sinisterporpoise: (Default)
Things are going well here as far as I know.  I've signed some paperwork I need to sign. I think I've figured out what the problem with the food stamps is. I'll get to avoid oral surgery in January because they payment won't go through. Right now, things aren't that bad. I've got one more semester to deal with at Ivy Tech, but I have some time to recover between now and then.

The only minor problem, other than there seems to be bursistis in my left hip as well now, is that I had to get my ankle braces fixed. This was done today, but i didn't listen to the message on the answer machine until after 3:30. Oh well...

I'll be having a small Christmas dinner here, and I hope everyone has a happy holiday or just day, regardless of what they celebrate or not. 
sinisterporpoise: (Default)
 They should start with "#!/bin/bash" but for some reason Dreamwidth's editor removes the hashtag symbol.  The character combination is called a shebang among Unix/Linux users.
sinisterporpoise: (Default)
 You can use crontab -e to run the script that come below this. Just add this line to it:

00  0  *  *   *   /home/<yourhomedir>/Downloads/backup.sh  
# This assumes you have left the file in your Downloads folder instead of moving it to a more appropriate place.
# The hashtag is just  makes a line a comment in Linux/Unix scripts. (Mac OS X is Unix.)


Now, exit out of Crontab. On my Linux systems, Crontab uses nano, but many other Linux/Unix distributions use vi/vim.

Here is the script if you want to copy and paste it and put it itno a more convenient directory:

!/bin/bash
 
 
cat << EOF
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Sinister Porpoise Computing Backup Script
Test script for creating multiple
backup files.
 
Lara Landis
11/10/2017
Personal Bash Script
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
EOF
 
echo "Now creating backup files..."
 
x=1
y=1 
 
if [[ -f "backup.tar.gz" ]]; then
    x=1
    while [ x==1 ]
    do
    if [[ -f "backup${y}.tar.gz" ]]; then
y=$((y+1))
echo  $y
else
tar -czvf --exclude=*.tar.gz "backup${y}.tar.gz" /home
x=0
fi
   done
else
tar -cvzf --exclude=*.tar.gz "backup.tar.gz" /home
fi
 
How does this differ from the previous versions?  As written, it will only back up the home directories. For entire hard drive backups, simply switch it to the /home line to / .  First, it creates multiple incremental backups.  Second, unlike the previous versions, it excludes files that have been compressed into a tarball, as long as they have the .tar.gz extensions.  Is this better than Time Machine for Mac users? No, probably not. However, it is a handy backup for it.

sinisterporpoise: (Default)

This wasn't quite working the way it should have. Now it will correctly implement incremental backups of the home directory on Unix, Mac OSX and Linux systems.

 #!/bin/bash
 
 
cat << here
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Sinister Porpoise Computing Backup Script
Test script for creating multiple
backup files.
 
Lara Landis
11/10/2017
Personal Bash Script
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
here
 
echo "Now creating backup files..."
 
x=1
y=1 
 
if [[ -f "backup.tar.gz" ]]; then
    x=1
    if [[ -f "backup${y}.tar.gz" ]]; then
while (x=1)
do
if [[ -f "backup${y}.tar.gz" ]]; then
x=1
y=y+1
fi
done
elif [[ ! -f "backup${y}.tar.gz" ]]; then
tar -czvf "backup${y}.tar.gz" /home
fi
else
tar -cvzf "backup.tar.gz" /home
fi
 
sinisterporpoise: (Default)
This works on Linux, Unix and Mac OS X orlater, which I just checkeddoes have cron and the /etc/cronta file. It will create incremental backups.  For Mac users, this can be a way to add additional backups to Time Machine.

To schedule it regularly, you add the favorite line to the /etc/crontab file.   (I use Nano in Linux.)

02     00    *         *        *   /<path to dir>/bakup.sh

To make the script executable run the following commaind

chmod +x backup.sh


Now for the script:

#!/bin/bash
 
 
cat << here
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Sinister Porpoise Computing Backup Script
Test script for creating multiple
backup files.
 
