Category: computers

Discussions about computers and related technologies

Drawing tablets

A reader asked if I use a drawing tablet. Before I answer that question, let’s talk about what a drawing table is for those who might not be familiar with the technology. There are three types of technology collectively referred to as drawing tablets. For each type, the artist uses the supplied pen to create…

RIP faithful laptop

My 10-year-old Dell XPS laptop finally died. With its core i7, it was pretty hot back in 2013. I replaced its Windows OS with Linux some years ago and it was still performing acceptably. There were issues, of course. I prefer lightweight devices these days but the XPS is on the beefy side, which means…

Additional updates

As I wrote yesterday, I updated the gallery with two paintings that I finished last year. Here is the second one titled The Singer: The Singer is 40″ x 50.” The WordPress plug-in I use to manage my gallery, NextGen, failed so I opened a support ticket. As with the other times that I’ve had…

Thinking of using Linux?

I have a Windows computer but I use my Linux laptop for most work and prefer it over Windows. I describe myself as a ‘normal ++’ user, not a power user. This post is for those of you who are thinking about Linux. Why use Linux? Linux is faster than Windows. Linux distributions are bloat…

Sunny December studio

Sunshine has been rare in NE Ohio. The sunlight lighting the studio is cheery and warming–and winter has barely started. Yes, I have five computers on my desk. I am using three of them to investigate Linux distributions–CentOS, Manjaro, and Ubantu. I spent the morning drawing, then applied an oil ground to a new canvas,…

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Tom Hudson

My son John and I left early yesterday morning for a visit to the University of Cincinnati. John, a senior in high school, plans to be a computer engineer and UC’s program is #2 in the state (behind OSU’s).

It was raining when we left; a freezing rain that made the roads treacherous. My F-150 with 4-wheel drive handled the icy roads with aplomb. We had no trouble during the hour it took to get to I-71 at Ashland. But over the first 60-mile stretch of I-71 we passed 13–13!–wrecks. At mile 131, Delaware City, i-71 turned into a parking lot. The traffic app on my Galaxy Note 4 (love that phone) informed us that I-71 was closed 9 miles ahead (9 mile traffic jam!) due to an accident.

We got off at Delaware City with over a 100 miles left to go. Unfortunately, everyone else on I-71 did the same and Delaware City was another parking lot. We jumped onto some uncharted back roads and took Route 42 south, where we hit I-70 a half-hour later.

We turned back east and got on I-71 south of Columbus where we ran into another traffic jam! Long story short, we missed our tour. John wasn’t interested in just stomping around the campus  We cancelled our trip and headed to Dayton where we had a delightful visit with my cousins, Homer King, his wife Becky and their children and grandchildren. We had such a wonderful time that it made up for the frustrating morning.

Homer lives near Wright State (my alma mater) so we did a quick tour. Wright State does have a computer engineering program but no dice–John isn’t interested.