Productivity...

[altivo]

...is doing the laundry, cleaning the oven, and discovering what appears to be a useful software solution all at the same time.

Well, laundry, you know. I hate it. I'm good about some household things, but that one goes until I've run out of clothes and then I have to do them all and iron shirts and all that horrible stuff. So it was time.

The oven. Well, we're pretty tidy cooks, actually. Still, it seems to be inevitable that an oven gets baked on grease spatters over the inside eventually. Now that my mate does more cooking than he used to, and he likes to use the broiler which I never do... Fortunately when we replaced the kitchen range two years ago, we got a modern, self-cleaning one. I have only used the oven cleaning feature once before, that's how rarely we spill, splatter, etc. But it was more than time, so I pulled out the instruction booklet and read again how to do it. Cleaned the glass, removed the racks, and had at it. Decided against the "heavy-duty" cycle, which would take six hours to cool down for use, and ran the normal cycle instead. Amazing. It just finally got cool enough that I could wipe the white ash out of the inside, and now it looks like new. I couldn't have done as well with a traditional oven and that nasty oven cleaning stuff.

The software. You all know I'm a Linux user by choice. Unfortunately, given the way the marketplace is, there are always some hardware vendors and services that simply refuse to support Linux. I was completely weaned from Microsoft's own applications long ago, but I do subscribe to audible.com for some of my audio books and their proprietary loader (required to decrypt the files) runs only on Windows. I could dual boot my old Win 98SE for that, or (now that my mate also listens to audio books) install the app on his machine, since he's still a Windows addict.

I've been getting by for work the last two years without needing Windows at all. Wonder of wonders, our library catalog and circulation system runs on a Linux server and has a full-featured client for Linux that looks identical to their widely used Windows client. The OCLC system we use, and our other database vendors, all run on web browser interfaces that guarantee compatibility not only with IE, but with Firefox and sometimes Netscape, so running Firefox on Linux takes care of that. However, that is about to change. The library consortium, in it's infinitedly defective wisdom, is forcing us to switch system vendors. The new catalog software, Unicorn/Sirsi, comes from a UNIX background, runs on a Linux server, yet has no Linux client. They support only Windows as an environment for their client software, and claim there is "no demand" for a Linux client solution. This, even though their piggish client is written entirely in Java and should be directly portable. I must be able to run the client for work, and I don't want to reboot my PC all the time to get to it, nor do I want to give up my Linux environment and work only in Windows (shudder). I actually considered having two machines on my desk. Ugh. But it looks as if VMWare is a suitable solution. In theory, it will let me create a Windows virtual machine that runs as a guest under Linux. Standard Windows apps should run in that box without any problem. The beta version is a free download, so I'll be trying it. This is not an emulator, nor a substitute with matching API (a la wine) but a complete licensed installation of Windows that runs as a subsidiary to the host Linux. If it works, I can use it for my development efforts toward getting Windows 2000 off our servers too, I hope.

Comments

[pioneer11.livejournal.com]

The oven I can handle, at least I can do it as needed.

Laundry?

I admit I foist it off on essoh.

But I /do/ about four loads a night at work, so I
have this itchy /aversion/ to doing it at home.

@.@

[pioneer11.livejournal.com]

However, good for hoss to do that stuff!

In the Army I learned that a /man/ can take care of that
stuff himself.

Guys that need women to do that...well...

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Guys that need women to do that...well...

Amen to that. Time for them all to grow up and be responsible. And I'll say the same thing about the woman who just can't bring herself to pump her own gasoline or use the lawnmower. ;P

[pioneer11.livejournal.com]

You know, I'm partial to the old farm meme with gender stuff. Women
processed and cooked food all day long, mothers and daughters, it
was hard work. But...fathers and sons went out to plant and water
and tend to animals, equally hard work.

No talk of "careers" then, you just worked and did it.

But you can't keep them down on the farm can you?

