Mr. Polehn writes

    Pacman is the package manager for Arch Linux.  If you regularly use Debian or Ubun,tu like me, you are probably much more familiar with Apt.  If you are new to Arch Linux it may be easier to think of Pacman commands in relation to similar Apt commands.  Here is a list of the most common Apt commands (that I can think of at least) and their Pacman equivalents. apt command pacman command apt-get update pacman -Sy apt-get install pacman -S apt-get upgrade pacman -Syu apt-cache search pacman -Ss

     I have used Ubuntu for nearly 5 years now and it has been my primary desktop OS sense then.  Ubuntu was my first taste of GNU/Linux so I suppose it will always be my first love in the world of open source operating systems.        I have never used another GNU/Linux based operating system as a desktop for a long enough period of time to really get a good feel for it.  I have used Debian a few times for servers and have used Fedora enough to be familiar with it.  I got a Gentoo desktop up and running ; I was feeling particularly masochistic one month.        I have no major complaints with Ubuntu.  I mean it has been several releases now and I am still not totally used to the Unity desktop environment.  However, that is only an occasional annoyance and its not like you are stuck with Unity if you use Ubuntu.  But now, I do feel it is time to explore other options for a prim...

    If you're like me you occasional fantasize about owning your own multi-million dollar transportation company.     OpenTTD is a game that I have started to play several different time but have always been turned off by the outdated graphics and controls.  Once I got passed that I found OpenTTD is a really fun and extremely addicting game.  It is one of the best simulators I have ever played and is probably the best tycoon style games I've played.  It is like the old Railroad Tycoon  but on steroids.  You're goal is to transport anything you can by road, rail, sea or air and make as much cash as possible in the process. Gameplay     Most of the game is spent building roads and railroads and buying various vehicles, giving them routes, oh and spending and making loads and loads of money.      Time progresses in this game so depending on what year you start you will have limited technology (buildin...

    I've been reading  Winnie the Pooh  by A. A. Milne to my almost 2 year old daughter over the last couple of months.  I'm not sure if you could so much call Pooh a novel as a series of short stories (though the stories are connected somewhat).  One thing I did not know before reading the book was that it is a series of stories that Milne wrote for his son Christopher Robin.  Reading the book knowing this gives a perspective making the book even sweeter than just some cute, whimsical stories being written for just any child.     I really liked the book.  I can not say for sure that the book is great for children or anything.  I mean my daughter liked it but I think right now she just likes it when I read anything to her.  But the stories are definitely simple and entertaining.  There are some bits of the book that I think might go over the head of children, the subtle arrogance of som...

    It's a girl!  Or at least from what they could see in the ultra-sound we are almost certainly certain it is a girl.  The little gal wouldn't let us see very w ell.     I honestly really love being the father of a daughter already.  So I imagine two will be a lot of fun.  We have always imagined Lucy and a little sister would be the cutest pair ever so we are really happy.  Lucy and little Ruby Jewel Polehn are going to be the best of friends, we can already tell!

    Remember when I said we were going to sell our house ?  Never mind all that.  Building and addition, that is the cool thing to do.     We have already drawn up our plans and got a building permit.  Now to just start the work.  We'll be taking our existing car port and patio which are a attached to our house, digging a crawlspace and building a master bed and bathroom.  This will basically make our house 150% the size it is now, which will be awesome.  Lucy is already really excited to move into our room.  We asked "Lucy, do you want a bigger room?" and she excitedly nodded her head "YEAH!"     Planning on starting tearing tearing out all the concrete and building a new foundation starting sometime in the middle of the month.  Luckily I know a really awesome contractor .

    I recently finished reading Dune  as part of my quest to read the greatest novels of the 20th century .  I have always heard that Dune  was one of the greatest sci-fi novels ever written and it did not disappoint me in the least.     Dune follows the story of Paul Atreides, a young man  avenging his father after being defeated by a rival noble.  Paul is kind of messianic character, fulfilling prophecies, leading people, all that messiah stuff.     The world of Dune is quite intricate with many different factions involved in the conflict over the planet.  The universe that Herbert has created is very complex and you feel that you are only seeing the tip of the iceberg of what there is to find in his world.  Which I suppose is the reason for all of the books, games and other stuff that has spun off of this one book.   There are several other books in the Dune series and the first one has left me w...