DH of the only elf with a navelofwine

Hi,

Can anyone point me in the direction of a reasonably up-to-date HOWTO of how to run an access point within Debian, please? I am looking to be able to use my MiniITX based system as an access point, and all the documentation I've found seems wildly out of date.

More specifically, I'm currently failing to get my Broadcom BCM4306 (rev3) based PCI card to switch to Master mode. I am using the b43 driver, with a firmware collected with b43-cutter. All appears to be well, and acording to this the driver should support Master mode. Am I missing something? (I'm on kernel 2.6.26-2-686 if that helps.)

To pre-empt the two most obvious questions:

* I don't want to just run this in Ad-Hoc mode as part of the duty of the wireless network will be for the connection of smartphones, which seems to be considerably easier with an infrastructure type network.

* I don't want to just plug an access point in for a number of reasons, firstly I don't have one spare, secondly I would like to minimise the power consumption of this setup, and there's always the aspect that I'd like to know how to do this by hand if it's reasonably practical.

Thanks in advance for any help.

--Toby

The draining people came this morning, and apparently the eldrich horror in our plumbing has been defeated, or at least banished to another dimension, and we should have working drains. Huzzah!

As the title says- sometimes I just don't know what to write about. With the exception of various conversations with the nearer and dearer, life over the last few days has been pretty prosaic. On the other hand, in Halakha "Lema'ase" (no way that I try to transliterate that today seems to look even half-way reasonable) today we were supposed to be talking about Niddah- the first of two weeks we're doing on the subject. Instead, we spent much of the time talking about homosexuality, again. Not that I object to the topic, and given my teacher's generally unique approach, it was certainly interesting- although he at one point got so embarrassed, when nothing else had embarrassed him at all, that I got majorly embarrassed as well. It was in relation to something that was apparently fairly new information to him (although I'm not sure why) and he lost all his professional decorum, which was rather distressing for me as a student. Other than that, there was no great hiddush in what he was saying- but he put off almost all discussion of niddah, besides an Extremely basic discussion of the background in Tanakh and Talmud for next week, when we were supposed to have spent this week on the issue of the 7 clean days, and had all next week for a discussion of harkhakot. Honestly, if he knew that he wanted to spend time talking about homosexuality (and it's pretty clear that he did), he should have budgeted it into the schedule, even if it isn't formally part of Yoreh De'ah, which is the topic of the class (but then we don't Get a dedicated semester on Even haEzer, boo, hiss.)

On the other hand, we'll have a different teacher next semester, whom I am Quite sure will have a different approach and general attitude, and he came to talk to us briefly about what we had and hadn't already learned, and what we'd appreciate doing in more depth. So I'm hopeful that next semester will be a significantly different experience.

Next semester in Talmud may also be a significantly different experience- I know that at least one of my two chevrutas is planning to leave the class, as is at least one of our other classmates, who implied that the two of them were not alone in that plan. (By that measure, the class one level down, which already has absorbed I think 4 folks who were supposed to be in my class, if not more, is going to get awfully large...) So next semester should be an adventure by all means.

In other future-related news, at least one of my classmates is planning to take next semester off, because he's unhappy at Machon Schechter, another classmate is leaving JTS next year for RRC, another may be leaving with uncertain plans involving making Aliyah, and 2 more are thinking of spending a second year in Israel. So just as I'm getting to know and like folks, many of them won't be around after this year anyways... Go figure.

It does make me feel rather awkward about JTS, etc. I mean, I'm satisfied enough with it- I have enough good classes that I feel like I'm learning something, I'm going to come out with the degree and title that are going to be what I need for a lot of different things that I want to do with my life, and I'm getting some reasonable training in that direction. And yet many people whom I care for and whose opinions I generally value are constantly dissatisfied with JTS and with the education that they are offered there. Is it a spiritually transformative experience? No. Is it going to teach me pure Torah on the level that I could get at a really intensive yeshiva-style program? No. But if what I need it for is a graduate school, the it does the job, and I am no longer hoping for it to be anything else. I'm not sure if I should hope for it to be something else or not- it would be lovely if it were, but I don't think that it can do that without changing the culture so much as to be unreasonable, and when it tries, it mostly just gets sickening, whereas it makes a perfectly reasonable graduate/professional school.

