10,000 BC

How do you like the new look? I'm still trying to fix a few things i don't like at the moment but its good to have a fresh look.

This evening i had the opportunity to watch 10,000BC with my friends. My first time watching a movie in the Cinema here in Miri.

First of all, forget what people say about the movie that its not nice, I won't go into details as usual but just to let that out up front.

The movie has a good story to it. A story of respect, honor and responsibility in early times. There's also the story of unfailing love and loyalty and that what i'll talk more about.

As the star does not move, so are my feelings for you. Who was it that says love conquers all? Love drove a man to defeat a great beast, to travel many difficult roads, rescue a spear tooth, make new friends, forged new alliances, defeated the gods and brought peace and prosperity. Love also cost the lives of a few good men, i guess love does have its tragedies.

We also see the story of oppression, slavery, idol worship and lust. If I won't have her you won't have her too. Its interesting the things love will drive you to do and the extent to which jealousy and lust can be destructive.

I like the ending, even though i don't believe in it, the girl was restored and became the mother of the new generation of hunters. In the end what did i get from the movie? When you love someone, it somehow gives your life purpose and direction and everything you do is then driven by that love that you have. Same thing can be applied to our relationship with people and with God. I will give it a 4.3 out of 5.

~shalom~

audio capture

Keeping with the linux theme of the previous post, I just got my mic to work on linux after trying different solutions and almost giving up, but persistence prevailed.

One of the issues i knew i would have when i decided to switch to ubuntu linux is the issue of sound and video compatibility problems. I had no problem with my sound output and i've not tried video output but thats probably another post but audio-in have proved to be a challenge.

I went full circle, from not knowing the manufacturer of my audio driver, to checking through forum posts to downloading and installing tarballs that didn't really fix the problem. Benq does not have support for linux drivers and intel is no good either so to make a long tiring story short, i found this site that offered a simple effective solution to my audio capture woes and in so doing deepened my understanding of my new os.

What started the frantic search for a fix to my audio capture problems was the announcement of skype 2.0 for linux with video support. And in good time too, i can video chat this weekend. Yay! I only wish yahoo messenger was better supported on linux then there would be one less reason to switch back to windows.

Can't wait to try it out, let you know how things turns out.

~shalom~

the matter of choice

Choice
1. Act of choosing; the voluntary act of selecting or separating from two or more things that which is preferred; the determination of the mind in preferring one thing to another; election.
[1913 Webster]

Its not always fun when we have to choose between two or more things/situations. Last week my computer was acting up, the browser kept crashing, my antivirus didnt tell me anything was wrong but it was so annoying that i decided to reformat. This choice gave me the option of installing linux as the main os on my computer which I did. I've used ubuntu linux before and it worked fine on a dual boot arrangement before i did something stupid and had to take it off. This time my intention was to use linux and nothing else. Kind of like saying talk to the hand to microsoft.

The good
I love linux and all the customisations you can do on it. Its just sweet. Plus its free, you dont have to worry about breaking any laws and there are great apps supported and since most of my school work is done on linux it seems to be the perfect solution.

The Ugly
After using ubuntu linux and spending hours customising it to my hearts desire, i have begone to find certain limitations especially with the software support. For example, i can us pidgin which is a multi-platform im client as my main im client but it does not have features like video and audio calls supported. There's a solution to this which is to run windows in a virtual environment, but that will require hard disk space i dont have and RAM i'm short on. There's also the possibility of running windows apps natively on linux using wine but only certain apps are well supported which brings me to the point i'm in now.

The choice
I want the ability make audio and video calls using skype and y!messenger but like i said its not supported to linux. A possible solution would be to scrap the linux dream and go back to windows or get another computer. The latter is a tempting proposition because if i want to get another computer then i will have to let go of the other things i want to get (see my wishlist) and i don't want that. Besides these there are other needs i need to plan and take care of that all require $$$.

Another interesting dream is to get a mac. I've been toiling with the idea for a while now and i decided that for now my mac dreams will remain dreams. I simply cannot afford to get one now, hope they drop the prices soon.

So is it back to windows or will i be sticking with linux for a while longer? I really dont know at this point. Any suggestions?

~shalom~

stand+fight

I realise i use its interesting when I'm excited about something or when I indeed find something well interesting. Its interesting how God comes through for each one of us and they way he chooses to get through to us when we may be too busy with all the noise around.

Last night i was feeling kind of weird. You know when you have plans and desires, things you want to accomplish and then somehow they just seem like they won't work, it seems like oh that's never going to happen no matter the amount of effort you put into it.

I felt like my efforts at making things work was not working, and its tempting to just give up and say whats the use. But in my heart, i don't want to give up, i never want to. And last night i was saying, i don't know what to do but I'm going to fight.

Sure enough pastor Hii was speaking from Ephesians. 6:10 about putting on the whole armour. And two words that i can take back from his message is stand and fight. When we back out and give up, we are defeated but when we stand our ground and fight, even though we don't win the first time or the first 20 times we will surely win if we keep at it.

We are all in a war, a spiritual war against the devil and his gang and no one is exempt. It doesnt mean we have to ascribe everything that happens to the devil and his gang but it means we cannot live oblivious of this truth.

I just thank God for that truth and hehe its interesting how truth sets free, it sounds silly but its true. How truth can give you hope and purpose again.

My mummy called me again, to give me relationship advice. As a man i cannot understand how mothers worry for their children but i'm glad i have a mummy who cares about my emotions and my relationship. Doubly glad that she's in support of it otherwise headache. I miss them so much :(

~shalom~

week two

This week has been quite err ok I guess. There was the trip to Alice farm but i guess that was last week. But then it was after my post so I guess I can talk about it on this weeks post so i guess it should be ok.

We came one step closer to getting internet in the house this week. On Wednesday the telekoms guys fixed the phone line so by God's grace sometime between now and Wednesday next week it should be complete.

Cell group's tomorrow and as usual. I'm scared, worried but mostly scared. I dunno why but it always happens when I need to share. We'll be going through the book of Galatians all semester. I personally like the book of Galatians because it is filled with encouragement and the promise of God. It should be ok la, I just need to rely on God.

Things on the home front are not so how should i say... good. I feel like i need an excuse not to call home but what are families for? I guess we all grow up at some time.

~shalom~