Tim Menteles Website

As a long-time proponent of open source technology, it makes me happy to post this to my blog. Gutsy Gibbon is almost here!

In case you’re wondering — Gutsy Gibbon is the name of the new Ubuntu release. Ubuntu is a “flavor” of linux. I have actually had Gutsy running on my laptop at home for months and this release will probably be the first release I put on my main system. My hope is to break my ties with the Windows world (although I haven’t fully made that jump yet). Anyway, check out Gutsy if you get a chance — I don’t think, outside of the theme, you’ll notice anything different between linux and windows.

Popularity: 30% [?]

NOTE: This post is quite old — I use Curse for most of my mod needs now, though I still use Gatherer and Auctioneer – Tim

Those who know me, know that I’m an avid player of a game called World of Warcraft (WoW for short).  As part of the WoW experience, Blizzard allows users to create add-ons (called mods).  These mods will do something within the game like change the layout of the interface, add some functionality or just allow you to send a message when you’re resurrecting another player (among a million other things).  I’ve decided to pay some homage to my favorite mods (and mod site) by linking to them.  This will also help me point other WoW players to some of my favorite mods. (more…)

Popularity: 71% [?]

I normally don’t write about work much here, but this story is just too funny NOT to write about.

Today, I received an e-mail from our software secretary that was sent to the handful of individuals that work for the same company as me (there were 11 of us). She goes on to tell us that we are going to get access to this new travel software. I think to myself “Great!” because travel can be somewhat confusing — especially since I’m not employed by the primary contractor here. Now, here’s where it gets whacky — she goes on to state that in order to get this set up, “What we need from you: Send us your full name and USGS email address“. eh? Wait a minute, didn’t she just send ME an e-mail? And now she needs MY e-mail address and name? She obviously knows my name…and since she sent me an e-mail, I’m going to assume that she knows that too. That’s like calling someone on the phone and saying “Hey Bob, can I get your name and phone number?”. What the hell?!
Anyways — I obliged, and sent my name and e-mail — however in the back of my head, I keep thinking how dumb it is.

Oh well…hopefully it gave you a giggle.

Popularity: 39% [?]

Ever since I got this domain (and all my other domains), I receive these bounced e-mails on a fairly regular basis. Usually they are spam that are sent “from” some weird, non-existent e-mail address at mentele.net. Well, each time a spam mail gets sent “from” someone at mentele.net “to” another user that doesn’t really exist at some other domain, that e-mail gets bounced BACK to my non-existent e-mail address which in turn gets bounced BACK to the server which sent the first bounce. Here’s a little list to explain what i’m talking about (hopefully) a little clearer. (more…)

Popularity: 81% [?]

The new Mentele Hacienda has gone thru some recent improvements. Last week (09/15/06 – 09/18′ish), my brother and dad came over to give me a hand in leveling the land, dropping in some drain tiling and throwing in a sprinkler system. It was a lot of work, but I’m told it will be well worth it…that is of course, once the grass grows in. We dropped a whole bunch of seed on the ground over a week ago (on the 18th of September). I was optimistic for the first couple days…watching as the seeds settled into the ground and began to turn a darker brown…i kept waiting for the grass to start sprouting up. Then, Sioux Falls turns into rain-central. We got about 3 inches of rain over a matter of a couple days…Yes, rain IS needed for grass to grow, but too much rain causes my yard to run down the hill. Luckily, the majority of my yard stayed in place and only a few sink holes developed, but the grass seed started to gather where the water puddled…So, now it’s been dry for a couple days and I’m STILL waiting for the grass to grow…I’ve been watering it a couple times a day…just enough to keep the ground damp…but, I’m still waiting for any grass to peek out from its seed. Maybe I just got some defective grass seed? I don’t know. I’m going to give it another couple weeks before I completely sell it out…but I’m really hoping that I have some grass before too long…

Popularity: 36% [?]

– edit –

okay, forget anything i said previously — it’s amazing how things can change in a matter of a couple weeks.  anyways, my employment is not changing — one thing is staying the same in these crazy times at least.

Popularity: 19% [?]

As many of you may (or may not) know, I am currently engaged. We are in the process of preparing for the wedding — which is an ordeal in and of itself. Part of our preperation was to create a website where we could post information pertaining to the wedding. So, I’m just setting up the link right now — here it is.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Well, it’s been made official, so I can talk about it freely — I have accepted the MDS software engineering lead / system engineer position out here at EROS. Basically, I’ve taken a step up from where I was. Previously, I was a code monkey (software engineer) — I was writing PERL and PLSQL code — now I will be doing project management-type work and very little coding. Essentially, I will now I will be in my boss’s position (ironically, she’s moving up a step, so she will continue to be my boss). I will now have 4 people that I’m responsible for.

When I decided to apply for the job, my main concern was how it would be perceived if I moved (further) away from coding. In my mind, I am going to make a conscious effort to continue coding at home. This is and will continue to be tough for me (not coding any more at work), but this decision was a strategic move to get a leg up in the world.

I guess that only time will tell to see how this is going to work out, but I’m really looking forward to another huge shift of gears and to see things in a new light. I really enjoy the people I work with, and will be working with now more, so that’s a plus. I am also looking forward to using my speaking skills more — that is one of the things that I hate about programming — I rarely ever get to speak to people!

Anyway — that’s my big news of the week.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Today for lunch, I decided to go the “cheap” route and get a chicken salad sandwich and a small bag of cheetos. The sandwich was really good, and the cheetos taste really good, but the damn things won’t stay in my mouth! They insist on dropping onto my black sweatshirt. So, now my black and orange sweatshirt is making me look like a slob! Oh well.

In other news, we got like 8 inches of snow last nite. It was enough to have them set work back 2 hours. Niiiiiice…I got to sleep another couple hours! It was well-needed because I was up playing black and white 2 til late last nite. I just started playing the other day and I’m not completely sure if I’m playing correctly, but it seems pretty fun.

That’s all for now…

Popularity: 21% [?]

Well, I just ended my hockey season this past weekend with the Girl’s Varsity Tournament out in Rapid City. It was my first time visiting the “Thunderdome” (Rushmore’s hockey rink). The rink is set up alot like Huron’s, only bigger and not quite as dirty and worn out. Plus, I think the people are nicer too .

(more…)

Popularity: 21% [?]