My System specs and speed review

A popular topic in the Linux world is how old of a computer can you run . So here are the specs on my computer:
Originally a Compaq Presario desktop

AMD Duron 900mHz CPU
370 MB of PC100 SDRAM - 3 slots with 128 MB each
Hard drive - Maxtor 20 GB D740X-6L
Some sort of network card with a blessed ethernet port - let's me run high speed DSL
CD/RW drive - on old one - I rarely use it

This computer is mainly used for surfing the internet and my boys playing games.

I'm currently running Ubuntu 7.10. My system keeps it up just fine. I don't exactly max it out all that much. I ran the system monitor one day and looked at it closely as I did various commands. I found out that the CPU seems to be the holdup. Most of the tasks I did rarely maxed out the RAM, but the CPU hung at 100% for a bit after almost everything I did.

GIMP - Change Image from Grayscale to RGB

This post is going to take a drastic turn from my other posts to date. I am currently teaching myself how to use the GIMP software. To my knowledge, GIMP stands for:

Gnu
Image
Manipulation
Program

It's an excellent image and photo editor and it's FREE. I've really been interested in the Linux and Free Software movement (call it what you like) in the past few years. One of my reasons for developing this hobby is that I give my entire paycheck away to the wife and children and that leaves about $0 left over for any of my hobbies or side ventures.

But a wonderful thing exists in this world. For one, good people around me who are kind enough to throw out their leftover computer parts and peripherals. From this (free) stuff, I have put together this computer from which I'm writing this post. Another wonderful thing - Linux, GIMP, Blender and all the other free software made readily available for all to partake. It continues to blow me away that so many people around the world would put so much work into something and then give it away for free.

On to the topic of this blog's title. Today I downloaded an image for use on a website. It was an outline of the states of the USA. I wanted something simple that I could fill a select color in select states. When I opened it up in GIMP and tried the Fill command, it kept giving me a gray color. Then I noticed on the header, it said the file was in "grayscale." I did an internet search to figure out how I could fill on this image in color. (Hey, you GIMP experts, cool it and sit down - I'm getting there.) So here's the command of the day that was the solution to this problem.

In the toolbar in the window of your image go to Image>Mode, then change to RGB. In the Mode pulldown menu, you can toggle between RGB, Grayscale and Indexed. Basically, RGB is color. Grayscale is black and white. Indexed is something more complicated. You'll have to search on your own for a better explanation.

Sorry for not citing references. I don't remember where I learned this. It's so elementary, and the GIMP is free, I'm sure it's ok.

But I will say that
http://gimp-tutorials.net/
has been an excellent resource so far.

Don't Dump Your Life on the World; Leave a Legacy of Great Things

I. The Setting

Recently, I was driving my family home from a visit to the Chicago area. We were passing by the southern side of the greater Chicago area during the early morning hours just as the sun rose above the horizon. Looking off in the distance, I came across an interesting site. Perfectly positioned in front a beautiful sunrise, was a dump truck dumping something in a large, open area. The sharp contrast of the dump truck in front of the beautiful, multi-colored sunset shined home a valuable lesson to me.

II. The Lesson

The lesson gave my mind some quick impressions that I pondered over the next few hours of driving (we had a long way to go). I realized that we live in a beautiful world with many amazing things happening all around us. We can see evidence of both beautiful scenery and people making contributions to make the world a better place. Yet, in spite of this, we also see evidence of those who dump trash, both figuratively and literally on this world. The take home lesson of this day: Don't dump your life on the world; leave a legacy.

III. World of Ugliness

We can see evidence of ugliness in many places. In some places, litter lines the street sides. Messes are made and not cleaned up. People do things that are inconsiderate, not thinking of how this affects others. There are even those who seek to hurt their fellow brothers and sisters. Motivation for these actions can vary across different circumstances. But most cases can be traced back to a common thread. These people have a problem in their life that they would dump on the world, rather than keep it inside or even change. For whatever reason, they are driven to do something that degrades the beauty of this world. They dump their problems on the world.