No institution can do everything, and asking one institution to be spiritually transforming for each and every one of its students, to teach Torah on an intensive level equal to one where the students are doing nothing other than learning pure Torah lishma, and to provide significant professional training for rabbis in a variety of contexts is unfair and unreasonable. And yet, if I express satisfaction with it, even provisionally, I feel like I need to be on some sort of defensive, and/or like I'm giving in and settling for something that isn't as good as what other people are leaving to go find elsewhere- except that in each case, they're giving up some of those list of things that I'm not willing to give up. I just need to accept that what's right for them and what's right for me aren't always the same, and not to take their needing something different as a judgment on what I'm doing- but that's easier said than done.

I just now got this info, and since a lot of people were interested last year and I posted too late, I wanted to share ASAP!

Sounds of Concord will again be offering free* group voice classes for men who sing and who wish to become better singers. If you are a guy or know a guy who enjoys singing, this is a great program! ( further details )
*A $10. materials fee is the only cost. There is no obligation.


(Also, while I have your attention, all you singers, this seems like as good a time as any to point out that Honorable Menschen will be auditioning tenors, basses, and altos this spring! Audition date is tentatively Sunday, Feb. 7, or by appointment. Let me know if you're interested!)

I'm curious if anyone here has seen the recent Sherlock Holmes movie? If not, I will direct my question under a cut since I don't want to accidentally spoil anything for those who want to see it but have yet to do so (so if you don't want any spoilers, just skip this post).

And yes, this is related to this community in a sense, and if you've seen the movie, you'll probably know what I'm asking about.

( Question here. )

I have always loved "Hiney Ma Tov" but lack a good recorded version of it. There are a few on iTunes; none of them quite measure up to what I want somehow.

I like this snippet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DmvdcZfS4c

Does anyone know who that artist is?

Youtube links are acceptable, I can do the rest from there.

Thanks!

EDIT: If anyone has a full recording of Matisyahu's live version, that would be great. I've seen little bits of that and he sounds great as always.

Here are my top life moments from 2009:
10) Turning 25. While somewhat arbitrary, a quarter of a century seems somewhat significant.
9) Traveling to Israel, Jordan, Morocco, and Barcelona- seeing more of the world is always inspirational.
8) Letting myself actually date again for the first time in a long time. While none of this dating has directly led to my basherit, I have faith that it will have sometype of indirect effect.
7) Attending the wedding of 2 close friends, supporting 2 other friends through their wedding from afar, and celebrating many more simchas with many other friends (So many engagements, pregnancies and births!)
6) Loosing my grandfather. While it is not a happy moment from 2009, it is still a life moment.
5) Exploring and becoming involved with the the nehirim community which ultimately let me reconnect with my queer identity.
4) Immersing in the mikvah for the first time. An experience the deeply changed me on a spiritual level. On the same level is also purchasing my own set of tfillin, in Jerusalem of all places.
3) Choosing to live alone for the first time in my life. While I don't always love it, I do think it is an important experience that I should have.
2) Packing up and leaving Boston to move down South, also surviving my first summer in the Southern heat.
1) Beginning medical school. It has been a long time coming and it is already 1/8th over.


What about you?
Hopefully 2010 will prove to be even more joyous and profound! Happy secular new year ya'll!

jessruth arrives tonight, and we will ring in the New Year with a relatively mellow and restorative long weekend.

I have been pondering the various year-in-review memes, and feeling a bit too heartsick to tackle them, overall. It seems like 2009 was rough on a lot of people. Let's hope that 2010 delivers better on its promises.

Meanwhile, here's my January calendar. ( those who care may click for details, fa la la la la, la la la la! )

http://theworld.com/~kriss/gingerdreidel.html

Step by step instructions for making a gingerbread dreidel! And pictures!

Hi everyone, welcome back to "What Not to Write," the show where we present to you the internet's finest, most eligible bachelors...

