Bits and Pieces 4

I had forgotten how sharp an old “safety razor” could be. I also forgot how much they hurt. The blades are very cheap, if you can find them.
I found a copy of Corel WordPerfect Office X5 Standard someone had returned to the vendor. The key had been de-registered, but since the box was open and it was the older version (X6 has been out for awhile), they cut the price. A lot. It was the very most I could get for the money from a selection of 50+ possibilities. It was approximately $35 (US) with shipping, when it retails around $250, ordered through Amazon. We’ll see if it turns out so well, since shipping could take a week or two.
I’ve been spending a lot of time playing with Virtual Machines on my computer. Microsoft’s Virtual PC is good for XP and almost nothing else. You can install other operating systems, and they have it rigged for really old Linux and Unix packages. But it’s about worthless. I tested the free VMware Player. It’s pretty hard with things like Win98, because the folks at VMware don’t tell you the whole story. On the other hand, older Linux distros work really well.
I got Ubuntu 8.04 installed automatically, all neatly scripted. It’s a good way to run WordPerfect 8 for Linux. When I tried Ubuntu 10.04, none of the GUI got installed. Fortunately, once I figured out what was wrong, I knew how to finish out the install and get things running. I really do prefer to use Linux on the Internet; it’s much more secure. Also, there are a lot more dirty tricks I can use which are very difficult or simply not possible on Windows. In essence, Linux is closer to the real standards of the Internet, the original ideas of complete freedom, common standards, etc. At the same time, Linux people tend to ignore all the DRM and other restrictions on media the commercial giants use, the same giants who keep trying to break all those old rules.
Also, viruses are wholly unlikely on Linux, even as a virtual computer inside a Windows box. Linux still sucks for anything else, including the new GUIs. That Ubuntu 10.04 was the last good GUI release, so supported or not, I’m not running anything newer.
I confess I drooled over some new type mountain bikes with 29″ wheels. I’m praying I can save up for one; they start around $200 for the cheap junk, and decent starts at around $300.
It’s not likely I’ll get much writing done during the Christmas holidays. There are some other projects I’ve had on hold while I finished working on Paul’s Letters. Would you believe it? Within 12 hours of publishing it on Smashwords, it already had 25 downloads. Meanwhile, the book which started it all — The Mind of Christ — is still getting a few each week. It was at 85+ this morning.
Okay, I’ve wasted enough of your time.