The new version of Linux rocks! It adds a ton of new drivers. On top of that Apache really flies! I am pleasantly surprised.

I want to install Linux on the hard drives connected to my IDE-66. Unfortunately, I need a patched version of the Linux kernel in order for the installer to recognize the drive. Wouldn’t it be nice if Linux distributions would allow you to load modules from a floppy? Then I could compile the module and load it on the disk. The installer would load the module into its kernel. Then I could install RedHat in peace. Perhaps I can modprobe at the prompt to accomplish that. I don’t hold much hope for it though.

I sorted through GNU’s automake and autoconf utilities. They are used to automate the installation and compiling of source code distributions. It is sparsely documented. But I got it to work. Now lets see if I can figure out how to add Windows portability and support for static libraries.

Happy New Year! I went to TracerB+Neeners party last night. It was a fun time. I am always glad to spend some time hanging with them. Neeners is a new grad. Did you know in the computer field you are considered a “new grad” until you have at least three years of experience. It sucks because many places do not pay new grads very well and, probably consequently, mistreat them.

Now some thoughts on Linux. I was trying to convince somebody at the party that setting up a Linux server is an excellent idea for a home network. I have one here. It stemmed from the need to filter email. The software I had just did not give me what I wanted to filter out the junk. So I decided to configure a Linux box as my mail server and let it handle incoming and outgoing mail. After reading a ton of documents and traversing the minefield initialization files that sendmail uses, I finally worked out a system I like. I currently have a file of over 200 email addresses whose email are immediately discarded upon arrival.

Now for a look-ahead to the coming year. I see 2001 as a year of new ventures for me. I will either start writing a book or produce a small game this year. I will also try to date more this year. That means asking for dates, there is no guarantee of a date, of course. I plan to lose weight this year. I was on track last year until I started working at a job that was a 45 minute drive from home. The president stubbornly refused to provide a refrigerator. Consequently I ate out a lot, skipped the gym and spent too much time sitting in front of a monitor and not enough exercising. I now weight more than I have in four years. That will change.

I look forward to the year and am excited about what the future holds.

I have decided to leave the Sleepwalker project. It has been a creative and rewarding experience for which I am grateful. However, I cannot continue to work on two games, a web site and keep up with my commitments at my paying job. After re-examining my priorities I have decided to focus my work at the start-up.

I joined Sleepwalker last fall and have invested a lot of time into it. I have been rewarded with learning many things about the mod community and have been fortunate to work with talented individuals. AmberEyes, you are a promising designer and the most underrated mapper in the Unreal community. It is a shame that your work has not received a more public light. I will continue to be one of your biggest fans.

Ingenue has some interesting plans for the future. Without her art talent the asylum and warren levels would not be where they are today. I wish Peekaboo Software the best of luck. I believe the company is on track to become a champion of quirky titles in many popular genres.

I had fun writing The Truth. But I cannot commit to an aggressive schedule. I feel great pride in knowing that we transformed the game from the state it was in January to the demo that was shown at CGDC in March.

To be honest I do not think an amateur-based Sleepwalker game will ever be produced. The nuisance threats of lawsuits are very scary. I very nearly quit the project both times we were threatened with legal action.

Another reason Sleepwalker is doomed is the failure to attract dedicated volunteers. It is a sad commentary on the Unreal community that an interesting single player mod cannot draw the talent that yet-another weapons or combat mod can.

I have spent a lot of time trying to find the perfect exit plan. I think it will be best to simply say I will cooperate with future programmers, artists and web talent. It, however, will not be my priority.

Welcome, y’all! I took a trip down to New Orleans with a few friends. Hanging with them on Bourbon Street over the St Patricks Day weekend was a great party!

While down there I enjoyed some excellent food. Most places had outdoor seating. Some even had balcony seating with a decent view of Bourbon Street. The best dish I had was the shrimp creole at Crescent City Brewhouse. A muffuletta is a large, round, sandwich filled with salami meat, mozzarella cheese, pickles and topped with an olive salad.

On the forgettable side of the culinary scale were the burgers at the White Castle wanna-be restaraunt called Krystals. This place was horrible. It did not help that they upset some of our party by messing up orders and trying to re-serve food that was returned by another patron.

We spent quite a bit of time at two places, the Cats Meow and the Tropical Isle. The Cats Meow was a very popular karoke bar. I do not get the whole listen-to-the-drunk-fool-sing-shallow-pop-songs. But the view from the balcony upstairs was very nice. I witnessed one of the St Patricks Day parades there.

The Tropical Isle features a drink named the Hand Grenade. Our group loved it. Upstairs features a balcony with a great view and a few billiards tables with Madri Gras videos showing on the TV.

It was interesting to see a webcast radio station right on Bourbon Street. The FastBand.com features information about artists as they are playing and has a webcam pointed right on the street. While I was down there I waved to one very cute DJ. I bet I can chat with her online. Ah, yes, gotta love technology!

I was unable to carve out enough time to work on the next version of Crusher this week. I have been working on the menus and HUD for Truth. So, Kimberly should be happy this weekend. Crusher users, on the other hand, will have to wait a bit longer. Since the complete source code is available, enterprising programmers who tire of waiting can update it and submit patches back to me.

I bought a Playstation last weekend. So I went out to the web to search for game reviews of Playstation games. Just about every site I went to had articles with titles like: “10 Things to Do With Your Old Playstation” and “Is Playstation Dead?” and “Playstation 2 Games You Must Have”.. Pretty depressing. Oh well, the good news is that the games are cheaper now. That does not make them any less fun to play.

January 19th was the 191th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allen Poe, famed fiction writer and contemporary of Lovecraft. If you live in the Baltimore area, be sure to check out the Poe Celebration this weekend. I wish I was there.

There was nary a word of the Poe Toaster in the news this year. For every year since 1949 on the night of Poe’s birth a stranger quietly slips into the cemetery holding Poe’s grave. The stranger, whose identity is unknown, leaves as tribute a partial bottle of cognac and three roses on Poe’s grave. Out of respect no attempt has been made to stop or hinder him.