feel quite lazy. I think I might have burned myself out last semester. It will e a shame if my GPA drops after this semester.

On the up side, I'm almost done with this blogging business...

R.I.P Mike Starr

The original bassist of Alice In Chains was found dead on March 8. He was 44. I'm guessing people who aren't fans of the band don't know who he was. Starr played bass on AIC's first two studio records. He contributed to the most "well known" Alice In Chains songs. His work can be heard on the song "Would?", "Man In The Box" and all the other songs from Facelift and Dirt. It's a shame that he could not overcome his addictions.

TIL: I am allergic to alder, birch and oak

Today I had an allergy test done. As I suspected, I am allergic to grass. I guess I'm just the typical hay fever sufferer, and that's fine by me, but it turn out I am also allergic to alder, birch and oak. That was totally new to me. There goes a career in trail building and forestry...

Canucks win two in a row!

For the first time in about a month, the Vancouver Canucks managed to win two games in a row. For the last month, they have been a .500 team. Imagine that, a .500 team was #1 in the NHL for the previous month! Of course, this was seen as a problem by the sports writers in Vancouver, but consider how many teams in the NHL would love for their .500 play to be a serious problem. Think of Edmonton, Columbus, NYI and Ottawa. Maybe the Canucks have had problems with consistency, but they are still the best team right now.

Also, Cory Schneider got his first career shut out tonight.

Ubuntu 11.04 Alpha 3

I just watched a couple of video reviews for Ubuntu 11.04 Alpha 3, and I am impressed! When Alpha 2 was released, it was very unstable and of low quality in general. I thought for sure Canonical would ship a buggy OS in April, but wow, it turned out better than expected. I am still not a fan of Unity (Gnome Panel guy here), but it looks better than before. I also like how Firefox 4 looks. I have said that I would wait until 12.04, but I am beginning to change my mind. I think I will update to 11.04, but I will wait until the 11.04 Macbuntu theme gets released.

If you have the time and hard drive space, check out Ubuntu 11.04 Alpha 3 for yourself.

Canucks after the trade deadline

I am impressed by what mike Gillis managed to do this year at the trade deadline. He made the #1 team even more complete. for many years now, Canucks GMs past and present have been criticised for doing nothing (or not doing enough) at the trade deadline. Most years this was a fair criticism, as Canucks teams of seasons past have needed a lot of improvement at the deadline.

This year was different. The Canucks are currently #1 in the NHL, so if ever there was a year when doing nothing was a good thing, this was it. Instead, Mike Gillis acquired Chris Higgins and Maxim Lapierre without giving up much all around. Now the team is even deeper and tougher to play against than before. Congratulations Mr. Gillis, you have built a true Stanley Cup contender.