Lara Landis
11/10/2017
Personal Bash Script
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
here
 
echo "Now creating backup files..."
 
x=1
y=1 
 
if -e [[ "backup.tar.gz" ]]; then
    x=1
    while (x=1)
    do
if -e [[ "backup" +y +".tar.gz" ]]; then
    x=1
    y=y+1
else 
  tar -czvf "backup" + y + ".tar.gz" /home
  x=0
fi
    done
else 
tar -cvzf "backuptar.gz" /home
fi;


There you go. It's just a simple script. 
sinisterporpoise: (Default)
 Just putting this up here, although no one cares. I'll be doing a Fallout stream at 8:30 EST tonight. It's like Borderlands, except it's fun.

(Note: I have no problem with Borderlands, actually, but I think the Fallout games have a deeper storyline and more involved game play. Plus, I'm playing the original, which is an actual turn-based RPG instead of an FPS.)

You can watch at twitch.tv/sinisterporpoise77

sinisterporpoise: (Default)
 Not that I think anyone's that interested on this channel, but I'll be doing a Lara stream Lara stream at twitch.tv/sinisterporpoise77

sinisterporpoise: (Default)
I've not posted or checked this for a while because someone's reaction to something baffled me, and I needed to take some time to figure out what if anything, I did. I've come to the conlcusion it wasn't all on my end, and it comes down to conflicting expectations in communication.

In any case, I'm not going to dwell on it too much. I had to figure out how to bring it up without making it about me and I still failed. In any case, I have a different story.

I woke up a few nights ago. This in itself is not unusual, but there was pain in my mouth, and I just figured it was nothing to worry about. This is the problem with chronic pain. You just assume it's the same cause, even when it's not. It took me a while, but I realized it was in my mouth, particularly in the wisdom tooth that I know has needed to be taken out for two and a half years ago. Dentists have tried to trick me into getting it taken out under local anesthetic before, and I resisted.    I let it go for a while, occasionally arguing with my insurance company trying to take it out. In any case, I realized that although I had gotten used to a certain level of background pain, that this pain was the same as what I experienced when I needed to get my other set of wisdom teeth removed.   

I called the place that tried to conduc the surgery previously and made an appointment. I took the bus to go there today. They took one dental x-ray, asked some questions, and I waited nearly an hour for the dentist to come in. He took a look at my chart, and took a look at my mouth. He thought he saw an additional supernumerary tooth and need to take an additional X-ray. This was a special type called a PA. I'm not sure what PA means in this context. It involved something being put along my gumline, the dentist pressing down, and some weird camera being putting on my neck. It took two attempts, but he got the picture he wanted. He found another supernumerary tooth.  This tooth also needs to be removed. It brings the grand total of extractions up to 4, and I no longer need to argue with my insurance company over getting local anesthetic to get these teeth removed.

As I was walking out of the office, I heard the nurse asking about how to spell Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. I just found that bit amusing. It's only mildly relevant to the story.




sinisterporpoise: (Default)
I've gone through this semester and it's been okay so far, with a small complication with database management. Again, this is one of those courses that provides useful information, but falls outside of my main focus area. At least some programming-like stuff is involved. I just wish we would get to it faster and not spend so much time on the less useful "theory." I don't know if I'm ever personally going to need to know about 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Normal forms. How to fix SQL errors is something that is needed. At least we have written *some* SQL. I don't understand the teacher's like of the Visio product, but I'm sure her methods are useful for visual learners. (I am not a visual learner.)

I am having one problem that comes partly from carelessness and that's with the Linux server administration class. I am not bad at using Linux, but my grades so far do not reflect that. Part of the issue is the teacher's insistence on using fill in the blanks for online tests. It doesn't work for a class where there are about 3 right answers to everything!  I've pointed out some examples where I had a question right to her but the quiz software marked it wrong. I have not heard back from her about it.

As for routing and switching, I need to be careful of my  resentment of this class. Every networking class I have to take is only offered at night and I need this class broken up into smaller chunks.  It's also annoying that they offer it at a time when you can't ride the bus home, which is useful for someone who doesn't currently have their own vehicle. I don't know if it's offered online, but I know I wouldn't want to take it online. It'd be even worse than the one economics class I took that was offered at night.

