Ryan, Debi, and Toren Cragun's Blog

Stolen Innocence

Author:
Elissa Wall with Lisa Pulitzer

Publisher:
HarperCollins

Date of Publication:
2008

ISBN:
978-0-06-162801-6

Rating:
7

Summary:
Stolen Innocence tells the story of Elissa Wall, a woman raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The book starts out describing her childhood. She spent a large portion of it in the Salt Lake Valley with her biological father, Douglas Wall, and two, then three mothers (her mother was the second wife). She spent time at Alta Academy, the school of the FLDS in the Salt Lake Valley, until it was closed down. The principal of Alta Academy while she was there was Warren Jeffs, son of Rulon Jeffs (the prophet most of the time she was growing up), and the future prophet of the FLDS.

At about the age of 13 her biological father had his priesthood revoked and lost two of his wives, including Elissa’s, Sharon Steed, mother. Her mother was reassigned to Fred Jessop, the bishop of Hildale/Colorado City, the FLDS town on the border of Utah and Arizona. Elissa lived there for about a year before her new father, Fred, and Warren Jeffs decided it was time for her to marry. She was assigned to marry her first cousin, Allen Steed, of whom she was not a fan, “Not only would they force me to get married at fourteen, they would force me to get married to the one person I had come to loathe in my short life.” (p. 134).

Despite her protests, which she describes as quite vociferous, she was forced to go through with the marriage. It took several months after the marriage, but eventually Allen convinced/forced her to have sex with him. Elissa never grew to even like Allen, let alone love him, and consistently asked for a dissolution of the marriage from both Rulon Jeffs and then Warren once Rulon died. She eventually took to sleeping in her truck at night so she would not have to spend the night with Allen in their trailer where he would regularly force her to have sex with him. In her first two years of marriage, she had two miscarriages and a stillbirth, all with a man she hated (p. 239). During the second miscarriage she fled from Allen and ended up stuck in the desert with a flat tire. Luckily, a disenfranchised male member of the FLDS, Lamont, happened by at that point (also out in the desert contemplating his future as a non-priesthood holding young man in the FLDS). He helped her change the tire then followed her as she drove to safety.

Eventually, Elissa and Lamont became friends, even though doing so was taboo among the FLDS as she was married and any romantic contact with other men was strictly forbidden. The friendship led to a romantic relationship and ultimately they became lovers. It was only when she became pregnant with Lamont’s child and was caught spending time with him that Allen, her husband, finally pushed for a divorce and was granted one by Warren Jeffs, “In one moment, what I’d been asking for since the very beginning had been granted. Not because of all my begging and pleading. Not because I’d complained about the terrible things that Allen had done to me. Not because I’d endured three years with a man I didn’t love and Warren had taken pity on me. I had been forced to suffer with no hope of it ever stopping. And now that I’d finally taken a step toward my own happiness, I was being punished and labeled a sinner.” (p. 317). Allen was commended for his efforts in the marriage, but Elissa was punished. She was initially sent back to be the property of her biological father, but she snuck out and she and Lamont left the FLDS at that point.

Within a couple years of leaving the FLDS, Elissa’s family, friends, and Utah law enforcement prevailed on her to testify against Warren Jeffs as an accomplice to rape. Since she was 14 and not willing to marry when she was forced to marry Allen and then was forced to have sex with him repeatedly against her will, this made Warren an accomplice to her rape (he arranged the marriage and performed the ceremony). Warren also knew what was happening in the relationship, knew that Elissa did not like it and wanted no part of it, but did nothing to stop it. Elissa eventually testified against Warren and Warren was convicted and sentenced to two “5 years to life” sentences. Elissa Wall was the Dane Joe who put Warren Jeffs in jail.

Review:
I have mixed feelings about this book. First, the book is very long, probably too long (431 pages). In a sense, the details of the book work at cross purposes. The fact that there are so many events recounted suggests that Elissa tried her best not to leave anything out, lending weight to the accuracy of the book. However, the detailed recounting of some specific events, particularly when it included speech, makes me a little wary. I have a decent memory, but have a really hard time remembering exactly what people said just a few minutes after I hear it, let alone years after the fact. Thus, the specific details of some of these events may be off – our memories are remarkably pliable and can change over time. I’m not questioning the broad outline of what happened – I think Elissa has probably fairly accurately recounted what happened to her (as outlined above). But the minute details of the events make me just a tad skeptical. Despite my mixed feelings here, I think the book makes some great points.

One of the characteristics of the FLDS that I think Elissa does a good job describing, even though she clearly frames it in a negative light, is the power of the “priesthood” (i.e., the authority to act in god’s name) among the FLDS, “Lines of priesthood authority are patriarchal and strictly observed. In this system all women and children basically belong to the priesthood—not just to their husband or father. In reality, they are possessions of the priesthood and the prophet, and revelations from God determine their ultimate fate. When the prophet decides to award a wife to a priesthood man, it is viewed as a transfer of a possession to the man. The prophet decides when two people should marry, when families can form, and when families that are not working are to be reorganized.” (p. 17). While there are likely members of the FLDS who would disagree with this description, it does seem to be fairly accurate. In fact, I experienced a milder version of this priesthood authority growing up in the LDS Church. While women certainly don’t “belong” to their spouses in the LDS Church (practically, theologically this is more muddied), men are still seen as the head of the household and it is generally agreed that you don’t dissent from the prophet (though it seems this may be changing, especially in light of the widespread dissent among the LDS as a result of the LDS Church’s position on Proposition 8 in California).

