March 2005-May 2005

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The Network

Mozilla Network

Web Journal




I am a student attending West Virginia University who can have a lot of things on his mind.

Sometimes these things inspire me to type them down and publish them here. Enjoy.












Comments by HaloScan.

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5-21-2005: Netscape 8.0

Netscape 8.0 has been released.

I have found the manner over how Netscape 8.0 came to exist to sound like a rather dubious soap opera. America Online acquired Netscape a while back, but until 2003 Netscape was a real company developing web browser software. Then AOL, out of lack of interest, dissolves the Netscape browser development team, pries the Netscape logos off the building, and spins some of the development assets off as the Mozilla Foundation. The Mozilla Foundation then oversees the development of Mozilla Firefox, a successful web browser. Finally then, AOL takes note of this and contracts development work out to outside firms to throw together a "Netscape 8.0" browser seemingly contrived to ride off the success of Mozilla Firefox. There's more to the story than that, but that is the essential gist.

So, how is the software? I adequately covered my opinions of Netscape 8.0 in my commentary on the beta version two months ago (and even the rough browser prototype about two months before that), and I must say my findings were not complimentary.

A lot of what I said about Netscape 8.0 beta carries over to the final release as well. However, there have been some positive, notable changes to the software, some of which have addressed my own past criticisms: Perhaps most notably, the awful "Fusion" theme has been supplemented by "Winscape," a more intuitive theme similar to that of Mozilla Firefox and respecting system colors, and shown in the smaller screenshot immediately above. Apparently, users are given a choice of what theme to use when installing the software (assuming they can run the installer). Netscape 8.0, with this option selected, looks suspiciously similar to my mock-up from December 2004.

Otherwise, the Multibar option panel (that I referred to as a "bank of mystery buttons" earlier) has been replaced by a simpler and more descriptive version. It is now easier to note what HTML rendering engine the browser is currently using (through an icon on the status bar), although the entire premise of a browser capable of calling upon an (inferior) rendering engine other than its own gets me uneasy--and I find notions of "security zones" confusing. Also, the control menu now appears when right-clicking on the title bar, and the user agent string that identifies the browser (in access logs, for example) now follows the format executed by Netscape 7.x, with "Netscape/8.0" or "Netscape/8.0.1" at the end. Like Netscape 7.x, Netscape 8.0 implements a built-in AOL Instant Messenger and ICQ client, a feature convenient for some people.

However, my impressions of Netscape 8.0 are still negative. Although improved over early prototypes and betas, the user interface is still quite cluttered and confusing to use (although the new "Winscape" theme helps make the program almost-usable). The software identifies itself as "Browser 8.0" on the Netscape splash screen with the designation noted in Arial, inconsistent with other fonts used. The application's bluish/gray-tinted window in the futuristic "Fusion" theme does not match the appearance of other Windows applications, unless you're a Windows XP user who prefers inconsistent themes to discernable controls and system-dictated colors. (I was never fond of the Netscape 6/7 and Mozilla "modern" themes, either.) Tab options are needlessly complicated, and it can be annoying that Netscape.com is automatically loaded in newly created tabs by default. Aside from the presence of the venerable Netscape name, a built-in instant-messaging client, and the unique but problematic "Display like Internet Explorer" feature, there are no compelling reasons to use it instead of Mozilla Firefox 1.0.4, upon which Netscape 8.0 has (loosely) been based.

Unlike previous versions of Netscape (or Mozilla Firefox, the basis for this software), Netscape 8.0 is only available for Windows.

Notice that in the above screenshots, I am running the software on Windows 95. To do this I needed to bypass the installer and its restrictive checks by having someone install onto a different system meeting the published system "requirements," compress it into an archive, and extracting onto the appopriate machine. Yes, Windows 95 and (surprisingly) NT 4.0 are not officially supported, but I'd much rather use an unsupported operating system than an unusable one. (A bit blunt, but that adequately expresses my opinion of Windows 98, ME, 2000, and XP!)

It is interesting to note that a Netscape 8.0.1 maintenance update (also reflected in the above screenshot) was released only a day after the original Netscape 8.0 browser had been released. If anything, this shows that AOL are more committed to Netscape 8.0 than they have been to the existing Netscape 7.x line, whereby bugs and security issues long fixed in equivalent Mozilla releases have lingered untouched for months on end after Netscape as a "real" company was killed in mid-2003.

[Add a comment . . .]

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5-19-2005: WordPerfect

Today I received a copy of WordPerfect Suite 7 (released by Corel in 1996) for almost nothing.

I have two CD-ROMs of the software: One containing the Windows 95 version, and the other (still sealed) containing the elusive Windows 3.1x version. I have long ceased using Windows 3.1x, but it is an interesting curiosity to have: For a very long time, I was unaware of this version's existance and thought that WordPerfect 6.1 was the last version to be released for Windows 3.1x.

Previous to today, I had been using WordPerfect on a sporadic basis for a long time. WordPerfect 6.0 for Windows is personally my favorite version: It was the first version I used, and contained virtually all the features I had any need for in a word processor. To the best of my knowledge, it was also the last version to be released by WordPerfect Corporation itself and not Novell or Corel, so I have always held it in esteem for this reason as well. By contrast, I never liked WordPerfect 6.1 for Windows: In terms of features it was practically identical to WPWin6.0; however I found it rather uglier in appearance--the toolbars were hard-coded gray rather than reflect system colors, for example--and initially harder to use, especially in matters such as the redesigned WordArt and charting tools. The only other version of WordPerfect I have used on an extensive basis was 8.0 for Windows. It was improved over 6.1, although there was too much eye candy: Even elements such as command buttons or tabs in dialogues annoyingly changed shape or color when I hovered the mouse pointer over them!

Although I own a copy of Microsoft Office 97, I sometimes find Microsoft Word rather frustrating for serious word-processing work I intend to print off (although I think Excel and PowerPoint are fine.) As such, I have found WordPerfect's formatting options to be more extensive and easier to use than those of Microsoft Word; plus the ability to reveal formatting codes is very handy at times. Now that I have a copy of WordPerfect again, I'll get to try this software out once more.

[Add a comment . . .]

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5-16-2005: AT Forums

I have decided to create my own message forums, hosted by InvisionFree.

The idea of having my own forum actually isn't new. Indeed, I did have my own message forums for a very short time in April and May 2003. That forum was a quite rudimentary affair hosted by Bravenet. I closed it because no one other than myself posted on it, and I didn't have much content or subject matter to post anyway.

