About a week ago, I blindly (and in retrospect, foolishly) agreed to an automatic update to the kernel on my OpenSUSE 10.2 box. After this update, it appears that my LIRC installation no longer works, meaning my Remote Control is not currently functioning in Linux. From what I can tell, others have had similar problems in the past, having to do with lirc modules that are no longer compatible with the kernel or something. It looks like I might have to uninstall, then download the source, build the modules myself and try to install that way. Ugh... Does anybody have any pointers? Read the rest of this entry ...

§346 · March 13, 2007 · Linux, Software, Technology · Comments Off on Lack of Control ·


I've been working on making my OpenSUSE 10.2 box my permanent home computing environment for a few months now, I've got it set up for web browsing, development, media catching. I tried recently to open a rather large personal finance-related spreadsheet in OpenOffice Calc and was appalled. Read the rest of this entry ...

§345 · March 13, 2007 · Linux, Software, Technology · 6 comments ·


I finally settled on a remote control solution for my Home Theater Personal Computer (HTPC): The SnapStream Firefly PC Remote, $49.99 USD with free shipping from Amazon. Here's how to set things up in OpenSUSE 10.2. Read the rest of this entry ...

§336 · March 2, 2007 · Linux, Software, Technology · Comments Off on Setting Up OpenSUSE with a Remote Control ·


The one thing I don't like about OpenSUSE so far (both 10.1 and 10.2) is the mechanism for setting up Automatic Updates to the system (i.e. when security patches are released for packages you've installed). To me, it's needlessly confusing, though I think I've got it mostly under control in my head. This post is part investigation, part what-worked-for-me. I hope it helps those experiencing the same frustrations that I did. Read the rest of this entry ...

§334 · February 27, 2007 · Life, Linux, Software, Technology · Comments Off on SUSE Pain: Online Updates ·


My real barrier here is time, there's just not enough of it to do all the research and all the fiddling that I want to do. So I'm hoping some stray MythTV guru will happen upon this blog entry and solve my problems for me. Read the rest of this entry ...

§335 · February 12, 2007 · Entertainment, Linux, Technology, Video · Comments Off on My Barriers to Geeking Out with Myth ·