Another characteristic of the FLDS that, while perhaps overly critical in Elissa’s words, does seem fairly accurate, is the depiction of women, “From birth, girls are prepared for this role [marriage]. Their way of life is chosen for them by the priesthood. They are told whom to marry, what to believe, and how to live their lives. Women are taught that they have already chosen their destiny before their birth, at which point they chose to willingly place their lives in the hands of the prophet and priesthood, having everything dictated for them.” (p. 19). As she rode in the car to Nevada to be married, Elissa recalled her thoughts on the role of women among the FLDS, “It should have dawned on me that many aspects of the religion were based on revoking the rights of women. If a girl speaks her mind, get her married. Once she’s married, get her pregnant. Once she has children, she’s in for life—it’s almost impossible for any FLDS woman to take her children if she leaves, and no mother wants to leave her children behind. At the time, I was still too young and blind to see the pattern. All I could think was that this land and these people were my home, but for me—and for most FLDS women—there is an unspoken yet enormous sense of entrapment.” (p. 153).

Perhaps the most compelling evidence to support Elissa’s argument that women are poorly treated among the FLDS comes from an exchange she had with Warren Jeffs when she was trying to get him to end her marriage to Allen, “”But Uncle Warren,” I said, “I hate having husband-wife relations [sex] with him.” “You are being very selfish. You need to set aside your feelings and do what you are told to do,” he said without sympathy. His response flattened me. “I don’t know what to do because you’ve got to do something,” I said. “It is impossible for me to love this man.” “You know, you have no right to feel that way,” Warren told me, his tone growing hostile.” (p. 208). This is clearly the perspective of someone who suffered the harshest version of this system of gender stratification. I have read numerous accounts of women in the FLDS and in other polygamous groups (see Altman and Ginat’s book) who willingly choose to participate in these relationships and do not feel like they are powerless. I’m guessing the real situation is somewhere in-between these two extremes – women in the FLDS don’t have a lot of power, but probably have more than Elissa describes.

That said, Elissa’s mother, Sharon Steed, does seem to typify the role of the FLDS women Elissa describes. Sharon was forced to give up son after son in the name of the religion. She abandoned twin sons when she was sent to Hildale (p. 103). Those sons, “…begged her to come back to Salt Lake and take care of them. When she said she couldn’t, they accused her of choosing her religion over them. Her heart was torn in two, but the reality was apparent: her faith required that she choose the prophet and religion over everything else. It didn’t matter how much she loved us, missed us, or wanted us by her side. She could not forsake her duty to the prophet and priesthood.” (p. 117). One might initially think she was forced to make these decisions, and certainly there was a substantial amount of pressure to do so. But Sharon reveals her priorities at various points in the book, with disturbing effect. When Elissa reveals to her mother that she is going to testify against Warren, her mom responds with, “I’d rather see you die than fight the priesthood” (p. 338). Elissa ultimately addresses the depiction of her mother at the end of the book, “While I am sure my mother may feel disrespected and hurt by my actions, I hope she understands that coming forward was something I had to do. Her staunch support of the religion and inability to extract herself from that mindset put me in a position where she couldn’t protect me. It is for this reason that I have resolved to make it my mission to help my little sisters and others like them in any way possible.” (p. 429). While I can understand Elissa’s mother’s devotion to her religion, it is hard to argue with the fact that Sharon could do nothing to protect her daughter. She knew Elissa didn’t want to get married, but couldn’t stop it. And after the marriage, when Allen was forcing himself on Elissa, Sharon was, again, helpless. If Sharon Steed is at all representative of the women in the FLDS, there is a real problem of female disenfranchisement among the FLDS. If she’s not, I think the FLDS need to work harder to illustrate she is not.

One final point I think Elissa makes quite well in this book is her depiction of the outside world and how hard it is to adjust to it when you have spent your whole life in a community like the FLDS. Elissa was taught that blacks were the most evil people on the planet, but when she met the wife of one of her brothers who had been expelled from the group, Whitney, she realized what she had been taught all her life was not true, “As I sat there talking to Whitney, I found myself thinking that all it took was contact with the outside world and the barriers of fear that Warren had constructed came tumbling down. It was becoming much harder for me to view outsiders as evil when they were my family. Jacob was a good person and he was creating a good family. I could not stomach the idea that he, his wife, or his daughter were somehow wicked just because they were not a part of our church.” (p. 235). I experienced this same feeling as I became better acquainted with people outside the LDS prior to leaving the religion. Mormonism is not a requirement for being a good person.