Two years later, I think that may have changed. These new forums will serve as a (hopefully) friendly place for you to discuss matter thematically related to the material on my website (there will be "Mozilla Network" and "Andrew Turnbull Network - Other" subforums for these purposes), and other interesting things that might be fit to discuss such as academic life at my university.

You can visit AT Forums at this URL. Please take note of rules and regulations if you choose to register and post.

[Add a comment . . .]

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5-13-2005: Hard Drives and Headaches

As knowledgeable about computers as I am, I still find myself at a loss when it comes to anything involving a hard drive. It seems that whenever I try to do anything in the least bit hard drive-related, things go awry.

I don't have the means to back up my data onto removable media when repartitioning or reformatting my existing hard drive, so I had decided that the easiest way to try going about installing Windows NT 3.51 on my main computer alongside Windows 95 would be to add a second hard drive and install onto that.

My grandpa had given me a used Maxtor 500MB IDE hard drive a couple years ago that I hadn't yet done anything with, so I pulled it out. I then went to the challenge of cramming two internal hard drives, a CD-ROM drive, and 3.5" and 5.25" floppy drives into a Compaq Deskpro computer with four drive bays. It wasn't pretty, and it took a few tries until I was assured that all the cables were connected correctly. I restarted. The CMOS setup automatically detected the type of the additional drive (unlike that in my Gateway 2000 486 which always gave me headaches), and somehow the drive (which was used and therefore already-partitioned and formatted) was being picked up in two partitions, one of which was 1MB in size. Also, my CD-ROM drive (attached on a secondary IDE controller) seemed to have disappeared, but reappeared again as drive F: the next time I rebooted. Ready to install Windows NT?

Well, not quite. I tried to install Windows NT, but whenever the installer got to the part about what drive to install to, it couldn't find a suitable formatted partition on the disk, even after I repartitioned and reformatted the 500MB drive as a single (presumable) FAT16 partition. Oh well; I decided to give up my "NT aspirations" for now.

After and during all of this, however, when I rebooted to Windows 95 the computer froze whenever I brought up the "My Computer" window or any other application or dialogue that referenced the disk drives present. (In DOS mode it worked fine). Ultimately, I removed the second hard drive and essentially reverted the computer to its previous state, but then an hourglass would appear and the computer would freeze after startup once all the icons had appeared on-screen. I could only successfully boot in Safe Mode, where I didn't have CD-ROM support.

Eventually, I half-inadvertently solved the problem when I noticed (under Safe Mode) that somehow two different, conflicting devices were listed under "CDROM" in the Windows 95 Device Manager, and removed one. At least I can now use my computer again.

As for Windows NT 3.51, rather than try my luck installing it on my main computer, I may instead run it on one of the 486 boxes I have. Assuming I alleviate my problems with those (one of which is sitting partially disassembled on my bedroom floor)...but enough computer problems for today!

[Add a comment . . .]

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5-6-2005: Finals Week: Surprises & Miscellaneous Disappointments

All sorts of odd and surprising things can happen during finals week. To begin with, this is usually the time when people empty out their wastebaskets and throw away things they don't want or need anymore.

First, a question: Why is it that some people in my dorm empty their wastebaskets in the bathroom trash can? Isn't this what the trash chute is for, for crying out loud?

Last night I found the oddest thing imaginable poking out of the bathroom trash can: An Antec brand computer power supply, still in its original packaging (albeit opened). How on earth did this get there?

Needless to say, I retrieved the power supply from the trash can and took it with me. The box turned out to also contain a couple handy cables, hardly worth throwing away. I do not yet know if the power supply itself works, but if it does it ought to be nice to have around in case I need it in the future.

Earlier, I noted that two of my textbooks were slightly damaged by water, and I was unsure if I would be able to sell them back because of this. Well, I wasn't able to sell the books back, but not because they had water damage; rather, because both textbooks had newer editions available! I hate it when that happens! AAARGH!

Finally, I've been a little confused by the recent habits of one of the university cafeterias, "Café Evansdale." For the last four days, they have utilized normal plates and cups when serving breakfast and lunch, but have turned to cheap, flimsy styrofoam plates and disposable cups when serving dinner. Why...are all the people normally in charge of washing dishes out taking exams after 5:00?

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5-4-2005: Finals Week

The year is certainly coming to a close at the university at long last. Right now I'm in the midst of finals week.

Today I took three final exams. The associated subjects were Survey of Art History 2, Intro to Music (which was harder than expected), plus the big German 102 final (which was held in a big lecture hall full of rowdy students being simultaneously used by different sections and different classes.) At least those are over with, although there's more to come.

I can tell that the semester is ending since they've put orange barriers up around my residence hall, in a vain attempt to keep people from parking on the grass when the time comes to move possessions out of a room and into the trunk of a car.

[Add a comment . . .]

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4-29-2005: To Unbunk or Not to Unbunk

The educational semester is wrapping up, and I'll soon have to give thought to the process of moving out of my current dorm room for the summer.

I, and presumably everyone else living on-campus, received a yellow leaflet titled "WVU Residence Hall Closing/University Housing." OK; a bit of an odd title, but the leaflet essentially provides a list of things to do before vacating a dorm room at the end of the educational year.

Most of the things it mentions (such as removing posters and tape from walls, emptying the trash, and keeping the room reasonably clean) sound logical enough, but I am a bit perplexed by one thing it says: "All furniture should be in the same condition as when you moved in (stacked furniture must be un-stacked, bunk (sic) beds can remain bunked)," emphasis mine. The reason this perplexes me is that this bit of advice is contradictory to the pieces of paper posted around the residential dormitories themselves, which say "Any bunked beds or flipped headboards need to be put back in their original position," spelling out the fines for not doing so below. Am I confused? You bet.

The beds in the room in which I currently reside (since a bad roommate drove me out of my original room) were bunked before I moved in. I showed this bit of contraditory information in the university housings' literature to my RA (the only one left on the floor), and he seemed to think that this meant that bunked beds should indeed be unbunked unless, by an off-chance, they had been bunked to begin with at the beginning of the year. So I asked my (current) roommate how the beds in our room were originally arranged at the beginning of the year, and as it turns out they were not originally bunked. So I will probably have to unbunk them after all.

Am I still confused? Definitely!

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4-27-2005: Sick

I hate being sick.

On Sunday morning I woke up with a funny taste and wad of mucus in my throat. In my experience, without fail, colds carry themselves out this way: One or two days of a sore throat, followed by an extremely runny nose that gradually improves over as many as two or three weeks. Focus on gradual: Until recently I was still carrying a spare tissue around with me just in case I needed it for the last cold I caught. Oh well.