Tonight's guest comes all the way from South Africa! He's quite the catch:

( basic info )

So far, so good. Right?

( actual profile, comments in italics )

(And his picture is a picture of a guy with big muscles, shirt off, face cut off above the nose.)

Seriously? Are you a real person? Let's spot the things wrong with this profile:
1. The picture is almost certainly a fake/not of him.
2. He both claims to be a serious Christian and is out looking for casual sex.
3. Why the heck are you winking at women all the way in Cambridge, MA? My one theory is that he saw that I was shorter than him, and that's why he winked at me. But I'm sure there are short girls who are not continents away.
4.Everything?

Fellas, if you want to put up a fake/"enhanced" profile to get the ladies to swarm after you, this is not the way to go about it. Women are generally not turned on by talk of how good you are in bed and how big your genitalia are. Usually we want some kind of personality in the people whom we would potentially date. And I think even women who are out for casual sex would agree that your profile is a huge turn-off.

I guess it's good that you're upfront about your horniness, but don't expect replies any time soon.

And that's all we have time for tonight. Tune in next time, when we'll have another stunning young/old/middle-aged specimen of humanity.

My grandfather died this morning, 12/30/09. In Florida. Apparently he'd been in the hospital for a couple days, with pneumonia, and was unresponsive by last night. He was in his late 80s, though I don't know exactly where in them.

My dad will go down there next week to witness the cremation, and then bring him back up to Illinois to be buried with my grandmother sometime this spring.

I'd been thinking of scheduling a visit to the homeland sometime in April/May of this year; maybe that timing will work out so I can be there.

He was a difficult man, and difficult to know, and made many people's lives difficult in the process. But over the past two years he really sort of slipped away altogether. Still, as my mother said when I called her, "it's still sad. Always."

Mostly, I feel for my dad. :-/

And with that, bed.

This is a two-part question (which I swear has nothing whatever to do with Sherlock Holmes, hot though that is):

• What accents do you find particularly sexy and/or appealing?
  (You can say "British", but I for one will probably scoff at you. Specific regions are acceptable. ;-)
• What movies present particularly good, squee-worthy, or toe-curling examples of same?

Here are my initial answers off the top of my head:

(1) Russian
• White Nights (Mikhail Baryshnikov as Rodchenko)

(2) Scottish
• Sliding Doors (John Hannah as James Hammerton; see also Four Weddings and a Funeral)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Katie Leung as Cho Chang)

Discuss!

I doubt anyone will be able to help with this problem, but it can't hurt to ask.

We have a Lenovo 3000 N500 notebook running Vista. It actually came with XP, but something became corrupted a week after we got it and I had to reinstall the operating system, and they had sent us Vista disks for some reason.

I have been unable to get the wireless radio to activate. The external switch is on, and the machine recognizes this. However, it seems to be deactivated on software level. I have gathered that this is a problem endemic to the 3000 line, and have searched for solutions. One suggestion was to change a registry setting, and it didn't work (I changed it back). Another suggested that it's due to two different programs trying to control the wireless radio, and that I should uninstall one, but I can't find one to uninstall. I suspect a lot of this has to do with Vista's tendency to cause problems in its effort to protect users from themselves.

Does anyone have any ideas? Lenovo says we're out of warranty, and I really don't want to pay hundreds of dollars for something I should already have. (And no, we've never had successful wireless access as far as we know. I never tried until recently because we didn't have the router.)

At this time, uploading of new Userpics and Scrapbook images may not work properly. Our Operations Team has been notified and we hope to have a resolution shortly.

Saturday January 2, 2010

Join us for services followed by a potluck, dairy/vegetarian Shabbat lunch. There will also be a children’s service at 11:30 a.m. Services at Havurat Shalom are egalitarian, lay-led and usually involve a lot of singing. The potluck is truly pot luck - no arranging of the dishes in advance. The meal is a good time to meet people and we welcome newcomers.

Services: 10:00 a.m.
Children's service: 11:30 a.m.
Lunch: c. 12:30 p.m.

