EasyLinuxGuide Blog

It didn’t seem like all that long ago that Shadows Fall released “Fallout from the War” in 2006 which was the follow up to their 2004 “The War Within”. Of course this is speculation on my part but it appeared from listening to “Fallout from the War” which was a very solid release that it appeared to be extra tracks that perhaps were previously unrecorded or written while on tour of “The War Within” as they bear a striking similarity in sound. Very few songs stand apart from as having a unique sound in comparison to the previous release.

This is not the case with “Threads of Life”. While some songs sound unmistakably familiar such as “Dread Uprising”, “Redemption” and “Final Call”, others showcase a lighter side of the band like “Another Hero Lost” and “The Great Collapse”. Shadows Fall die hards will not be disappointed with in your face songs like “Burning the Lives” and “Venomous” which offer an immediate Shadows Fall experience from the opening chords.

It’s difficult to pick a favorite release at this point as “Fallout from the War” continued to grow on me after several listens and I still will routinely add it to a playlist. One thing is true - Shadows Fall plan to be around and keep touring. They put on an excellent show as well.

I started a new job a few weeks ago that is 9-6 so it has been an adjustment for me to get used to the day hours when I had been working afternoons for almost 3 years prior. I am finally getting used to it. The days are long due to getting up at the prime time of 6:45am and coming home around 7:00pm. I don’t mind the drive at all, but I do notice that it is very expensive paying for gas so I am in the market for a different vehicle which is probably overdue anyway. I am thinking that a Volkswagon diesel would be the most efficient. With my entire week pretty much concentrated on my new job and ensuring I eat and sleep properly, it leaves me with mainly weekends to do any PC work.

This weekend I setup operating systems on 4 older PC’s that were dontated. This was very tedious and time consuming despite the provided Windows 2000 discs taking much less time to install than Windows XP would have especially considering these were older systems ranging between 400 - 700 mhz. The incessent reboots from the updates accounted for a lot of the time of the installation. The fifth PC had a defective hard drive so that will be done at a later date.

I also set up a wireless home network for someone else which went well although the built in Windows XP wireless configuration did not support WPA2 and the link I found that could add support on the Microsoft site could only be installed on a system with Service Pack 1 or lower. It is possible that the card built into the laptop did not have support for WPA2. Either way, wep should do fine as the houses in the area are not side by side and the one neighbor existing is well known.

The last UFC pay per view at UFC 68 was very entertaining, however; there were one or two bouts that were not televised which was rather disappointing. Also, the pay per view channel on which I viewed the event did not seem to be proper HD which also was not very impressive although this is no fault of UFC obviously. UFC 68 had a fantastic card and it was admittedly a great show. UFC 69 contains a lot of good match ups but the one that always garners the most attention and often times defines the event is the main fight. Last time it was Tim Sylvia vs Randy Couture and one could scarcely asked for a better headliner.

This time around it is George St. Pierre who won the welterweight belt from Matt Hughes and then was scheduled in a previous pay per view but could not perform due to injury. St Pierre will fight Matt Serra who won the Ultimate Fighter TV show in the welterweight division. Serra is very tenacious and will not go down without a fight, he has won fights in decisions due to his resilience alone. St Pierre will need to employ his precision placement of punches and kicks. I have personally only seen St. Pierre fight about 3 times and each time he had several low blows against his opponent so I will be watching to see if there is a trend.

On the official UFC 69 website, it does indicate that four of the scheduled bouts may not be televised. This could mean that some of the best fights may not be seen. Probably the most anticipated fight is between Josh Koschek and Diego Sanchez. Each were contestants on the Ultimate Fighter TV show. Each has done very well after running up very successful records. Another fighter that is nearly always exciting to watch is Mike “Quick” Swick. He will face Yushin Okami who has an impressive 20-3 record.

The Last King of Scotland is well acted throughout especially by Forester Whitaker who won an Oscar for his role as the king. The movie doesn’t really take more focus until about 75% of the way through. This film does nicely to help those outside see a different culture and the surroundings therein.

Another movie worth checking out is Notes on a Scandal. While the content may not be completely original, the performances by Dame Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett are worth seeing. Even the supporting cast does a nice job in making the story believable. The dialogue is sharp and honest which is a nice departure from some other films.