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4-26-2005: Scary TV

In the '80s, there was a children's program carried by Nickelodeon in the U.S. called Sharon, Lois, and Bram's Elephant Show. The show itself was passable, but nevertheless I didn't like it for one reason: The opening sequence of the show included a part where Sharon, Lois, and Bram's heads all popped on the screen one-by-one. Bram's was last, and was accompaned by a bubble of gum exploding in and covering his face. I was about four or five at the time, and this always scared me to death.

Eventually, to avoid seeing this, I worked up the following habit: As soon as the program came on and I saw a cartoon elephant walking across a spider web, I instinctively reached on top of the cable box attached to our '70s Sears color TV set and turned it off.

Once I was visiting some relatives of mine and was watching TV with my cousin. As luck would have it, this show began to come on. So, as I did at home, I instinctively walked across the room at that moment, reached on top of my relatives' TV set, and turned it off! Of course, I neglected to consider that there was someone else in the room who did not necessarily share my aversion to the program.

"Daddy, Andrew turned off my elephant show!" my cousin mournfully shouted out. Uh oh, what now? I didn't really know what to expect, nor did I care as long as I didn't have to watch that show. Fortunately, when my uncle did come in and turn the TV back on, his response was "We're going to watch the news." End of conflict.

It is rather amusing to think back on these experiences fifteen or so years later. It's also my turn to ask: What are some things on TV that scared you when you were young? I'm sure some of these things are interesting, and rather amusing to look back upon with the perspective of added time.

[Add a comment . . .]

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4-23-2005: Mouseless

In recent weeks, my twelve-year-old Microsoft ergonomic computer mouse has been slowly dying. At first, it began to malfunction by allowing the pointer to fly all over the screen at the slightest touch, sometimes selecting and moving objects on the screen as well in a millisecond of madness. More recently, the mouse has periodically failed outright: When I am working at the computer, the pointer will abruptly freeze in position and will not move around. And when I reboot the computer, I get error messages that the mouse is not being detected; I must do a cold boot before I get it working again.

Until I can get another mouse to try my luck on, I've decided to go without one. Using keyboard shortcuts and features such as Windows 95's "MouseKeys" feature that essentially turns the numeric keypad into a giant pointing device, I can be almost as efficient as I can be when using a mouse. It's still easier to work with a mouse, though!

[Add a comment . . .]

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4-22-2005: Thrift Store Vinyl

Have you ever looked through the records for sale at thrift stores? There are some titles you see over and over again. Here are some I can name:

• Ray Conniff's entire Columbia catalogue.
• Popular film soundtracks and cast recordings from the '50s and '60s. (My Fair Lady, anyone?)
• Various gospel titles.
• '60s albums by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass; sometimes with battered shrinkwrap and Sears price tags still clinging on.
• Knock-offs of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.
• Battered copies of popular '70s albums (The Grand Illusion by Styx, or The Stranger by Billy Joel) missing inner sleeves.
• ANYTHING on the Design label.
• Barry Manilow II.
• Always - a mint copy of Can't Slow Down by Lionel Richie.
• Chicago's Greatest Hits.
• Reader's Digest or Time-Life classical boxed sets.

[Add a comment . . .]

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4-21-2005: Some Things I Have Never Done...

I have never...

• ...hunted.
• ...ordered delivery pizza.
• ...traveled west of St. Louis.
• ...attended any weekend night party.
• ...broken any bone.
• ...owned a theatrical DVD.
• ...used hair conditioner.
• ...used Microsoft Internet Explorer except in emergencies.
• ...owned, or seen any need to own, an iPod or equivalent device.
• ...owned, or seen any need to own, a cell phone.
• ...worn a pair of roller skates.
• ...watched "Friends" on TV.
• ...worn a metal ring, earring, or any other piece of body jewelry.

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4-18-2005: Windows NT 3.51

Am I crazy? I just bought a copy of Windows NT 3.51 on eBay.

[Add a comment . . .]

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4-17-2005: Lost A Whole Year, Part Drei

Well, I finally made up my mind: The brand new version of "Lost A Whole Year," the Third Eye Blind fan site I created once upon a time, has gone live! Visit it here.

Although the content is similar to that of the old GeoCities site, there are a few changes and many updates. Aside from one truly awful audio file (RealAudio Encoder 1.0 was never high-fidelity), I have removed lyrics as well since I'd rather err on the side of safety on copyright matters.

[Add a comment . . .]

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4-17-2005: World Wide Web Policy

West Virginia University has a World Wide Web Policy. Let's take a look at it, shall we?

The document has several sections, covering areas such as "Purpose," "Scope," "Policy," "Copyright and Trademark Responsibilities," and "Official Pages." Let's skip down to "Unofficial Pages," since I assume that is what my website falls under:

So far, so good.

OK.

This goes without saying. Google has indexed most of all of this site, which is usually the first result when searching for "Andrew Turnbull."

Indeed. I doubt that anyone would mistake this for an official site representative of West Virginia University, which brings us to the next point...

I haven't yet seen the need of having a disclaimer (except here). Maybe I will consider adding one elsewhere.

I place my name and a link to contact information in the footer of every page.

Very well.

That is a good point, to which I have complied to the best of my knowledge.

Let's skip down the page to another section that might be of interest:

An interesting point. I wonder what constitutes "excessive" playing, however?

Now this is interesting. Does instant messaging fall under this prohibition? If so, why are multiple instant-messaging clients available on most every university-sanctioned lab computer? I would imagine that this would be a difficult prohibition to enforce, in part because it seems as if a disproportionate amount of the student population (which I will round down to 100%) chats electronically in some form or another.

A very good point. The university has an anti-spam and anti-virus policy as well. In any case, controls on the university's end place some spam in its own queue before it gets to my inbox, while Mozilla Thunderbird's spam controls manage the rest. Updated anti-virus software is a must (on Windows anyway), although thanks to my own caution I have only received a single virus in the last ten years.

Uh...OK.

So there you have it, an excerpt from the West Virginia University World Wide Web Policy. Altogether I think it is a very good policy, and there is little else about it I have to argue or comment on.

[Add a comment . . .]

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4-16-2005: A Joke for Today

I thought up this joke Thursday afternoon during my archaeology lab class, in the middle of scraping a trowel against a rock-hard slab of dirt:

"Did Paleolithic archaeologists excavate stone tools with stone tools?"

[Add a comment . . .]

