I feel compelled to write something about the passing of my friend David Heiner. I want to say how his passing pulled at my soul. I want to say how I lied in bed for two days straight, unable to even get up or understand the world anymore. I want to say how it has turned me into a better, more aware person. The fact is, however, that I was not close to David. I can count the number of times I saw him on one hand. I never had the chance -- rather, I never took the chance -- to truly meet and get to know him.

David Heiner is the third David to have altered the course of my life. How many more Davids will I have to endure to escape from my world of deception and lies? I want to scream and cry and stand aside all at once. I want to stab myself to attack the jealousy and laziness within me, yet protect myself from all harm to stand strong forever against the taboos of our social world that I want so badly to correct. I want to run headlong into the fog that is stubbornness and melt it away like the rising sun. I want to stop the flood of fleeting, contradictory emotions. I want to reach out and touch someone and have them hold me tightly against their chest and tell me everything will be alright. I want the insomniatic battle to end and I want to wake up to a new, victorious dawn. I want to tell the truth and I want to be accepted for it.

This time, a David has changed my life for the better. He is my catalyst. It is not because we were so close, but precisely because we were so distant. He has made me realize that there must be countless people that I have let slip through my life; friendships I let pass by. It also has made me aware of the friendships I currently have and how they may be slowly slipping away. I have a handful of great friends who truly care about me -- even though I have not always realized this or treated them with the same level of respect. I am a hypocrit for looking around at my friends and showing anger at how they never call me up or take an interest in my life, yet I, too, sit idly by without reaching out to any of them. I know it will be a gradual process, but I hope to now turn over a new leaf and start to become a better person.

Update 8/26/08: I've improved the compizswitcher script so multiple wrapped applications can run at once (Compiz Fusion will only be reenabled once the all wrapped applications are terminated).

If you use Ubuntu on a computer with an ATI graphics card, you may be disappointed (to say the least) with the video quality. While the quality can be improved by visiting Settings > Preferences > Video > Output Modules and choosing the XVideo output module, this seems to simply switch one problem (blocky picture) for another (flickering).

The problem is that the ATI graphics driver for linux, fglrx, does not get along with Ububtu's 3D desktop effects manager, Compiz Fusion. Both programs fight for control over the display, resuling in flickering as one redraws overtop the other. The "solution" is to use to disable Compiz Fusion while playing videos. You can "wrap" the vlc executable around the following shell script which will automatically disable and re-enable Compiz Fusion as necessary. (The same script can also be wrapped around any other problematic application.)

Run the following code to prepare for the script (one-time only):

sudo apt-get install libnotify-bin compizconfig-settings-manager
sudo touch /usr/local/bin/compizswitcher
sudo chmod 777 /usr/local/bin/compizswitcher

Use your favorite text editor to save the following script as /usr/local/bin/compizswitcher:

#!/bin/bash -u
# quietmint.com Compiz Fusion wrapper script (8/26/08)

if [ $# -lt 1 ]; then
echo "Usage: $0 <command>"
exit 1
fi
ICON="/usr/share/ccsm/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/plugin-showdesktop.svg"
LOCKFILE="/tmp/compizswitcher.lock"

# Disable?
if [ ! -e $LOCKFILE ]; then
echo "[compizswitcher] Disabling Compiz Fusion"
DISPLAY=$DISPLAY metacity --replace 2>/dev/null | cat /dev/null &
notify-send --expire-time=3500 --icon=$ICON "Application Compatibility" \
"Visual effects are temporarily disabled."
else
echo "[compizswitcher] Duplicate instance, Compiz Fusion was already disabled by another process"
fi

echo "$$" >> "$LOCKFILE";
trap unlock INT TERM EXIT

# Run the original command
$@

unlock() {
# Enable?
OTHERS=$(grep -v "^$$$" "$LOCKFILE")
if [ ! -z "$OTHERS" ]; then
echo "$OTHERS" > "$LOCKFILE"
echo "[compizswitcher] Duplicate instance, leaving Compiz Fusion disabled for other processes"
else
rm -f $LOCKFILE
echo "[compizswitcher] Enabling Compiz Fusion"
DISPLAY=$DISPLAY compiz --replace >/dev/null 2>/dev/null &
sleep 2
notify-send --expire-time=3500 --icon=$ICON "Application Compatibility" \
"Visual effects have been re-enabled."
fi
}

After saving the script, run the following commands to create a "wrapper" application for VLC (repeat for other applications, switching "vlc" with the appropriate application name):

sudo mv /usr/bin/vlc /usr/bin/vlc.real
sudo touch /usr/bin/vlc
sudo chmod 777 /usr/bin/vlc
echo 'compizswitcher vlc.real $@' > /usr/bin/vlc

Now you can enjoy high-quality, flicker-free videos without completely sacrificing the aesthetic 3D effects of Compiz Fusion.

While taking the garbage out, I happened to notice the slogan on my box of trash[y] bags: For the protection you need to get things done. I didn't expect something so dirty from a company bragging about keeping America clean.