^.~

[altivo.livejournal.com]

The trouble with those hide-bound ways seems obvious to me. A sudden death or illness leaves you unable to get things done. The man who loses his wife (or sister, as was often the case with bachelors) has no idea how to "do for himself." The woman who loses a husband or brother has to give up the farm because she can't (read doesn't know how to) do the chores herself. It's no way to run a business or a life.

I set out to learn all the cross-gender stuff very early: sewing, cooking, cleaning, child care, as well as fixing cars and home repairs. I'm not equally fond of all of it, but the things I like and dislike come from both "sides". I would have been miserable in a society that did not permit one to cross over on these roles, like the Shakers who so rigidly divided tasks between the sexes.

[pioneer11.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of the Heinlein trope;

"speciality is for insects"

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Precisely so. As much as I tend to disagree with Heinlein, he was right about that.

[calydor.livejournal.com]

My mother used to have a coworker who, while her husband was away on a business trip, happened to have a lightbulb die.

She actually waited FOUR DAYS for her husband to come home and change it.

A lightbulb. A friggin' LIGHTBULB! My GRANDMOTHER would change lightbulbs without thinking anything of it.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yes. That's a disease created entirely by social conditioning, to the point where some people believe it is genetic and they can do nothing to overcome it. Men who won't wash dishes or make food for themselves, women who won't tighten a screw or put oil on a squeak. I've always had problems understanding this, really, but on both sides of my family the problem just didn't exist.

[calydor.livejournal.com]

My grandparents had some of it, my grandfather worse than the other way around, but never to this extreme point. And as you know, I like cooking. Doing the dishes ... Well, that's what a dishwasher is for. It's more macho to use a machine. ;-)

BTW, who's Stephanie? She just added me to her friends list, and you're our only friend in common.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I just barely know her. She found me in the handspinning communities but she's a furry as well and that's why she added me.

[corelog.livejournal.com]

I've got a license key for VMWare Workstation 5 you could use...ditto the XPSP2 install CD, should you be interested in such a thing...

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I had figured on using VMWare Server, which is in beta and still a free download. Do I really need Workstation? (I can probably find money in the budget for it if necessary, it apparently costs just $189.)

I'll check on Windows license keys tomorrow. If I do have a volume key, it will be from the Gates Foundation, but if that would work with your installation setup, yes, I'd be interested.

[corelog.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure about the difference between Workstation and Server. I take it Server allows you to build your own VMs? Server wasn't around when I got VMWare on my machine.

And yes, any volume license key will work with any volume installation of XP. Mine included. :) Of course, the key itself has to be valid, or you won't be able to install any new service packs or optional downloads. Note you can still install security updates with a broken key, just not service packs and optional updates/downloads from Microsoft. Volume installs of XP don't require activation either, so once you install, you've got a functional system that can keep up to date on security with no problems, even if you use a broken key.

But I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you wouldn't use a broken key on a library machine, nor would I recommend or even suggest it. So best to check if the library has a volume key first, like you were going to do anyways. :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Precisely so. I don't use illicit software at home anyway, but I'd never use it at work. We had three Win98 stations that had been upgraded to XP, though. I wiped them all out and put Linux on them two weeks ago. Those were upgraded by the tech consultants and I know they didn't do illicit copies either, so that was probably under some kind of blanket upgrade license from MS. I just have to find the paperwork. They were supposed to be maintaining files on all that stuff, but of course they hadn't kept them up to date for a couple of years it looks like. The boss would have known, but jogging her memory about it can be quite a task.

Yes, VMWare server lets you create virtual machines. I checked that in the documentation because I have the download of VMWare player, which doesn't. VMWare Workstation is a development environment, as far as I can tell, while VMWare server just lets you define the memory and hardware capabilities of a virtual machine and then install an OS to it as if it were a standalone machine. I'm not clear whether you can export that as a .vmx for use by others, but I don't need that ability anyway. I'll download the server product tomorrow at work where I won't have to wait three hours for it to transfer, and I'll let you know what it actually can do after I bring it home and run it here. Ironically, I have the broadband capability only at work, but my desktop machine there is way underpowered for this and has no disk space available. Remedying that shortly, though, I hope.

