Cogs can think.

This morning I woke up at around 6 because of the pain in my chest. Unable to get back to sleep, I decided to make me a cup of tea and go do some browsing on my MacBook. As I sat up straight, I look at my cat Twiek and say:

“Go make me some tea, Cat.”

He lifts his head, blinks at me once or twice, and just stares at me.

I sigh. “I forgot I was the bitch in this relationship.”

This hurts so goddamn bad it’s just not funny anymore. I had to quit work early today - one of my greatest pet hates (thou shalt work goddamnit).

I’m no doctor, but I think I have yet another infection in my esophagus, right where it connects to the stomach. I’ve had this a few times before, but never as bad as it is now. Every little move I make hurts like hell. Even breathing hurts. Which is kind of problematic seeing you kind of really need to breathe (or so I’ve been told).

The earliest spot for a doctor’s appointment was coming Friday morning. “Who’s your regular doctor, sir?”

“Whoever’s available first. I really don’t care. This hurts QUITE BAD, you see.”

There’s a geek soap opera going on over at Planet GNOME, with the center of attention being Jeff Waugh and his (non?) work for GNOME. Since I really don’t give a rat’s ass about the people behind the software I use (really, I don’t. I care about the product or art, not the programmer or artist), and I only had one run-in with Waugh, I really cannot comment on this stuff. That run-in was perfectly resolved, and he didn’t come across me in a way that resembles whatever Cumming is claiming.

In the end, this is all useless political blabber. GNOME is falling apart. As I have said many times before on this blog as well as on OSNews, GNOME is dead. Dead, dead, dead. If you, as a major software project in a fast-changing world, do not have a well thought-out plan for the future, then you are dead. Cold, harsh, but reality. People have flamed Eugenia and I for saying it, but if a strong leader does not step up soon, a leader that dares to make the hard decisions needed to set a viable plan for the future, than GNOME is doomed to insignificance. It won’t be able to adapt. And we all know what happens to things that do not adapt.

KDE had the guts to make the tough decisions, and despite delays and setbacks, they are slowly but surely seeing the fruit of their labour. I may not like everything coming out of KDE 4, but at least they are trying. And I commend them for it.

I do want KDE 4.0 to be released after December 31st, 2007, though. I want to win my bet with Aaron.

I’m watching a program on the BBC about people being showed a house they might potentially buy. When the lady of the couple sees the 2nd bathroom attached to the master bedroom, she notes in the typical British fashion that we all love:

Oh this is lovely! My own bath, so I won’t find a kid’s pirate ship wedged between… Well, where pirate ships shouldn’t be.

I love Britain.

It’s that time of the year again. Time to vote for the annual Top2000! Here’s my 2007 list (2004, 2005, and 2006). It contains the usual four suspects (Don McLean and The Eagles), but there are some fresh faces in there too. I’m happy with my list.

Don McLean - Vincent
Don McLean - American pie
Eagles - The last resort
Eagles - Hotel California
Alanis Morissette - That I would be good
Bruce Springsteen - The river
Police - Every breath you take
Boudewijn de Groot - De vondeling van Ameland
Tracy Chapman - Fast car
Acda & De Munnik - Het regent zonnestralen

More than one million Dutchmen voted last year, and this year it won’t be any less. The most representative list of what the Dutch audience considers the greatest songs of all time. The musical taste of Dutch folk generally isn’t all that stellar, but somehow, with the Top2000, they seem to do a lot better. Here’s a link to last year’s final list [.xls].

Bless us.

God forbid the day, but yes, I do plan on getting married in like, I don’t know, 600 years. The mere idea frightens me at this point (I’m almost 23 now, all to play for), but I do know where I want to get married.

Harris, Schotland. Can you imagine saying “I do” in the St. Clement’s Church?

And just look at the landscape (there’s some more artsy stuff here). Jesus Christ, this might very well be the most beautiful place on earth.

I get goosebumps all over, and it just takes my breath away. I saw video shots of Harris just now on an old Top Gear, and it simply made my jaw drop.

Such beauty.

I’m not the kind of guy to hold a grudge. I just can’t do it. The situation with my brothers kind of forced me to swallow a whole lot of crap for 15 years on end simply because else I would’ve ended up as the biggest piece of grudge in human history (visible from outer space), and as such, I’m a professional grudge swallower (here’s to hoping grudge isn’t a synonym for that other thing). Grudges just don’t feel right, and they make me feel queasy every now and then. I kind of like to see myself as someone who stands above silly grudges and feelings of anger and hate. Of course, I get pissed off and angry all the time, but never for long.

So, what to do with this? I just don’t know. I’m not really angry anymore, you know. It still don’t feel right, and it surely never will, but truly angry? No. I’m just not angry about it anymore. In fact, her and I had such a great time before it all happened, and now, I… I kind of miss all that. It’s crazy, I know, but that’s just how I feel.

I can be an intricate person. When I choose to. It might be time to choose not to be intricate.

It’s finally here, Dooce’s redesign. It looks distinctive, and luckily, she didn’t go all pattern and colour happy. I only see few colours, and barely a pattern. Great stuff. The buttons are a bit… Nineties, but hey, as long as she keeps on writing the way she does I don’t really give a rat’s ass about her blog’s looks. Congratulations to Heather and her coding slave husband Jon.

As I said before, for all I care, she just dumps a text file on the net.

My own redesign is on an indefinite hold. I am way too busy with real life and Grow, and I simply don’t have the time left to dive into Cogs Can Think. v4. It will happen one of these months, but for now, you’ll have to do with v3. I mean, it still looks pretty goddamn nice if you ask me.

Arrogance is a virtue.

There are a few things about being the OSNews guy that really rock. Apart from having the superpower to be pro and anti everything at the same time, I also got the superpower that lets me get free stuff from companies.

Apple has loaned me a brand new MacBook (2.2Ghz Core 2 Duo/1GB of RAM/Intel GMA x3100/120GB HDD/SuperDrive) with Leopard on it so I can review it for OSNews. Obviously, the device has to go back to Apple when I’m done, and we’ve set a four week window; this gives me enough time to properly review the thing. Right before the Apple MacBook goes back, I will buy my own so I can transfer settings and such - or maybe they will let me buy the one they sent me, who knows. I want the OSNews review to be done in about three weeks. December 1st is my birthday (I’m turning 23), and somewhere soon after that, I will buy my own MacBook.

So far, I like the MacBook. One thing though, Apple: would it kill you to include the mini-dvi-to-vga adapter by default?

Thank you.

Conversation between Martin and me at university during a presentation of a study that used the film “Philadelphia“.

Martin shakes his head and says: “I don’t like this movie. It’s a typical girls’ movie…”

I interrupt him.

“I love this film!”

“…just like The Green Mile…”

“I love The Green Mile!”

I get an awkward look from Martin. I couldn’t resist:

“At least I don’t go to musicals.”

BURN.