As far as everything else goes, I spent last Saturday putting together a new computer. It's finally up and running.  I hurt for a few days afterwards and I was surprised by how much sweating I did when putting it together. I think this was just my chronic illness reminding me that I still have it.  I can almost forget sometimes, but that's mostly due to medication and not overdoing things. 

As for Borderlands, I can't see why people like it so much. It's a lot of unnnecesary coordination manuevers. Fallout with its VATS system is far superior, but to each their own.  

I've also encountered a game called Space Engineers, which seems to be Minecraft in space. It's still in beta, but I liked the basic concept, which is using a lot of actual physics and real engineering concepts to build things. It also seems to be set up to be a lot that you can do.  I do wish the "tutorial" missions were not so combat-oriented, and instead focused on building a base. I suppose, like Minecraft, it will develop a dedicated fan base. Minecraft, however, is written in Java and can run on many different computer types. Space Engineers is written in a completely different language.

sinisterporpoise: (Default)
 I am up after sleeping a few hours for the second night in a row. I don't think it's a matter of me not getting enough sleep. I think it's just a matter of my sleep patterns being interrupted, and I can only blame myself for this. I shouldn't have gotten so caught up in the Fallout storylines, and shouldn't have thought about the way they treat the non-feral ghouls as being a statement for racism, or my live for K-L-E-0 being an anti-trans joke that backfired on the developers. (But don't worry, she only tests the weapons she sells on people that deserve it.)  It would be nice if there were more of an option for a more pacifist run, which you *can* do in Fallout New Vegas.  

In any case, I hope I can get back to sleep tonight. I've avoided playing video games tonight to try to reset my system clock, but it's not that easy. It might be easier if I were not know in front of my computer. But it seems that once again, I'm seeing the Trump administration and its continued failures at being compassionate human beings. I suppose the latest problem is the administration trying to end DACA. I just don't see the point of punishing the children for the actions -- or crimes if you want -- of the parents. The children had no choice. It's like punishing humanity forever or at least for thousands because two people ate an apple they weren't supposed to.  It's tempting to blame this on Mike Pence's influence, but I don't believe even Mike Pence is that terrible of a person. His boss, on the other hand, is definitely as bad as he seems to be.

I am getting back in the swing of things, but I have to admit I didn't do as well on a routers and switching test tonight as I would have liked. It's true I'm not interested in computer networking, but it does have some relevance for a server administrator. I think one of the classes should be replaced with C for people on the Linux path, since knowing more Cisco IOS commands isn't all that useful.  (Not Apple iOS. They are completely different things. Cisco IOS came about first.)  Laying cables will have to be a task left to someone else. I also dislike that these courses are only offered at night so I can't ride the city bus back home even if I wanted to.

Now, well, to the person worried that it's a video card problem on their Mac -- it's actually possible, but I wouldn't start with fixing that option.  But if the air duster doesn't work, it'd probably be a good idea to take it to an Apple store. It could be a problem with the power supply  or the cpu fan. 

sinisterporpoise: (Default)
 http://acecake.news/index.php/2017/09/08/111/

I'm just going to link to it.  I've seen all the arguments over the past few years. While I don't like taking down confederate statues (I support putting up plaques reminding eveyone that they were put up as a racist statement during the Jim Crowe era), I am even more sick of people who think that their right to free speech resolves them of any responsibility for their actions.

sinisterporpoise: (Default)
Me: [Takes fan to bedroom, plugs it in and turns it on]
Roommate: But it's not hot out tonight
Me: So?
Roommate: But it's in the high 40s.
Me: I am  sweating.  I'm not directing the fan towards you.


Also, I've seen some of my notes this year. I've been using a pen and a mechanical pencil designed to have a thicker stock. My writing is much clearer with the thicker pencil. I suppose I canh have an easier time with somethings if I acknowledge there's a disability presence.


sinisterporpoise: (Default)
I'm not sure why. I hope it's just my thyroid hormones being slightly off.  I had thought it was pushing myself through finals. 
sinisterporpoise: (Default)
Ever since my politics have swung a bit more to the left after seeing how people in my situation are treated, I seem to be getting interrupted a lot more by the roommate before I can finish the point.  Oddly, this happened to me in my Everquest II guild when speaking with someone who believed Alex Jones offered real news.

And sadly, there are some good points in the Google employee's manifesto, but he tried to make it about diversity and sexism, when he had ideas that Google might have been willing to try if he hadn't made it an "us vs them issue." Sadly, now that he's put his paper out there on the Internet, he's destined to become a hero of MRAs and the alt-right when at first he merely had a more conservative position
 
sinisterporpoise: (Default)
There's one more week left in the summer semester. My pain levels are slightly higher, as they usually are when the classes are winding down. I have the stress of the two finals I have left. CompTIA A+'s certification test is the most important one for me. I'm sure my biology teacher would be disappointed to hear this, but I've figured out that a lot of what I learned in High school biology no longer applies. It's not just that it's paired down. It's that a lot has changed.  But, this is entirely okay, I took the class to update my knowledge of biology and because the class interested me. I'll keep the textbook and tried to read it again when I have time. I'm afraid I couldn't learn as much in a summer class as I should have. The pacing is too fast.

However, that's not what is on my mind. I've been thinking about my bizarre relationship with Otherkin. Before I learned that this group existed, I held the belief that I have a female spirit and that was the cause of my gender identity issues. When I learned what Otherkin believed, I dropped the idea because I was embarrassed by it. I was even more embarrassed when they claimed they were the only people who could understand what transgender people were going through. I did not want to associate myself with people who believed that they had the soul of a dragon, a werewolf, a vampire, or a Tolkeinesque elf.  It was even more embarassing when the Lord of the Rings came out and some of these people said the depictions of the elves matched their memories from their Elven lives.

My belief about my gender identity came from my Mormon background, where we have spiritual as well as physical bodies. It made sense to me that, for whatever reason, god would sometimes put a female spirit into a male spirt or vice versa. If you want to believe god is perfect and does not make this sort of mistake, you can shift the burden of blame to his angels. Some people reconcile this by saying god didn't make a mistake. Such placements, when they occur are deliberate.  Like many people, I wanted a cause for my suffering. It's easier to tell yourself that god is testing you when you hold beliefs like I did. (Mormon theology holds that life is a test, after all.)

If pressed on this issue in public, I would not admit to holding this belief for the reasons state above, but like it or not, it is an explanation that dovetails nicely with Mormon belief. It also dovetails nicely with what Otherkin believe.  This does not mean I am Otherkin; I associate this, -- rightly or wrongly -- with people who believe they have the soul of mythological creatures.  I also no longer hold the Mormon beliefs about the pre-existence.

Taoism offers a better explanation for this, although modern science offfers the best one. The two dovetail with each other. I am transgender because of natural processes that occurred within my mother's womb that caused my brain to develop differently from my body.  As someone whose gender fits neatly into the gender binary, I can at least fall back on this. I do not know if agender people will have a similar explanation or not later.

All of this may be interesting, but what I believe is not the important issue here. It's how I react to what other people believe. For a while I wondered if Otherkin suffered from a mental illness. I used to worry about it. (This makes sense if you know my history and understand the time when I fist encountered the Otherkin belief system.)   Eventually, I came to the conclusion that as long as the vampires otherkin aren't killing and drinking the blood of others and the werewolves aren't actively hunting down their prey, that these beliefs were harmless. This is how I'm dealing with multiples right now, or at least how I am trying to understand them. There's no harm in saying that I do not understand multiples right now. The belief that they are inhabited by multiple individuals isn't much different from me recognizing thoughst as coming from different parts of myself. The only real difference is that I never felt the need to give these parts a name.  Strangely, I've not felt that there are different parts of myself any more. Perhaps this is a side effect of transition.  I'm no longer fighting between how I present myself to the world and how I feel about myself on most days. Perhaps it is not.  Multiples who do not harm themselves or others should not be a concern for me.   If they are wrong, they have committed no worse crime than being wrong.  Heaven knows we've all done that.

P.S. I still believe in spirits and that spirits have gender. I just don't believe in the Heavenly procreation narrative the Mormons push.  

