Setting Up a New WiFi Dongle in Linux from the Command Line

I ran into a problem recently. I’d bought a new Wi-Fi USB dongle for my computer. Windows picked it up immediately and connected to my router. My Linux installs did not. Oh, the dongle worked. My desktop and my notebook (a rehabbed Chromebook) could see the router it had connected to before. But I hadContinue reading “Setting Up a New WiFi Dongle in Linux from the Command Line”

On Gun Manufacturers and Criminal Prosecution

The story of the 2 year-old girl in Kentucky, who was shot and killed by her 5 year-old brother with a rifle he was given as a present, has been preying on my mind much of the week.  I think about the little girl, I imagine that just a few days ago she was aContinue reading “On Gun Manufacturers and Criminal Prosecution”

On Slavery, Ancestry, and Richard Dawkins

For inexplicable reasons, the Sunday Telegraph decided to run a hit piece on the outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins because he’s descended from a Jamaican slave owner. In the mind of the writer of the piece for the Sunday Telegraph, apparently because a distant ancestor owned slaves Dawkins “may have inherited a ‘slave supporting’ gene.” AContinue reading “On Slavery, Ancestry, and Richard Dawkins”

On Opera and E-Mail Consternation

When it comes to the Internet, there’s only one browser for me. Opera. Yes, there are other, more popular options. Firefox. Chrome. Safari. Even Internet Explorer. But it’s Opera that I like. It works for me. It’s fast and it’s slick and it’s a power user’s browser. For the longest time, I was using OperaContinue reading “On Opera and E-Mail Consternation”

On Rethinking Some Old Star Trek

Some recent discussion on TrekBBS, specifically about the alternate possibilities Paramount considered for Star Trek: Generations, brought to mind something I wrote a decade ago (!) that reimagined Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s finale, “All Good Things…,” as a multi-generational crossover film event. In other words, what if Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, and Ronald D.Continue reading “On Rethinking Some Old Star Trek”

On the Way I Write

Ah, the silence. I’ve not forgotten about you all, promise. I’ve just been busy. Writing. Watching Monsterpiece Theater. Listening to old Natalie Merchant albums. Writing. But mainly writing. I can tell you that I’ve been putting together some interesting words, building interesting sentences from them, and the resulting idea structures are cool to look at.Continue reading “On the Way I Write”

On Reading The Right Stuff

As mentioned a few days ago, I picked up Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff at Border’s going-out-of-business sale. I cannot count the number of times I’ve seen Philip Kaufman’s film the past twenty-five years. Fifty times? I’d almost think that was too low. One of the first CDs I bought? A recording of Holst’s “TheContinue reading “On Reading The Right Stuff”