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4-15-2005: This Should Not Happen: An Addendum

Today's front page headline in the university newspaper, referencing the madness and mayhem that happened a couple weeks earlier, was "WVU expels 11 students for behavior:"

I am glad to see that appropriate punishment for those involved is being carried out, and hopefully future after-game events will be more civil. Unfortunately, I feel that there will always be a small segment of the student population who would rather be expelled than refrain from executing pyromania and property damage on game days.

[Add a comment . . .]

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4-12-2005: Computing & Technology Symposium

Today was the West Virginia University Computing & Technology Symposium, or CTS, a technology event consisting of presentations and a trade show. This "show" essentially consists of an assortment of computer and technology-oriented companies, vendors, and university departments setting up booths and tables in a ballroom to show off their wares.

I didn't attend any presentations, but I did spend an hour browsing through the trade show. At last year's event, some gentlemen were giving out Knoppix Linux distributions on bootable CDs, one of which I picked up. That didn't happen this year, but I looked at every display, occasionally talked to representatives and other people, and picked up a number of brochures, business cards, pens, pads of paper, and pieces of candy being given out.

Although some vendors naturally interested me more than others, there was more than enough to keep me occupied. It was fun trying hand and fingerprint-recognition security systems out. One of the people manning the WVU Web Services booth (which had an interesting presentation on display) commented that he "dug" the Firefox T-shirt I was wearing. Ironically, Web Services manage the university's MIX System, which does not support Mozilla Firefox (even though it is built on a newer version of the same code used in Netscape 6.2, which is supported).

In all, the CTS trade show (which continues tomorrow) was informative and an enjoyable deviation from my routine Tuesday schedule. I look forward to next year's show as well.

[Add a comment . . .]

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4-11-2005: Likes and Dislikes

I feel like making a simple post and laying on the line my opinions of a random assortment of things in the world of computers and technology, without going into depth or too much detail.

Some things I like:

Any computer game published as shareware by Apogee or Id from 1990-1997, the Apple Desktop Bus, BASIC, desktop cases, Google, the IBM PC AT, ISA slots, keyboards with a tactile click, Macintosh System 7, Mac OS X 10.3 (functionally), Microsoft Flight Simulator, Mozilla Firefox, Paint Shop Pro, parallel ports, SCSI, the vast majority of SCSI devices, serial ports, trackballs, Visual Basic 5, Winamp, Windows 95 OSR2, WordPerfect 6.0, ZSoft or Microsoft Windows Paintbrush.

Some things I don't like:

America Online, any Apple computer in a translucent case, "dot-Net," ergonomic keyboards, the IBM PS/2, Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0-6.0, The Microsoft Network, Netscape Communicator 4.x (except on Windows 3.1), optical mice, REGEDIT, Safari, that annoying paperclip in Microsoft Office 97 and higher, the three extra keys on "Windows 95" keyboards, touchpads, tower cases, USB (Useless Serial Bus), the WVU MIX System, Windows 98, ME, 2000, and XP, Windows Media Player 7.0 on up, "Win" modems, WordPerfect 6.1.

[Add a comment . . .]

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4-10-2005: Lost A Whole Year Revisited

As I covered earlier, in 2003 I created a modest Third Eye Blind fan site and called it "Lost A Whole Year."

Today I decided to get to work completely overhauling the site's code and appearance, taking an added two years of (X)HTML and CSS experience into consideration, and revising the content. Compare the appearance of the 2003 site (first image) with the new version (second image):

Compared to the phenomenal overhaul of the pages' appearance, I had less to do in the matter of changing content. Not much of anything has happened to Third Eye Blind itself since 2003. I did remove guestbook references and a 227kb RealAudio file sounding like a cross beween "Blinded" and the sound of someone drowning, as well as a few textual revisions. Not the least of these was to go through my "Links" page for links to sites that for some reason or another no longer appear to exist. One of these was Third Eye Blind's official website at Elektra Records. Perhaps more interestingly, Elektra.com now automatically redirects to Atlantic Records (which do not list Third Eye Blind as one of their artists, which suggests they're now without a label). I have never been one to consider further consolidation in the music industry to be a good thing...

In spite of my work, I am still debating what I should do with the site. Logically, now that I am no longer being semi-anonymous about the thing, I should host it in a subfolder of my personal website. However, I have reservations that the content of "Lost A Whole Year" might not be consistent with the rest of the AT Network, or possibly be inappropriate for a university-hosted website. Lately I've been a lot more enthusiastic about maintaining my Mozilla website than any dedicated to a rock 'n roll band. In the meantime, the old, unupdated, green version is still available on GeoCities.

I'll sleep on it.

[Add a comment . . .]

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4-9-2005: Desktop vs. Tower Cases

(Previously posted under "Technology Talk:")

I prefer, and have always preferred, desktop computer cases (that is, wider than they are tall) to tower cases. I have never owned, nor do I ever intend to own, a computer in a tower case.

Why do I prefer desktops to towers? For a variety of reasons; practical as well as for the fact that I find them aesthetically pleasing.

First of all, desktop cases allow the monitor to be raised to a comfortable eye level. They are more practical in that they place the disk drives and power switch right in front of you, where they belong.

I think that many of the supposed "advantages" tower cases have over desktops are unsubstantiated. I do not believe that tower cases offer better ventilation. Desktop cases allow heat to rise to the top of the case rather than be trapped between individual cards. Heat and ventilation issues depend primarily on factors such as the internal components installed and the position and number of fans, not the orientation of the case itself. Desktop cases, not tower cases, take up less room since they invariably sit under a monitor; by contrast, you have no choice but to relegate a tower case to waste space elsewhere on a desk or floor.

Nor do towers necessarily offer more expansion space. Certainly a large AT or ATX tower case will offer more room and expansion possibilities than a small proprietary desktop case, but the inverse is also true, and a desktop case and tower case with the same dimensions and form factor are equally roomy and viable in this regard.

Why, then, aren't desktop cases more popular? It seems that all of the "desktop" computers major OEMs offer nowadays are in fact towers. In fact, the only true desktop computers I've noticed from major brands in recent years are those manufactured for schools and businesses, in tiny, proprietary cases that don't even accomodate a full-height expansion card! Obviously you have the option of selecting a desktop case when building your own PC, but even then your options in desktop cases aren't as broad as they are for towers.

[Add a comment . . .]

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4-5-2005: The AT Mozilla Network: Links and Other Mentions

I'm always interested when my "Mozilla Network" website is linked to or mentioned on other websites.