Fallout

Jul. 18th, 2017 01:24 pm
sinisterporpoise: (Default)
I could not think of any other title for this post. The only thing that involves Fallout in my life is a certain video game I've been playing. I'm still in a good mood. A lot of things have gone well.  I'm even coming up on the end of the semester. It will be nice to take the three week break before the fall semester starts. I certainly could use it at this point.  I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to take three college courses over the summer again, but if I do, I'll have to remember not to make that option.

As far as the social security decision, I am waiting for it to come in the mail. I do not know how long this will take, and I've been checking the mailbox every day. It seems like there has been no mail delivered for the past week and a half. I am starting to wonder why we have not gotten mail in this period, but I should relax. It's not unusual to have periods without mail.

In my spare time, I've been doing things like this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsWorIK--gA&t=2s


I'm sorry if this seems dull. It's just that there's a lot going on in my life right now, but there aren't the sort of things that are interesting to write about. 
sinisterporpoise: (Default)
 I actually want one of these....

[A rusty blue mini refridgerator.  The words Nuka Cola Quantum are emblazoned on the front.)



The first part of the A+ certification test is today. I wish I were better prepared for it. I'm pretty sure I know the material, with the exception of memory speeds and anything involving laser printers, but I think TestOut's prep tests just love asking questions about laser printers, and they aren't a major part of the certification test.    The second part is next month.  You need to pass both tests to get the certification I'm a little nervous. (It's a bit more useful than the PC Pro certiification I already have.)

I have enjoyed parts of the Steam summer sale. I managed to pick up Red Alert 3, Final Fantasy VII, and Bioshock 2.  I had Left for Dead 2 from a previous Steam sale, but I find that one a little confusing..

Anyway, I just wish it didn't take so long to do anything in Fallout 3, although I do approve of the code that makes every character in Fallout 4 essentially pansexual. (And fortunately, the developer's one attempt at an extremely transphobic joke backfired on them.)






sinisterporpoise: (Default)
 The main character of the origianl Bioshock is linguistically programmed to do whatever the villain asks him to do so long as he prefaces it with the phrase, "Would you kindly?"  (E.g., Would you kindly go kill Andrew Ryan, the Ayn Randesque creator of Rapture?) It has now become common practice in this house that if one of us wants the other to do something we preface the request with ths same phrase.   So far, it seems to work, too.

sinisterporpoise: (Default)
 I've had a busy few weeks, and this is understandable.  I think I've complained about this enough and everyone knows the reason why. I'll just have to make sure I don't do this again in the future. I do not think I need to go over all of this again.

Cathy had a migraine today. I've put up with her crankiness, in part because I understand what being in a lot of pain is like, even if I don't understand migraines from the perspective of a migrainesufferer.  I doubt I ever will, but the fact that I never will  understand what she's going through when she has one comes down to quirky genetics.  (Ironically, this is the biology chapter I am on at the moment.)  Because she needed a nap and some rest more than anything else, I went out this evening and had some fun at a local table-top gaming store. I should have spent the time doing homework, but I've been stressed out lately and getting some fun in was much needed.  I even managed to study some biology.

While I am still annoyed at the broken Dell laptop screen and their lack of customer support, I managed to get a new IdeaPad from Lenovo.  (It has replaced a ThinkPad made by IBM I owned several years ago.  It has a fair amount of graphics power compared to my other systems, and it might be good for non-strenous gaming. I'm not too sure about this, however. Gamergaters showed the dark underbelly of this hobby, and they have left a bad taste in my mouth. I should not let them prevent me from doing something I enjoy.  The one thing that might stop me from a lot of games is my poor hand-eye coordination.) 

Next week is midterms, and I will be busy. I have to do a lot of practice tests for the CompTIA A+ hardware exam. All of this culminates in the test. When this week is done, the next four weeks of the class are spent on the software portion of the test. I'm not looking forward to either of them.

All in all, it was just nice for a little break. I hope Cathy is feeling better tomorrow.   

I think I had something introspective to post tonight, but I seem to have forgotten what this was.  Maybe I will remember it later.

Also, I need to add "Oxygen not Included" to my Steam wishlist.





 




sinisterporpoise: (Default)
It may be my roommate's house, but she should at least make the effort not to  listen to alt-right racist YouTubers so loudly.

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