...making Linux just a little more fun!

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# The Mailbag

HELP WANTED : Article Ideas
Submit comments about articles, or articles themselves (after reading our guidelines) to The Editors of Linux Gazette, and technical answers and tips about Linux to The Answer Gang.

- Re: [SEAPY] Pie-thon
- Say please? Thank you...

### Re: [SEAPY] Pie-thon

Mon, 2 Aug 2004 10:54:11 -0700
Brian Ingerson (ingy from ttul.org)
Question by A group of Python users in Seattle (seattle-python from lists.seapig.org)

Dan Sugalski (Parrot) gets a pie in the face by Guido van Rossum (Python). Dan lost a bet that Python would run faster on Parrot (Perl 6's virtual machine) than the standard C version.

http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oscon2004/friday/index.html

-- -Mike Orr (aka. Sluggo)

FYI, The reason Dan lost was because he failed to complete 3 of the 7 tests. On the 4 he did complete, Parrot beat Python on 3 of them. Of those 3, Dan said Parrot was 2-3 times faster.

Cheers, Brian

### Say please? Thank you...

Mon, 31 Aug 2004 10:54:11 -0000
Dean Earley (dean from earlsoft.co.uk)

What is the computer language that makes you say please? I used to know this. I might recognize it if I saw the name. A fellow LUG member suggested I look at http://sk.nvg.org/lang but nothing seemed obvious.

Someone out there knows, I hope.

Thank you!

GENERAL MAIL

- MetaTheme
- Moaning goat meter

### MetaTheme

Mon, 23 Aug 2004 22:27:44 +0100
Jimmy O'Regan (The LG Answer Gang)

In my article "A guide to Windows technologies for Linux users" in issue 104 (http://linuxgazette.net/104/oregan2.html) I mentioned gtk-qt, which allows Gtk apps to use Qt themes. MetaTheme (http://metatheme.advel.cz) is a project to create a theme engine which is independant of the various toolkits. It currently supports Gtk and Qt, and work is under way to support Firefox. (http://metatheme.advel.cz)

### Moaning goat meter

Sun, 8 Aug 2004 21:36:40 +0000
Predrag Ivanovic (predivan from ptt.yu)

Hi.

Linux Gazette is always a pleasure to read,thank you for that experience

> You're welcome, and thank you for taking the time to write to us. It's always nice to hear that people appreciate the work we do. -- Thomas

> Glad you're enjoying it! -- Ben

In article "Which window manager" in #105 of LG MGM was mentioned.It looked interesting enough,so I looked it up.

I found it on http://www.linuxmafia.com/mgm

My mistake was that I started reading the FAQ while drinking coffee...

`Classic case of C|N>K`

> Whups. We should probably warn people about that. Me, I cautiously set aside any drinks and dangerous objects (err, well - except my mind) before opening any mail prefixed with [TAG]; I know this bunch. -- Ben

My nose is much better now,thank you...

> Let me tell ya, be glad you weren't eating raisins or peanuts. Those can really hurt your nasal passages, and leave dents in your walls and furniture! -- Ben

> It is amusing, isn't it. I remember it from way back. I do have to thank Rick Moen for resurrecting it. -- Thomas

You are really serious about this 'Making Linux a little more fun' thing,aren't you? Thank God for that.

Pedja

> We have to be, Predrag, otherwise we'd be YAMP (Yet Another Man Page). -- Thomas

> [grin] That's the LG to a tee. 'Fun' isn't our middle name - it would involve all sorts of boring paperwork, people would ask pointed questions about changes in marriage status, and applying to courts in various countries would be a real hassle - but we do enjoy ourselves, usually.

> Thanks for writing! -- Ben

> [Rick Moen] You're very welcome, Predrag. Furthermore, I'll take this opportunity to declare you an official Linux Gazette Evil Genius. We'll be sending you your white Persian cat and monocle via separate attachment. Go forth[1] and conquer.

> [1] Or FORTH, perhaps.

Thank you,I'm honoured . Can I put that on a t-shirt?

Pedja

GAZETTE MATTERS

- Ben's Boat...

### Ben's Boat...

Sat, 14 Aug 2004 13:07:59 -0400
Ben Okopnik (Linux Gazette Editor)

> Wherein "The Answer Gang" express our general pleasure that the Editor In Chief's home survived the wake of the hurricanes pouring through Florida lately.

> This is really Not Linux, but we send good wishes to any readers out there cleaning up after Mother Nature's mess. -- Heather

Ben,

I didn't catch from your earlier email where your anchorage was, did the ~ Charley course change spare your boat?

-- Brian Bilbray

> It made it worse, actually - Charlie's eye passed right through St. Augustine, from what I'm told - but my anchors held (I had a friend put out a third one; I normally ride to two anchors, but have eight on board.)

> The winds were supposedly in the 70+ knot range (Category 1 hurricane) with 6' seas in the Matanzas river, where I'm actually anchored. The docks at the nearby city marina took a real pasting, but everything and everybody seems to be OK.

> WHEW, big-time. When Charlie got up to 145mph, and shifted course to pass dead over St. Augustine, I was not a happy camper.

[Breen Mullins] Whew! indeed. Glad to hear all's okay -- I've been worried about you.

[John Karns] We're glad to hear that the boat is still in one piece. Our thoughts are with those who weren't quite so fortunate. At least it sounds like it went a little better than Andrew in 1992.

> Yeah. Nineteen dead so far (no final count yet), lots of people hurt, at least $11B worth of property damage (again, not final figure); 300,000 people still without electricity; it was a rough one.

> Quote from CNN:

...............

> Despite the damage, Florida Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings said that her state was better prepared for Charley's onslaught than it had been in 1992, when Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 storm with winds topping 155 mph, crushed the southern tip of the state from east to west.

> "Where we are today is about where we were two weeks after Andrew," Jennings said.

...............

> At this point you can hit up Google for all the gory details and then some; in addition to early storms it's been a heavy season so far too. -- Heather

> My boat took some damage... from do-gooders without a clue - none from the hurricane. Nothing major; I spent last night on a tilt (50 degrees or so at 4 a.m. - low tide) and had to get her off the shoal this morning, then spent most of today grappling for my anchors (one line chafed through, and the idiots^Whelpful folks who moved her managed to lose a 45-lb. anchor and 300' of chain over the side.) Haven't found them yet - but hooked onto a big Fisherman-type anchor that somebody else lost here during the last few years, so that's what I'll be using temporarily.

> All in all, normal life in the hurricane zone.

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Copyright © 2004, . Released under the Open Publication license

Published in Issue 106 of Linux Gazette, September 2004

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