It's listed in the "Mozilla & Firefox Links" section farther down the page on "Phoenity for Firefox," for example. It's one of the first links in the right panel of MozInfo701. And, it's mentioned a few times within the content of Gunnar's excellent Mozilla Help Site, which in turn is linked to under "Support for the Mozilla Suite and Other Software" on Mozilla.org.

My website has gotten other mentions as well, some of which are a bit amusing in retrospect. A comment on an article posted on the Dutch-language website MozBrowser.nl reads:

Which, (badly) translated, is: "Andrew Turnbull's Mozilla Network is surely the ugliest, most amateurish [Mozilla] page that I have seen; [with] a black background, light blue letters, ugly icons (?) by which Windows 95 appears yet modern..."

A bit critical, don't you think? Actually, considering what the website looked like at the time, I can hardly blame the person! This was before I had switched the style sheet to the current, lighter, and more contemporary color scheme, partially in response to complaints such as this.

[Add a comment . . .]

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4-3-2005: My Rant for Today

Why is it that so many students take it upon themselves to install every conceivable media player and instant-messaging client imaginable on their computers, yet don't bother trying a usable web browser?

[Add a comment . . .]

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3-30-2005: Goodbye Guestbook

I have decided to remove the guestbook feature from the front page of my website.

A guestbook was one of the very first features I added, back when this was a low-traffic website on GeoCities lacking most of the content it now features. Back then, friends and family members were virtually the only ones to visit the site, and the guestbook served as a way to keep track of them.

More recently, however, my website has expanded in content and visitors considerably, and the guestbook no longer seems to serve the purpose it once did. Recently, the link on the front page has carried the disclaimer, "A relic from when this was a forgettable personal website." Furthermore, nowadays every other new entry to the guestbook is a spam post invariably filled with pornographic links; these entries were immediately removed and the IPs banned. So, I have decided to remove the link to signing the guestbook.

All is not over, however. You are still welcome--and encouraged--to contact me by other means. In addition, I have added a new page providing a showcase of guestbook entries added to the site in the past, including those from the old GeoCities guestbook from before November 2003!

[Add a comment . . .]

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3-30-2005: Water-Damaged Textbooks

This semester, I have had not one, but two of my textbooks be slightly damaged by water. Both times the damage occurred unexpectedly on days there wasn't a drop of rain. Now, I figured out why.

I usually eat lunch at the "Boreman Bistro," a university dining hall downtown. I always instinctively put my backpack (with books inside) on the floor whenever I eat.

Well, I finally realized that for no adequately explained reason, the floor in one corner of the Bistro's dining area is usually wet. The floor is carpeted, and the durable gray carpet looks exactly the same wet as it does dry. So, both times I have had books water damaged were times I ate lunch at Boreman Bistro and inadvertently set my backpack on the floor in the wet corner of the room!

The damage to the textbooks is not severe; it is limited to the the bottom edges of some of the pages wrinkling, and no pages are stuck together. However, I worry about what I am going to do at the end of the semester; the campus bookstores generally refuse to buy back textbooks with visible water-damage. Oh well, maybe they won't notice.

[Add a comment . . .]

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3-29-2005: This Should Not Happen

Yes, I haven't added much here lately. Problem is, I haven't really found much to write about in the last week or so. That's no longer the case.

Four nights ago, West Virginia University's men's basketball team won over Texas Tech by a score of 65 to 60. I don't usually follow university athletics (I find them as dull as dishwater), but it was hard not to take notice of this event, in no small part due to the aftermath that occurred.

Unfortunately, some students here don't know how to behave...and I'm not talking about the jerks I've lived with. Whenever a major WVU athletic team wins an important game at home, a certain pyromaniatic, idiotic segment of the student population (perhaps a subset of the segment who think that WVU is a "party school") goes crazy and rabid and leaves all common sense to dissipate in a cloud of smoke--literally.

When I was tucked inside my seventh-floor dorm well over a kilometer away, safely ignoring anything else that was happening that night, it seems that all hell was happening downtown. In today's university newspaper, the front-page headlines read: "University to sanction fire instigators." "Fans set fires, burn cars after win Thursday." "Bank account set up to help owner of car burned on Grant Ave." Read this excerpt from one of the articles:

WTF? Why do students resort to rioting and vandalism on an occasion such as this? Are they protesting something? No. Are they unhappy about something? Obviously not, unless it's your furnature, mattress, or automobile that's being turned into a carbonized carcass. Have they been drinking? Maybe. What gain do they get out of destroying property and generally behaving like lunatics, save perhaps a short thrill?

It has been stated that punishment for students involved in Thursday's misconduct will be "swift and severe." Regardless of the specifics, I certainly hope that any applicable punishment will be successfully and effectively carried out, and student conduct will improve in the future. As far as I'm concerned, these sorts of things should not happen. Period.

[Add a comment . . .]

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3-19-2005: (Not-so-)Famous Quote of the Moment

One month ago, primarily for my own amusement, I added something to the division you see at left which I called the "(Not-so-)Famous Quote of the Moment." It essentially quotes something someone else said that I happen to like, or identify with, or be amused by in some way.

Lately, I seem to have been changing the quote as often as anything else on the website! I will probably change it less often in the future, however, as I "settle down" and concentrate on other priorities.

[Add a comment . . .]

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3-16-2005: Public Television, Part 2

Ahh, another old PBS logo re-created as an animated GIF; this is the version used from circa 1971 to 1984. I would have included this in this entry with the others, but I didn't have it ready yet at the time. Enjoy!

I feel exhausted after documenting and writing everything in the previous entry...I don't do that sort of thing often.

[Add a comment . . .]

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3-16-2005: Mozilla Firefox at WVU

Disclaimer: The following article is expressive of the viewpoint and opinions of Andrew Turnbull only, not West Virginia University or its Office of Information Technology (that graciously host this website) as a whole.

I would like to discuss at length the issue of web browsers (and more specifically, the use of Mozilla Firefox) at West Virginia University.

I have personally used Mozilla browsers continually ever since Netscape Navigator 1.0 (codename Mozilla) was released over ten years ago, well before Microsoft Internet Explorer even existed. However, I have noticed that nearly everyone else at my university uses IE instead. This is even the case in the White Hall lab, where every computer has Netscape 7.1 and Mozilla Firefox 1.0.x--superior alternatives--installed as well.

First of all, some explanations. Why should Mozilla Firefox be endorsed, rather than another browser? The advantages of Firefox over Internet Explorer itself are well documented. Mozilla Firefox is a stable, secure, and easy-to-use program with a large support community, in an easy-to-download package size.

