This post applies to: Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty) with Linux kernel 2.6.28, Wacom Bamboo Pen, linuxwacom 0.8.5-10, and GIMP 2.6.

I worked from this HOWTO post on the forums, with the following changes:

1. As of yesterday, linuxwacom-0.8.5-10 is available on linuxwacom.sourceforge.net, so I used that code and no patches.
2. For some reason, the kernel directories in src/ stopped at 2.6.27. The wacom.ko driver in there Works For Me™ on Ubuntu's 2.6.28 kernel, but your mileage may vary.
3. I had to add a 'wacom' line to /etc/modules in order to actually load the driver at boot and make the tablet useful.

Once I had the pointer on-screen responding to the tablet, I fired up GIMP and discovered I had no pressure sensitivity. It took me a while to remember that GIMP does not enable the pen by default. To enable it:

1. Edit menu, Preferences item
2. "Input Devices" in the left pane (toward the bottom)
3. "Configure Extended Input Devices..." button, first one on the right.
4. Find your devices in the Device dropdown; mine is "Wacom Bamboo Pen 4x5 Pen0".
5. Set the Mode to Screen.

I always forget to turn the stupid thing on in GIMP because setting up a tablet is so rare. It might be nice to have a dialog along the lines of, "You have a new input device. You need to configure it in order to use it. [Configure][Close]".

I recently had the opportunity to drive an '09 Jetta S with a 6-speed automatic for a couple of days while my car was in the shop. One of the things Julie brought up was how it feels much more like a luxury car than my New Beetle or the Honda Fit we test-drove last year.

After playing with it a bit, I realized one major difference is in the gas pedal. The Fit was always ready to spring forward if I pushed the pedal any harder. Its demand for ultra-precise control made it feel like a fast-reacting sports car, just waiting to show off its reaction time to the next challenge. Sometimes I had to just think about moving my foot, and that would elicit a response without making Julie rock back and forth.

The Jetta is the Fit's antithesis. There's a bit of purposeful delay in the reaction, so that the changes in acceleration are very gentle. And that gives the car that "big luxury sedan" feel, by simulating the inertia of an actual 4,000 pound car. Even alternating between flooring it and releasing the pedal didn't make my passenger complain.

In 2008, I had an '09 Forester for a day as the loaner, and I panned it at the time: "They ruined the Forester." I've since come around to the styling, but I remember describing its ride as bland. I wonder now if it simply felt more like the Jetta than the Fit, and my taste has changed in the meantime.

It's why they walk so slowly; it seems like a normal pace to them.

It turns out that announcing something, such as the intention to write weekly, reduces the actual results. Aside from my recent demonstration, similar news flitted across reddit and/or news.yc within the past couple of months. I think. This post is a likely source, but the date is off for the 'social news' link-churning mills.

I wrote about time debt, swore to do better at time management, and dropped off the Internet, more or less. The irony of Anuj's comment on that post was not exactly lost on me.

In spite of my lack of activity here, I managed to add a piece to my slow-growing deviantART gallery: Fire Tulip.

I'd say a lot more, but I think there's only one thing left for me to add to the iPad discussion. Named the iPad and coming in at the CrunchPad's (now the JooJoo, if it actually ships) price point, but with the Apple app store: DIRECT HIT. 9999 DAMAGE!! +3 Awesome Points! And although I have no plans to get one, my lack of purchasing any other Apple product doesn't seem to be hurting them much.