I am typing this from my new Wii. The data entry is via the wiimote and is in between an original cell text entry system and a newer predictive text entry system. One thing it does not do is build compound words if you choose from the predictive text option, i.e. “predict” does not continue to build towards “predictive” once selected.

The most interesting suggestion so far is either texaco or y’all :)

After learning that Target had Nintendo Wiis back in stock thanks to the “Still Need a Wii?” post on Ars Technica, I headed out on a whim to see if the rumor was true. I also needed a travel thermos for Lady Jaye, so at the very least I’d accomplish something. Lo and behold, I got the last one in stock. In the two minutes or so it took me to check out two other people came up, asking if there were more.

Now the problem is finding a second set of controllers. After looking at two Targets, a Best Buy, a Circuit City, two EB Games and a Wal*Mart, I managed to score two Nunchuck controllers but no “Wiimote.” I need both to play Wii Boxing and the Wii Super Monkey Ball game.

I’m holding off opening the Wii until Lady Jaye and I can both play. However, if you need a Nunchuck controller for use with your own personal Wii and not for resale, I will offer the first Gibberish reader who contacts me a crack at it. I am only asking that you pay my costs (MSRP + 5% VA tax + shipping). I am not looking to make a buck here, I just grabbed the extra one in the hopes I could help someone else out.

I hope you all had a nice Christmas season this year. Lady Jaye and I had a nice Refugee Holiday this year and hosted seven other folks on Christmas day. I was pleased that Configuratrix stopped by on her return leg from North Carolina. We had tons of food. I fried another thirteen pound turkey (turned out a little dry this time), in addition to a six pound ham, a 1.5 pound turkey ham, and a 1.5 honey ham. My father sent us two smoked pheasants. We also had four handmade pies by Pixie, Stomper made hand-rolled spinach and mushroom thingamabobs, Markie brought a wonderful mixed greens salad, and we had stuffing, gravy, and broccoli as our feel-better-about-the-desserts sides. Lady Jaye baked for two and a half days before Christmas, and assembled a righteous armada of homemade peppermint bark, peanut butter brickle, fudge, Russian tea cakes (OMG TEA CAKES), molasses and spice cookies, holiday Chex mix, Birds’ Nests, and other yummies.
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Much like my professional career, resurrecting my file server Janus was a mixed bag of partial victories and compromises.

I originally wanted to install Solaris 10 and utilize the amazing, cancer-healing powers of ZFS. I ran the Solaris 10 install DVD after putting in a new motherboard and processor. The installer crashed at the 3% mark. I decided to hell with it, re-opened the Windows XP OS disk from Janus of Old, and installed new motherboard drivers and had software RAID 5 setup functioning in less time than it took me to navigate Sol10’s graphical and X-based configuration wizard. Once again, never believe a Solaris guru when he says something is “pretty easy.” It just ain’t true for us mortals.

I’ve started the data migration. I’m not sure how long it’s going to take. Moving 210GB from the Studio 1 drive to my new array took about ten hours. I have another 250GB to move over from Studio 2, another 150GB from As Yet Unnamed Drive and then probably another 80GB or so from Chozou. Chozouwhich was originally my backup drive but had to do double duty once my original upgrade attempt took a dump and I thought about reinstalling Windows XP Pro on my OS drive. The sooner I can move the data off and go back to using him as a backup drive for my digital photos, the happier I will be.

Now that the hard work is done, I need a new name for my file server. I think “Phoenix” might be appropriate, but a little too expected. I also considered “Lazarus,” but that was the name of a salvage drive I had for awhile when I lost my music collection. Bad juju, probably.

Any suggestions?

You have ten days left to make a 2006 tax year deductible donation to Wikipedia. As stated on the deductibility of donations page, Wikipedia is classified as tax exempt, and your donations are exempt from US federal taxes. I use Wikipedia at least once a day, and it feels nice to kick a little back.

Just in case you missed it the first time, here’s the fundraising link.

Also, if you work for the same company that I do, our employer will match your gift up to $5,000. Double up your donation! See our corporate intranet for more details, or email my work email address for more info/help.

Check your mail. We’ve gotten some Bed, Bath and Beyond coupons for 20% off any item. Until recently, these coupons have excluded Dyson — but the last two we’ve gotten have no such restriction. If you’ve read about or seen me use my Dyson but have been unwilling to drop the scratch on one, here’s your chance to save around $100.

If you don’t have a coupon, let me know and I’ll send you mine.

My Pandamonium shot made the customer-submitted page on threadless. Too bad it’s got part of my real name on it, bah.

I bit the bullet and bought the makings of a hard disk for my file server Janus last week. We were using 700GB+ of storage and we needed more space. I planned on building a RAID-Z array in Solaris 10 via ZFS. I read this blog from a Sun developer about building a multi-terabyte server with Sol10 and ZFS. Mark said it was “pretty easy.” I studied up on other documentation on Solaris 10 and ZFS. I was willing to give this a shot. Based off of Mark’s guide, I purchased this four-port Syba card and three 500GB disks from Newegg. They were delivered on Friday.

It’s Monday now, and I’ve learned a lot. The most important thing I learned was never trust a Solaris guru when he says something was “pretty easy.”

If you want the short version, skip to the end. Here’s the long version, as of this afternoon.
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I love December, because a hojillion packages get delivered to my joint. Between my usual Internet purchases, we get a boost from seasonal gifts and whatnot. Today, however was especially awesome for a few reasons.
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Happy birthday to my favorite military man, Duke. I am lucky to have you and Pixie nearby, it’s meant a lot to me to have a friend within shooting distance (I mean, shouting distance). Thanks for being my friend, and thank you for serving. Love ya, buddy.