The "regular" Mozilla suite offers many of Firefox's advantages as well, but has a larger package size and a more antiquated user interface; additionally, a standalone browser would likely be more suitable to college students than an overintegrated suite of underutilized non-browser applications. Furthermore, official development of the suite is slated to be discontinued after version 1.7.x, and it seems poor to extensively endorse a dying product. Netscape 7.x is nothing more than a rebranded version of the Mozilla suite, and is not being maintained: Bugfixes and security updates slip by the wayside. And if the recent Netscape 8.0 beta is a sign of things to come, god save us all. Other competitive non-Gecko browsers exist as well, but both have points against them. Opera has its fans and is a technologically sophisticated browser in its own right, but its user interface is arguably cluttered and confusing, especially to a new user, and it costs money or contains ads whereas Mozilla Firefox is free. Safari is only available for Mac OS X.

What are the benefits of more students using Mozilla Firefox? Obviously, students would immediately find themselves free from the distractions of pop-up ads, and would be more productive through the use of tabbed browsing. By using Firefox for regular browsing instead of Internet Explorer, students' systems would be much less prone to accumulating spyware, viruses, and worms, presenting less of a load on the Technology Support Center. Students would be able to view pages with more intensive use of CSS and other web technologies; likewise, maintainers of web pages would be encouraged to make their pages more standards-complient and suitable for rendering in the most modern web browsers. Users of older operating systems such as Windows 9x and NT 4.0 would be capable of running the newest version of the browser. And, students would be educated as well: They would learn that the World Wide Web is not synonymous with, nor solely represented by, the big "e."

What is the state of Firefox at WVU right now? As previously mentioned, it does seem that the vast majority of individuals continue to use Internet Explorer. One computer lab does have a recent version of Firefox installed on every PC; however, the option is not prominent and I believe other labs continue to make do only with old versions of IE and/or Netscape. A very recent Office of Technology Intranet article mentions Firefox and its key advantages, but it is doubtful that many see this document. The Technology Support Center maintains a spyware information article that mentions Firefox and other non-IE browsers as examples of software with "better security and [which] perform popup blocking automatically;" however, this information appears to have been added almost as an afterthought and the following disclaimer is included immediately afterward:

In fact, the university's STAR system--that contains accessable information about course schedules, housing assignments, and other information--works fine in browsers other than IE, and there is nothing that prevents a user from accessing it in Mozilla Firefox. The "Address Update Startup" page displays an unpleasant "This is the supported list of Web browsers" dialogue implying that you must use one of several versions of Internet Explorer or Netscape to continue, none of which is less than three years old. Even so, this feature appears to work properly in Mozilla Firefox as long as pop-up windows are allowed to open.

Perhaps the most significant stumbling block in using Mozilla Firefox at West Virginia University are the complications of the MIX system, which is essentially the university's web-based e-mail system for students. All students are obligated to access their MIX e-mail, whose web interface utilizes a restrictive browser check (only Internet Explorer 5.1 for Mac, 5.5, and 6.0; Netscape 4.79 and 6.2.x; or AOL 5 which really isn't a browser are allowed) to access the logon screen that cannot be bypassed by default.

It is possible to bypass the check by manual means; however this procedure is extremely frowned upon, although Mozilla Firefox 1.0.x appears to work correctly in MIX with only minor issues (sometimes the "Calendar" window won't entirely load once clicked on, for example).

However, the issue is more complicated than that. The MIX system is powered by SCT's "Campus Pipeline" platform.

I once contacted the university on the issue of allowing or supporting more browsers in MIX; specifically Mozilla, Mozilla Firefox, and more recent versions of Netscape, providing some technical information on the side, explaining my concerns with their current policies, and noting that at least two other institutions with similar systems allowed a user to log on even if using an unsupported browser. The rather scary response was thus:

Which was quickly followed by an additional response from a system administrator, shedding some insight onto the unanticipated can of worms I opened:

So there you have it. I personally have never experienced a browser crash (supported or not) when accessing MIX, and still wish that the university would reconsider its policies, but this should provide valuable information on why things are the way they are for now. At the very least, it would appear to be that the restrictive browser policies are partially the fault of the vendor, presumably Campus Pipeline itself.

It is possible to access MIX e-mail through a conventional POP3/IMAP client, but this fact is not publicized.

This leaves Windows Update, which due to the legitimate use of proprietary ActiveX controls indeed is compatible only with Internet Explorer, and is perhaps one of the only things Windows users really need IE for (although you can download and install updates the manual way with any browser you like).

What steps could or should be taken to make Mozilla Firefox more popular on campus? At the very least, the university ought to find a way to allow users of the latest versions of Mozilla Firefox to access the MIX system without devious workarounds. Roll out Firefox 1.0.1 in all labs and publicly accessable computers on campus; place a shortcut icon on the desktop and label it "Mozilla Firefox Web Browser" to prevent confusion as to what it represents. Have someone write an article about Mozilla Firefox and submit it to the university newspaper. Finally, place the latest versions of Mozilla Firefox for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux on the ResNet Connection CD-ROM distributed to students at the beginning of the academic year. If the intention is to make Mozilla Firefox the preferred browser on campus and discourage IE use, remove the Internet Explorer shortcut icon from lab computer desktops, discontinue including Internet Explorer on the ResNet Connection CD-ROM, encourage students to use Firefox through MIX and other venues, and consider implementing a policy similar to Penn State's.

[Add a comment . . .]

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3-15-2005: Public Television

I was going through some old videotapes yesterday, and decided to make some re-creations of some odds and ends I saw.

This is a 1988 on-screen menu from WSWP-TV, my local PBS station. This would have been placed immediately before the beginning of a program, and accompanied by generic music and an announcer saying, "This is WSWP-TV, Grandview, Beckley, Charleston." WSWP is still broadcasting, although nowadays it's been consolidated into West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

This is the animated PBS logo (or more specifically, the version used from circa 1984 to 1989). The color of the logo itself varied from light blue to downright purple in hue. It appeared at the end of most programs.

These images ought to bring back a few memories for anyone who saw them back in the day.

Video clips of PBS logos and promos, as well as of TV from around the world (with a focus on British television), can be seen at TV Ark: The Television Museum.

[Add a comment . . .]

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3-14-2005: Lost A Whole Year - A Third Eye Blind Site

Back in May and June of 2003, when my fascination with Third Eye Blind was close to its height, I decided to take some time off from maintaining The Andrew Turnbull Network (which at the time was hosted on GeoCities, and didn't offer much content anyway), and work on something else more fun: A modest Third Eye Blind fan website.