IV. World of Beauty

However, the world is also filled with beauty. As I noticed that morning, beautiful sunrises happen every day, all across the world, for everyone to see. The world is filled with beautiful mountains, valleys, clouds, rivers, countrysides and urban skylines. There are also people of this world who contribute to it's beauty. Many freely give of their time and resources for the betterment of others. Service is rendered every day to make the world a better place in great and small ways. In some cases, there are those who put their own safety on the line to protect others. Whenever the Ultimate Sacrifice is made, some how and some time, the world notices. The beauty of this world is enhanced by people like this.

V. The Solution

Be the kind of person who makes the world more beautiful. Think about what you do each day. Be mindful of how your actions might affect others. But even more important than staying out of others' way, do something each day that makes the world better. Arrange your habits, your mindset and your life so that you can make a positive contribution to the world around you. Don't dump your problems on the world. Do something good for those around you and leave a legacy of beauty and happiness.

Watch What You Say

Today's take home lesson also has to to with conversations and saying the appropriate thing at the right time. We all have opportunities to speak our mind, repeat something we heard elsewhere, or tell a story in the conversations we have with others. Sometimes, there are things we ought to say and others that we ought to keep to ourselves. The take home lesson for today is to watch what you say, when you say it, and who you say it to.

I. What

Watch what you say to others. Try to avoid speaking negatively of others. This is accomplished by putting a positive spin on everything we talk about. It is always easier to speak negatively, criticize, or tear down someone or something. The difficult, yet more productive choice is to speak words of kindness, enhance or build up the person or thing of discussion.

II. When

Watch when you speak in conversations. When speaking with others, there is a flow or a cadence to the conversation itself. Having a conversation with someone implies that effort is put in by all involved. Figure out the "right" amount that you should contribute to what's being said. This is different for everyone and is part of who we are. Some like to talk a lot and others very little. Learn to carry on your side of the conversation. There is definitely a time when we need to speak up. Obvious times would be when asked a question or when a response is directly requested of us. Other times might be hiding in the shadows and require more close attention for us to see them. On the other side of this, we need recognize when to be quiet. Give others a chance to speak. Conversations are much more interesting when there's more than one opinion being expressed.

III. Who

Learn about who you are speaking to. Ask about their interests and make a conversation about them. There's nothing more constructive to a conversation than showing interest in the other person. Typically, this would involve asking a question. There is an art to finding out things about others and we all have our different ways. Find a way that's successful and respectful. Some questions/topics are safe and inviting. The weather always seems to be fair game. Some things are personal and should be reserved for only the closest of friends or those we really trust.

This article isn't meant to cover everything. Paying attention to these three things will help us to learn and grow. This isn't everything, but it certainly is a start. Understanding the what, when and who of our conversations will help us from inserting our feet in our mouths, help others to be happy, and they just might make or lives more effective and pleasant.

Disclaimer: By the way, this post represents a lifelong goal of mine. Many of the ideals I've written are so difficult for me to do all the time that I think I'll be working on these things all my life. This article absolutely does not represent something that I have mastered and seek to teach to others. These things are part of what I continue to work on to become a better person.

Talk or Listen

The lesson of the day concerns the different types of conversations we have in various settings. The take home lesson of the day is sometimes we need to talk and sometimes we need to listen.

If you pay very close attention, to the point of "reading between the lines", you might notice a very interesting dynamic that can exist in conversations of different settings. At work, at home, at social gatherings, all seem to present us with different conversations. Anytime someone speaks, they always have a motive or reason of some kind for opening their mouth. These motives can be very complex or very simple. The reasons can be selfish or selfless. Sometimes, the person will want something, be it information or help with something. Others just simply need a polite, listening ear to hear out what they have to say.

