3 Articles from June 2005 | Ben Babcock’s Blog

Dual booting my emotions

Thursday, June 16, 2005 8:00 PM -04:00

Lots of updates (the site moved servers).

I installed Ubuntu Linux on my computer. Now it is a dual boot Unbuntu/Win XP laptop. There are some hardware issues with the CPU and heating, but otherwise it is pretty cool. Ubuntu has almost everything that I need, including the GIMP and a functional word processor. I'm still a Linux newbie, but I'm learning as I go.

School continues to wind down. The schedule continues to be affected by our impending closure. My exams, mostly held in-class, are going pretty well (100 in English and 97 in Science). I took the second part of my English exam on Tuesday but have yet to receive a mark, I think I'll get it on next Thursday. My History exam is on Monday, followed by the second part of my Science exam on Wednesday.

The impending closure continues to loom. We had a "Blue Bear Bash" on Wednesday. We got to see pictures of our school and its students through various decades. FWCI has been around for 107 years, since 1898. It's seen two World Wars, the Cold War, the invention of the radio, television, computer. . . . What saddens me the most…

Visit to the orthodontist

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 8:00 PM -04:00

I went to the orthodontist today, first time for everything. Apparently I have an underbite, which occurs where my lower jaw protrudes out from my face slightly more than my lower jaw. Mine is very slight, only about a millimetre, so apparently it isn't much to worry about yet. The treatment would be jaw surgery in which a portion of my lower jaw is cut, removed, and then the remainer is slid back to correct the profile. I would have to wear braces for about a year prior to the surgery, then about six months after. I'm too young to have the surgery done, however, it would have to be done once I stop growing, so they are going to call me back in about a year to see how my underbite fares. If it doesn't get worse and I'm happy with it, I don't need to get the surgery; this is good, I don't like the idea of surgery. . . .

A very dramatic blog entry

Friday, June 3, 2005 8:00 PM -04:00

Well, there's been a few changes. I got the random quote up, although due to some FreeType library problems, it is in a text version rather than an image. Also, I've added a background-image, a starfield. It was created by me, using the GIMP and a convenient tutorial.

To go with the starfield, I released a new logo. Those of you using Internet Explorer on a Windows platform will probably now be wondering why it has a blueish background that doesn't look very nice. Well, I explain that in a special section of my About page.

More mundane updates now . . . well, in school every class is beginning to wind down but accelerate as teachers hurry to finish things by the end of the year. Matters are further complicated by closure issues. In order to make more time for packing and moving, they cut our exam days to two, so many teachers are holding in-class exams.

In drama, we had our Drama Improv-O-Rama. It was awesome! However, I think that improv is more fun when we were not competing. Now I'm depressed because the school year is ending, and my school is closing. It would be not…