I pieced the site together in a few days, named it after a corruption of the song title "Losing a Whole Year," and uploaded the first version to GeoCities on May 31, 2003. It used a gaudy table-based layout that, if not quite standards-complient in markup, worked well enough and made a site that looked as good in Netscape 3.04 as in anything else. In terms of content, the fare was minimal: Initially it contained a U.S. album discography and lyrics I had largely transcribed on my own. Within a month, I had added content relevant to the Out of the Vein album, a comprehensive page of links, and peculiar offerings such as a "3EB" ASCII logo. And then it ended. I stopped adding content; I stopped maintaining the site, and my interest waned in the subject material the site was supposed to cover to begin with. I didn't even bother looking at the site again for over a year.

The site's still there; you can visit it at its original GeoCities URL. In revisiting the site, it's interesting to look at it from the perspective of two added years: The site appearance and layout was actually quite similar to that of my personal website at the time. I referred to myself on the site only as "Andrew;" no last name given. I now chuckle when I read some of the content I wrote into the site at the time...the "What computer is this site being maintained on?" question in the Site FAQ, for instance.

Now that I've done so much as blow the dust off this seemingly forgotten website of mine, I ought to think about what I plan to do with it in the future. Not much of anything has happened to Third Eye Blind itself in two years, so the content is still current. Even so, I'd like to make a few minor updates (fixing dead links, for instance), and perhaps move it off of GeoCities to a real server: "Lost A Whole Year" deserves it.

[Add a comment . . .]

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3-13-2005: Third Eye Blind and I

One time long ago (1998-99), back in the days when life was easier; back in the days when I actually listened to commercial radio, I heard three songs that I liked to the point where they gave me shivers every time they came on: "Semi-Charmed Life," "How's It Going to Be," and "Jumper." They were by the San Francisco foursome Third Eye Blind, which I was quickly inclined to secretly consider as my favorite band.

Their self-titled 1997 album (Elektra 62012-2) was one of the first CDs I bought. By this point, the band had a second record out (Blue; Elektra 62415-2) with several new singles culled for radio play, few of which left the same first impression on me as their earlier material: "Never Let You Go" quickly became annoying, while "Deep Inside of You" didn't sound appropriate in the context of popular radio anyway. Nevertheless, I remained a fan.

In 2001, I began to browse the web for Third Eye Blind-related information, and discovered a fan site called "Star Crossed Pimps." (Yes, I was using Netscape 3 on Windows 3.11 at the time that screenshot was taken). I eventually became a regular visitor, occasionally posting on its forums.

By mid-2002, it had been well over two years since Third Eye Blind's last album was released, and over a year after the band had arguably faded from the public eye. The group was working off and on again on its next album, which I naturally greatly anticipated, but it was offset by delays: Virtually every Tuesday in June through October 2002 seemed to be speculated as a reasonable release date before the figure of "February 2003" unexpectedly surfaced late that summer. "Star Crossed Pimps" went offline shortly thereafter, and I began to visit the Village Church Yard Discussion Forums instead.

As it turned out, the album in question didn't get released until May 13, 2003, by which point it had earned a title (Out of the Vein; Elektra 62783-2) and a slightly shuffled track listing.

Unfortunately, things started going downhill around then. I was initially thrilled to be able to buy new music from my favorite band for the first time in years, but I ultimately found Out of the Vein rather underwhelming with repeated listens, compromised in part by occasionally cringe-inducing lyrics ("I go to 'Suicide Girls' again...to check on anything I've missed") and the type of ear-wearing compressed mastering that all contemporary rock CDs seem to have. Now in college, I found myself listening to lots of new and (usually) old music I hadn't subjected myself to before, so Third Eye Blind were relegated to the back burner. Further complicating manners was the fact that the material posted in the Village Church Yard Forums was turning into the musical equivalent of MozillaZine AfterDark; after having the displeasure of reading several innane, argumentive, and/or political threads, my once-frequent visits became sporadic at most.

I still hold a mild interest in Third Eye Blind and their music, but my musical tastes have changed to the point where their music no longer holds the magic to my ears it once did, nor do I follow them as closely. Oddly enough, while Out of the Vein and their first album have worn thin in my musical repertoire, I still give Blue a listen now and then. Outside of the two overplayed singles, it contains some of their very best music ("Darkness" epitomises everything I liked about the band to begin with), and is a consistent listen. It's all the more ironic that the album was conceived under a deadline and may have a reputation as a "flawed" album.

[Add a comment . . .]

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3-10-2005: The End of the Mozilla Suite?

After quite a bit of speculation, a formal announcement has been made on the future status of the Mozilla application suite.

What is the news? Well, essentially there will be no official final Mozilla 1.8 release. Mozilla 1.7.x will be the final official application suite branch, and any future updates will likely be limited to 1.7.x maintenance updates. Previous 1.8 alpha and beta releases had been released primarily as a means of testing the Gecko 1.8 back end also used by other products, and had been released before this final decision was made.

An apologetic transition plan has been published giving specific information regarding this decision. Here are some highlights from it:

It is worth noting that this is not necessarily the end altogether of the Gecko-based application suite; development of the Mozilla suite may continue under a different name as a community effort.

Some thoughts of my own regarding this news:

This is likely bad news for the loyal group of users who prefer the application suite. However, this news is not unprecedented; it had been implied that development would change its focus from the integrated suite to standalone applications in the new development roadmap two years ago. Back when Mozilla 1.4, 1.5, and 1.6 were released, it seemed as if every subsequent application suite release could have been the last. Of course, this was before it was announced that the Mozilla application suite would be sustained, which provided relief (albeit temporary, if today's news is any indication).

As dire as this news may seem, I do see some good to come out of it. Mozilla 1.7.5 is a stable, secure, and up-to-date product, and if it proves to be the last official release of the Mozilla application suite, it seems quite worthy of this honor. I myself have happily transitioned from the suite to Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird, which continue to be developed and are as viable as ever. And it does make sense for the Mozilla Foundation to concentrate its development on what it considers to be its most viable products.

That's all I can really say for now. You may see some gradual changes to my Mozilla Network that reflect this news in the future...I'll put less emphasis on the application suite and more on Firefox and Thunderbird if there is no officially released and maintained application suite left to promote.

[Add a comment . . .]

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3-7-2005: My Impressions of Netscape 8.0 Beta

Here's something from the "You didn't think it was possible" files: Netscape 8.0 Beta 1, running on Windows 95 OSR2.