At work, I have learned that sometimes people need someone to talk. Have you ever heard the uncomfortable silence when a large group of people sit down at a table and no one says anything. Maybe each individual is hoping someone else will make the first move and "break the ice." I work at a consulting business where we often have meetings with clients. There seem to be many instances when the client wants the consultant to speak and take control to show their work, or whatever the reason. There will be situations in life where you can put the other person at ease by speaking. Of course, what you say does matter, but all the knowledge and wisdom in the world won't benefit the other person when it's kept inside. People who are comfortable with opening their mouths will naturally attract others to talk with them.

The other side of the lesson often comes from our more personal relationships. Sometimes we need to be a good listener. In some cases, the speaker simply wants a respectful audience. Next time you get the chance, really think about how the speaker feels to have one or more people quietly listening intently to what is being said. Whether or not you agree or understand what they are saying, your respectful silence can really strengthen a relationship. A lot can be learned when you are listening. This is why eager-to-learn students are quietly paying attention while their teacher is talking - because they hope to learn something from what their teacher is saying. So we can increase our learning through simple listening.

Learn to speak when you ought to speak. Learn to listen when you ought to listen. Simple ideas that might keep you out of trouble and help you understand more of what's going on around you.

Be True to Your Word

The take home lesson of today is be true to your word. By this, I simply mean do what you say you are going to do. There is a balance in this because sometimes people have tendency to back down from challenges in order to keep this ideal. Besides, if you never said you would accomplish the task, and you don't; you're being true to your word, aren't you?

Technically, you are. But you aren't progressing. You haven't taken any lessons home or moved any closer to meeting your goals. Implicit in today's take home lesson is (perhaps a future post?) stepping up to the plate. Taking on an assignment. Don't lie, or take on something that you shouldn't. BUT, the balance of that is grabbing opportunities and running with them. This isn't digressing, but it is getting off topic.....

Once you've stepped up to the plate, grabbed the opportunity and started running with it, finish. Finish on time. With the highest quality you are capable of. When you meet others expectations, you also meet your own. Satisfying needs in others is only part of the deal. When you meet a deadline, finish a product or service and get it to your "client" within the agreed timeframe, you build confidence in yourself. Proving to yourself that you can be true to your own word builds a bedrock of character within you from which many good things can spring forth.

The confidence you build with others when you are true to your word is vital to any social relationship. Think about those around you that you trust. Why do you trust them? What have they done to gain that trust? Somewhere along the line, they kept their word with you. They met your expectation. This means everything when there's a real live problem and you must place your trust in someone else to solve that problem.

Do what you say you will do. Be true to your word.

The Value of the Lunch Break

Today I learned the value of the lunch break. Have you ever wondered why sometimes we have to lose something to gain appreciation for it? Whilst at work this morning, a very important and urgent task was placed before me right before lunch. It needed to be done as soon as possible and I could see that it would take me well beyond lunch to finish. Being Christmas time, I managed to find something around the office to eat and I worked right through lunch to finish the task. I accomplished what I needed to and felt like I did a good job.

By this time, it was well into the afternoon, so I decided to just finish out the day. It wasn't until the car ride home that the Take Home Lesson for the Day came to me - a day with a normal intensity and no lunch break is much more tiring that when I do take a lunch break. On the way home, I noticed I was really tired - more so than usual. I learned the value of taking a lunch break.

The mind and body work much more effectively when breaks are used properly. We can work much better and finish out the end of the work day much stronger when a decent lunch break is taken. A lesson I enjoy teaching my children over and over is that the human body is the only machine in the world that gets better with use. This is true with both physical and mental exercise.

A good saying I learned from my father that I've tried to live by: "Work hard and play hard." Set goals for your time at work - long term and short term. Work hard to achieve them. Lay out your daily tasks and do what it takes to finish them. Take time, here and there, to reflect on your long range goals. Take a step back and see what path your day-to-day actions are taking you down. Make course corrections as needed.

Plan out your breaks and vacations with the same intensity. Do those things that bring regeneration and renewal to your mind and body during your break. Some times I like to sit back and let a movie entertain me. Other times, I feel an inner drive to get something accomplished and sitting back is the last thing I want to do at the time. Excessiveness on either end makes me ineffective and unhappy.

But the proper balance makes all the difference in the world.