[hrrunka]

claim there is "no demand"

Huh. My guess is they just can't be hedgehogged to do the job properly. :/

This, even though their piggish client is written entirely in Java and should be directly portable.

Ugh. I know of at least one example of a Java application being written in such a way as to work only on one specific platform using one specific version of JVM. They claimed it was pure Java. We suspect there's some very specific JNI code in there...

Ho hum. Good Luck. :/

[altivo.livejournal.com]

The clients from Innovative that I am using now are also written in Java, and though they do call for way too much memory, they work. I suspect that Sirsi's client software would just run in Linux as well, but the problem is that their installation routine uses the Windows installer and they can't be bothered to create a Linux installation procedure. It's one of those cases where the vendor can get away with bludgeoning the customer over the head with requirements. For the actual functionality, they should be able to do with any version of Windows and a minimal amount of RAM, but because their product is written in Java and probably badly at that, they require 2000/XP or higher and gobs of free memory to even start up.

They appear to load all functions into memory at once, instead of being at all selective about it. Chances are a cataloger will not normally be clearing fines or checking in books, and circulation staff does not do cataloging or place orders for new titles, etc. but they don't have the good sense to make those separations.

[hrrunka]

Java is horribly memory-hungry, but *nix usually deals with large memory footprints so much better than Windows...

[calydor.livejournal.com]

I used VMWare during my brief stint with Linux back in the day of Mandrake 8.2.

Problem: FORGET 3d rendering.

Other than that, a win98 install ran absolutely perfectly, and didn't even bluescreen once - which in itself was a wtf experience.

Years have passed, and I can only assume VMWare has gotten better since then. It'd be a definite 'yes' from my side.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I can see where 3D rendering would perhaps pose a problem, at least on a Windows host. In theory, at least, it should be possible on Linux where you have multiple virtual screens that take up the entire viewport. However, I don't expect they have that working. No real need in business software, which is of course their primary target. Near as I can tell, they figure they can give the player and server versions away and just sell the development and security stuff. Their primary market would be other software vendors who need a way to provide large scale working demos without offering a full or even a limited install.

[kyhwana.livejournal.com]

VMware works great with XP. If you have a nice fast machine with lots of RAM it works even better. (Better still if you have dual core/SMP)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Is a P4 @ 2.8 GHz and 1 GB RAM adequate? That's probably the best I can do.

[kyhwana.livejournal.com]

Probably, just try not to be using too much ram on the Host. If you're running XP on vmware, you probably want to give it 384mb-512mbs of ram..

[altivo.livejournal.com]

That should work. My usual Linux apps are quite happy in 256MB.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

What's this a sell cleaning oven? How does that work? Is it gas? *overt kitty curiosity*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Self cleaning ovens are always electric, as far as I know. They used to be horribly expensive but now they aren't much more than any electric range.

I would have gas for other reasons if it were possible, but there is no natural gas available here and I don't care for bottled liquid propane. Our house is all electric. So we were buying an electric range anyway after the 30 year old one failed.

The way it works is that there is a control function to clean the oven. The door has an automatic latch that locks it shut during the process. Then the oven heats up to a much higher temperature than you would use for cooking and holds that temperature for several hours. When the heating cycle ends, the door unlatches after things have cooled back to somewhere in the normal cooking range. The high heat literally incinerates the food splatters and grease, turning them all to powdery white ash. You wipe up with plain water and it is spanking clean inside.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Doesn't that use a lot of power though?

I wonder if it'd work if I just cranked the temp up and left it on for awhile. How long does it normally take?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

No, it doesn't seem to use a lot of power. There's more to it than just heating the oven for a long time, though. I think the internal temperature gets to 800 F. or so, and holds for 2 or 3 hours. The self-cleaning ovens have extra insulation in the walls to keep the heat from escaping to pose a risk of fire, and I'm really not sure what other technology. They've been around for at least 40 years here in the US, but used to be very costly and unreliable.

The old range that was in the kitchen when we bought the house was also a self-cleaner, but it didn't work nearly as well as this one.