Havurat Shalom
113 College Ave
Somerville MA 02144

for more info
call: 617-623-3376 (voice)
go to: http://www.thehav.org/
or email: info@thehav.org

The 1st floor of Havurat Shalom is wheelchair accessible, including the prayer room, dining room, living room, and bathroom. For the health of those with allergies and chemical sensitivities, we request that you not wear perfume, aftershave, or cologne to Havurat Shalom.

[partially cross-posted to fairytaleknight]

Whoever gave fairytaleknight a paid account extension, thank you so much. I am both surprised and very pleased.

Do you like drabbles, anonymous giver? Send me a story request. Anonymous comments are enabled if you prefer to remain unknown (but I'm curious!).

--

While I'm on the thank you notes, bookelfe's letter really cheered me up one day, and lots of people including just_ruth sent me lovely v-gifts. Of course, and I don't say this often enough, thank you all for your friendship, and I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year.

I sat outside to do some homework during my free period this afternoon, where suddenly there was a man with a large blue plastic-y sack yelling up at the third floor window, basically saying "go ahead and throw them down, I'm here". He was standing about a yard away from me. I got up to get out of the way and sort of squeaked- he told me not to worry- it's only paper. Well, those 7 bags of "only paper" made some Really impressive thunks, being thrown out of the third floor window onto the stone pavement below. And now I know how the mail is treated in Israel.

Tonight I went to a short-notice l'chaim for the engagement of a friend whom I a. only found out was here for a few weeks over shabbos from [Bad username: zodiacmg"], and b. I didn't know was seeing anyone. His fiancee seems lovely, and it was quite nice to see him. The party itself was a very different cultural experience from the rest of my time in Israel thus far- sort of a frum/hippy mixture experience. I knew almost no one- but spoke to a couple of folks I didn't know, and then had some good times with the couple of folks I did know, and have already spoken more with the friend's fiancee and with her parents and sister than I have with Steve's (you can probably guess which friend this is) wife, after having been at their wedding. (Can you tell that I am in fact still rather frustrated by that reality?)

In the middle, I spent a chunk of time being angsty about the fast, which is the one that I have the hardest time finding meaningful or useful. Fasting is much harder when you don't really feel like it's worth it, and when you're debating it constantly. A set decision is much easier to keep to.

Every year around Thanksgiving, I say to myself, "This year is going to be different." This year, I did my first gift shopping the first weekend of December and I thought, "Hey, I'm on track, look at me, I could actually have some gifts shipped out early this year." ( Yet at 4:30pm on December 24, there I was, still wrapping family gifts. )

Sigh.

I wrote a blanket apology for this phenomenon two years ago, most of which is still generally applicable. ( The question is, *why*? )

Well, at least my mom called me this afternoon to say that they got my package today (in California! w00t!) and were really pleased and touched. (Also yesterday, when I called my dad, he reiterated how much he absolutely LOVED the book I sent him last month for his birthday, which he is still finishing reading... so I felt happy to have done well by him on that one. It's always nice to actually hit one out of the park.) So... happy Boxing Day!

I'm supposed to be at a party right now, but... I woke up with a sore throat this morning, and though it wore off by midmorning, it's generally the sign of an incipient cold. Which I don't want to (a) share around nor (b) make worse, on top of being generally run-down from the preceding week's medical adventures. Despite the 2-hour nap I took this afternoon, I'm still tired enough that by 7:30 I was actually in tears at the idea of mustering the koach to go out and spend even an hour at the party. :-} It's rare enough for me to run out of energy, particularly social energy, that I really have to listen when I do. So, I'm sending regrets with ablock to the hostess and host, and likewise to the rest of you I would have liked to see there.

Converts to Judaism Describe Their Feelings on Christmas

Hey All,
We were discussing this in the comments of a post a while back, but I can't find it for the life of me.

Does anyone know where and in which text it's discussed that a Jewish man can marry a non-Jewish woman if he captures her in battle? I feel like someone posted a link to the passage (in the Talmud?) but I can't remember and I'm driving myself crazy trying to find it.

Thanks!