Jason's Notes About Stuff

Windows 1. Download sketchy .exe file from Internet. 2. Double click it. 3. Press [next] about 5 times. 4. Done! Linux 1. Download sketchy .tgz or tar.gz file from Internet. 2. Google the right command line options to extract it. 3. Change to the new directory. 4. Look through all the files and try to guess which is the install script. 5. Run the install script. 6. When the script crashes, Google the library incompatibility errors. 7. Search for different versions of libraries and attempt to install them. 8. Break other stuff while attempting to install new libraries. 9. Bang head against desk. 10. Google more error messages. 11. Spend a few hours trying various suggestions from the Internet. 12. 50/50 chance of a) finding magical solution, or b) deciding it's not worth it and giving up.

You may have noticed that we tend to apologize a lot in Canada. Much to my benefit, this has led to Canadians being viewed as very kind and polite, all around the world. As a proud Canuck, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. You see, "sorry" in Canada may not always mean what you think it does. Imagine the following: You're visiting Canada and shopping for groceries in the local store. A woman ahead is blocking an entire aisle with her shopping cart. Another woman walks towards her, stops, looks at the cart and says, "Oh, I'm sorry." The first woman realizes she is in the way, and replies, "Oh, I'm so sorry," as she moves the cart. The both smile at one another and continue shopping. You think to yourself, "Wow, what a kind and decent society. These Canadians are so polite!" Now, the secret translation: "Oh, I'm sorry," actually means, "Oh, I'm sorry that you're blocking the enti...