Linux Mint vs Windows

Off topic: My experience with Linux Mint:

I have been using Windows for a long time now, but after reading the article Convenience Before Freedom: How Tech Companies Are Slowly Trapping You by Chris Hoffman last year, I decided it was time to see how hard it would be to get out of the Windows environment, just in case Microsoft ever locked everything down too much. I gave Linux Mint a try. Here's what happened.

The first thing I noticed was that USB devices such as a Netgear wireless network adapter or a game controller just worked immediately. No waiting for drivers to install like on Windows. Even a Sprint mobile broadband card was usable without installing anything. It just showed up as a CDMA connection when I clicked the network icon on the lower right.

With Linux, so many things are just built into the operating system - things that would require installing third party software on Windows. For example, I can just type md5sum "file name" in the terminal and it will calculate the MD5 for that file. For files with long names, I can hit the tab key to auto complete. Another example is that simply typing lscpu into the terminal produces vastly more information about the CPU than I could ever get out of Windows. Mounting ISOs can be done by right clicking on the file, and selecting open with, disk image mounter.

It is nice to not have to worry about malware so much while using Linux. And if something does go wrong (probably something other than malware) reinstalling is easy. No wondering if the product key can be found or if it will still work.

On windows, the updater sometimes does strange things such as suddenly showing up, saying that it is downloading updates, then disappearing. Why does it do that? On Linux Mint, the update manager icon is always visible, doesn't disappear, and doesn't try to install anything automatically.

The Linux Mint Software Manager makes it easy to see what might be worth installing because reviews are listed right next to each item.

Basic tasks such as browsing with Firefox, word processing etc. were no problem.

I was impressed by the fact that the video players that Linux Mint came with by default could play any video I could find. I later installed Openshot and found that it could do some things (but not all) better than any free video editor I came across on Windows.

The desktop backgrounds were outstanding.

Linux Mint also came with a decent BitTorrent client, Transmission.

Other software I later installed and found particularly useful includes:

Hardinfo - system information and benchmark tool
System Load Indicator - displays CPU, RAM, swap space, hard disk, networking
UNetbootin - creates live USB drives
Wine - compatibility layer for Windows applications
GParted - partition manager
Stellarium - planetarium software

Sadly, some of the game system emulators that I use almost everyday don't work quite as well on Linux as they do on Windows. Also, I couldn't get Google Earth to stop crashing on Linux Mint. So I am still using Windows most of the time now. But I am very happy to know that an open source operating system can do most things as well or better than Windows. With a little more work, it just might be able to completely replace Windows for me.

938 MB Storm

Yesterday (Jan 31) a storm nearing the British Isles was at 938 mb:

The minimum pressure of Hurricane Sandy was 940 mb. At 01:00 GMT (7 hours after the time of the images above), a buoy about 100 miles off the west coast of Ireland reported 41 foot waves.

Gulf Coast Winter Storm 2

On January 28th and 29th, unusually cold air spread across the Gulf Coast:

Snow accumulated along the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Florida:

With chinook winds in place across the Plains, this led to the strange situation of having no snow cover in Nebraska, and having snow cover in Florida. New Orleans received freezing rain. Freezing rain accumulated 0.1" at Mobile, AL; 0.25" at Gulf Breeze, FL (near Pensacola); 0.25" at Fort Walton Beach, FL; 0.5" at Sylvania, GA; and 0.75" at Summerton, SC. Sleet accumulations include 0.75" at Alexandria, LA; 0.9" at Kenrwood, LA; 2" at Tylertown, MS; 1.25" at Grove Hill, AL; 0.8" at Mobile, AL; and 2.3" at Newport, NC. Heavy snow fell right along the Atlantic Coast, for example 9.8" at Virginia Beach, VA.

A hard freeze warning is active this morning (Jan 30) across the Gulf Coast:

Temperatures this morning have dropped to 25 at New Orleans, 16 at Mobile, and 22 at Pensacola.

Gulf Coast Winter Storm

A winter storm warning is in effect today (January 28) across most of the Gulf Coast.

Significant accumulations of freezing rain and sleet are likely for New Orleans and Mobile, where models are forecasting liquid equivalent precipitation in excess of 0.50". Heavier amounts are possible in Georgia and the Carolinas. Savanna, GA and Charleston, SC are under an ice storm warning.

Another Arctic Outbreak

Yet another arctic air mass is moving through the Midwest:

The clipper system on the leading edge of the arctic air prompted blizzard warnings from the Dakotas to Iowa:

Wind chill warnings were extended into Ohio:

Winter storm warnings have been issued along the Gulf Coast as NAM predicts a variety of frozen precipitation on Tuesday, January 28:

An impressive 949 mb storm hit the British Isles yesterday (January 26):

Historic Groundhog Day Blizzard of 2011

As we approach the third anniversary of the historic Groundhog Day blizzard of 2011, I thought I would review my experience with it. The official snow total for Chicago was 21.2". The first thing I noticed on the morning of February 2nd 2011 was that there was such a large snow drift covering the front door, that it would not open!

At the beginning of the next video, you see can that snow had been forced underneath the door and into the house before I even opened the door.

I forced the front door open and looked around outside...

The snow drifted into an interesting pattern around a large tree in the backyard. Snow can be seen blowing off the roof at 0:32.

This was recorded on the afternoon of February 2nd. Although some shoveling had been done now, it would still take a long time before the van would be dug out. A substantial part of the pine tree seen at 0:33 was later taken down.

The top of the pine tree that was knocked down: