Old computer

I finally got my hands on my old Linux desktop again now that I’ve returned from San Francisco.  I’m trying to clean it out so that I can wipe it and reinstall Linux, because all of the old installations on it are borked to a greater or lesser degree.  I’m currently using the most functional one, a Knoppix/Debian installation which works fine except that you have to manually type “pump” after starting up in order to get on the internet, and apt-get seems to have self-destructed.  The inability to install new programs using apt-get is a deal-breaker, so I have to wipe and reinstall, b/c I’m not enough of a guru to fix apt-get once it’s borked.  I like clean installations anyway, crap always builds up on your computer and it’s so refreshing to throw out all the stuff you don’t need.  I’m just SCP-ing all of my stuff to an account on another server while I make the transition.

One thing I found was a couple notes from like February, which included a link that I meant to blog which I never got around to doing.  Kevin at Werblog makes a very interesting point about the free culture debate, the problem of both sides treating the other side as evil radicals.  He also uses the abbreviation FCM for Free Culture Movement, which I haven’t seen before.

There is also this awesome project, FutureMe.org, which lets you send an e-mail to your future self.  Interestingly enough, it takes into account that you may not have the same e-mail in the far future, so you can manage your account so that your “future e-mail” is always current 😉  I know I used this once, but I can’t remember what e-mail I used… presumably it was my Swat e-mail account, I must have known that I would have that until the end of my senior year.

In my notes I also came across the contact info of random reporters from the Diebold case, drafts of SCDC propaganda, thoughts about getting business cards (I really need a business card!), random quotes that I liked to use in my AIM profile, and scattered to-do lists that I’ve forgotten about.  What else is lurking in my old computer?  Stay tuned.