What is going on here, and why is it so surprising?

Well, to begin with a "Netscape" 8.0 browser beta was released to the public a few days ago. (I'm putting the word "Netscape" in quotation marks since existing Netscape browser devlopment was essentially dissolved in July 2003, the same time the Mozilla Foundation was spun off from AOL; these new "Netscape"-branded browser releases are in fact being released by AOL with development work contracted out to the Canadian firm Mercurial Communications.)

The browser is loosely based upon Mozilla Firefox, and is available for Windows only. Specifically, the browser only "supports" Windows 98, ME, 2000, and XP. If you attempt to install it on a system running an unsupported Windows version such as 95 or NT 4.0, this ugly dialogue appears:

Why shouldn't the new Netscape browser be capable of running on Windows 95 or NT 4.0, especially considering that Netscape 7.2 and Mozilla Firefox can do so? Well, as it turns out, it is. To do so, I essentially needed to install the browser on a different system meeting the published system "requirements," compress it into an archive, and copy it across.

Unfortunately, once I had the new Netscape browser running, I didn't find much to like about it. Like my impressions of the first prototype of the browser released earlier, I found that the new beta featured a rather confusing, cluttered, and unusually designed toolbar and overall user interface. The software was slightly cleaner and more "polished" in appearance than the original prototype--and the menu bar can now be positioned toward the left edge of the screen, where it belongs--but any plusses are outweighed by minuses. In addition to the cluttered nature of the toolbar, there are lots of extraneous and/or non-intuitive controls and widgets, such as this bank of mystery buttons in the upper left corner:

In terms of performance, Netscape 8.0 Beta remains a bit more sluggish than Mozilla Firefox in most ways. I find it annoying that by default new tabs automatically go to Netscape.com when opened. Netscape 8.0 Beta contains a full-featured sidebar like the Mozilla application suite does, but the capability of adding third-party tabs is broken.

Infamously, Netscape 8.0 Beta offers the (buggy) capability of displaying pages using Microsoft's rival Internet Explorer rendering engine, and also employs a complex schematic whereby different websites are given "trusted" or "untrusted" status. I find the whole notion of "trusted" versus "untrusted" sites confusing, and it's irritating that a few dozen sites were pre-configured in Preferences to "trusted" status and, thus, actually be rendered with the buggy and insecure Internet Explorer rendering engine. Needless to say, the IE rendering feature does not work on a system such as mine that does not have Internet Explorer installed. (Don't see any reason to start now...)

What is my overall conclusion of Netscape 8.0 Beta (other than that the system requirements are hogwash)? What was the point of this.

[Add a comment . . .]

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3-4-2005: The Roommate Sagas

If my lists (1, 2) of "Annoying Things College Roommates Do" are any indication, I have had to put up with a lot of shit living in the dorms since I came to WVU eighteen months ago.

I am now officially on my fifth roommate in less than two years. What happened with the other four?

The first roommate I was systematically assigned to live with, John, was a very odd character. He was originally from Maryland, and quickly became the source of disagreements and grief for me. He insisted on staying up and religiously watching sports broadcasting on television after midnight. He listened to loud rap music (he listened to nothing else)--sometimes on my stereo--without so much as inquiring if I minded him doing so. He refused to lock the door behind him at night, without so much as an explanation why. He valued partying above any other college experience. He was profane. Furthermore, he was extremely stubborn, and very quick to snap and yell at the slightest dispute. I didn't feel safe or comfortable living with him, and moved out two months later. Five weeks later he was caught and reprimanded for marijuana possession, and presumably expelled from the university.

In October 2003, I investigated the options available, and chose to move in with an individual on another floor who seemed the best pick of the lot. After my sour experience with John, my second roommate was a godsend: He was mature, relatively quiet, polite, and kept a low profile. Not to say he was perfect...he sometimes watched TV a bit more often than I would have liked, for example...but there was little to reasonably fault about him. My main regret about him was lack of communication.

Several months later, my second roommate moved downtown for convenience, and I was left in the room by myself for the rest of the academic year. Unsurprisingly, this period was pleasant and free from distractions, and I got to do essentially whatever I wanted in my room. I did get into some regrettable habits in this period such as going to bed very late, though.

I chose to stay in the room the next year. Of course, when the next semester began in August 2004, I had been assigned yet another roommate. This third individual seemed promising at first: He was communicative, and shared some similar tastes and interests. Unfortunately, the relationship ultimately soured. He worked up a habit of regularly inviting in his hometown friends, one of which was loud, profane, and obnoxious; who rearranged my possessions, and verbally harrassed me when we were both in the room. He was distracting in that he watched TV and listened to loud music without headphones on a daily basis. That he snored at night didn't help things either. After several awkward occurrences and situations usually involving his friend's misconduct, I came back to my room one night to find that my roommate had abruptly moved out without advance notice. So ended yet another roommate situation, and I again got to enjoy living alone for the rest of the semester.

Not surprisingly, with the coming of the spring semester the university had assigned yet another student to live with me.

(Added May 6, 2005, after the academic year ended and I stopped living three doors away from the individual this paragraph was intended to disparage:) I tried to be optimistic about my fourth roommate at first, but unfortunately he turned out to be highly uncompatible with his tastes, habits, and attitudes: Like John over a year earlier, this person (another Maryland native; is this a cultural thing?) insisted on staying up into the wee hours of the morning every night, watching TV, and listening to loud rap music without the privacy of headphones; refusing to compromise on any of these distracting habits. And my problems only started there. He had other odd, uncompromisable habits such as getting up and playing video games at 2:30 in the morning when I was trying to sleep in the same room. And his parasitic friends always came to me and said outrageous or disturbing things that I was somehow expected to dismiss as a joke. Once, when my roommate and his two friends were the only ones in the room, they drew a crude anatomic illustration on my side of the wall with the words "Size of Andrews Weenix" below. His friends proceeded in taunting me even after I had moved out. And he (my roommate, that is) never bothered locking the door at night either.

Needless to say, I moved out from this indecorous roommate as well. Earlier this week I moved to a different room, awarding me with my fifth roommate within two years. Unlike my previous roommates, this one is quiet, polite, shares similar tastes and interests, and goes to bed at a reasonable hour. All's well that ends well, and I am now very happy.

I must say that from my experience, I do not have a high opinion of my university's roommate-assignment process. The only roommates I've gotten through the semester with are those I've needed to pick out myself. Next year, when I'm living in a single room, I hopefully won't have to worry about this.

[Add a comment . . .]

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