But once you do finally leave, it’s very hard to adjust, “Getting out wasn’t just about starting a fresh routine, it was about establishing a totally new way of thinking. When you leave the FLDS, your whole foundation crumbles. You have to start from scratch and think about large, far-reaching questions, like What do I believe in? What about heaven? What are morals? What will I fight for? We had gained freedom and each other, but we had lost the ground beneath our feet. It made it even harder when our thoughts turned to the families we’d both lost.” (p. 329). This, too, is an accurate depiction of what I went through when I left the LDS Church. While the LDS Church does not have such an all-encompassing worldview and lifestyle as does the FLDS, it is still a particularly well-constructed sacred canopy. When the plausibility structure holding up that sacred canopy collapsed, it took quite a bit of time to build a new one. And, it was hard and painful to deal with the emotional and psychological baggage and the changes in relationships, but worth it.

While it’s difficult to judge a book like this as it is almost as though you are judging the author (it is her story), I do think it’s a good book. Elissa is definitely critical of the FLDS, though with reason as she was forced to marry and have sex with someone she disliked against her will. But she also points out that the FLDS have a lot of positive characteristics, like the tight-knit community and how supportive they are of each other (or, at least, how supportive they were in the past). I wouldn’t say it is a perfectly balanced book, but it gives a fairly accurate account of what life was like for someone who was not treated fairly in the FLDS system. It may not be the best-written book of 2008, but it’s an engaging read. I recommend it for anyone interested in the FLDS, though it should be contrasted with books that present a more positive depiction of polygamy and the FLDS (see here).

To Light a Candle

Author:
Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory

Publisher:
TOR

Date of Publication:
2004

ISBN:
0765302209

Rating:
8

Summary:
This is the second book in The Obsidian Trilogy. I read the first book during the summer last year (review here). The first book must have been better than I thought, or maybe I just long to spend time in fantasy worlds every so often to escape from everyday life, but I actually found myself wondering over the last year what came of Kellen Tavadon, the protagonist of the book. In the first book Kellen is kicked out of Armetheliah – the Golden City of Mages who practice the High Magic – when it is revealed that he is a Wild Mage who practices Wild Magic (a different form of magic that is a threat to the hierarchy of the High Mages). Upon leaving Armetheliah, he runs into his sister, Idalia, another Wild Mage, he helps him understand what has happened to him and how to use his magic. They eventually leave the Wild Lands and arrive in the Elven Lands where they are called upon to use their magic to end a drought caused by the magic of The Endarkened (a.k.a. demons). They succeed. In the process, Kellen discovers why he sucks at both Wild Magic and High Magick – he’s actually a Knight Mage, meaning his magic facilitates his fighting ability – making him an amazing fighter with virtually no training.

The second book picks up where the first left off. Kellen has just destroyed the obelisk created by The Endarkened that was disrupting the weather patterns causing the drought in Elven Lands. He destroyed it with the help of Jermayan, an elven knight who is in love with his sister, Shalkan, a unicorn that Kellen rides and to whom Kellen owes a mage debt as Shalkan saved his life after he was kicked out of Armetheliah, and Vestakia, a young woman who looks like a demon (red skin, horns), but who is actually human and good on the inside. Kellen nearly died in the process, but eventually returns to Sentarshadeen (one of the Elven cities) and is reunited with his sister who is able to heal him.

Once back in Sentarshadeen Kellen begins planning with the elven leaders how they are going to respond to the growing strength of The Endarkened. The elves decide they are going to send their children (elves live about a thousand years in this world and don’t have many children) to their most well-protected stronghold, the Fortress of the Crowned Horns, until they are able to conquer the demons once again. While the elves arrange to send their children to the stronghold, Kellen begins training as a knight with Belesharon, the oldest and best elven knight in the House of Sword and Shield. Also, Idalia finally decides that she is going to pursue a relationship with Jermayan, who has wanted to pursue one for quite some time.

Once the elves in Sentarshadeen finally send their kids (all 5 of them) to the stronghold, The Endarkened attack again. They attack the well-protected caravan with coldwarg (big nasty wolve-like creatures), frost giants, and shadow elves (a cross between goblins and elves). All of the caravan’s defenders are killed except one unicorn, which manages to escape and make it back to Sentarshadeen. All of the children are captured by the shadow elves and tucked away in a cave. Once the unicorn returns with the bad news, Kellen puts together a quick party to go out to find them. It’s at this point that Vestakia becomes vital to the story as her demonic father has given her a special power – she can detect demon taint. As creations of the demons, the shadow elves are tainted and Vestakia is able to detect them. She tracks them to their caves where they have hidden the children.

Idalia uses an invisibility cloak to sneak into the cave and eventually rescue the children, but the last trip out is with the one nurse to the children who survived and the cloak isn’t big enough for the two of them. The shadow elves see them. Idalia gives the cloak to the nurse and runs deeper into the caves to distract the shadow elves. In the process, she falls off a cliff, nearly killing herself. She wakes long enough to use the wild magic to send for help. The wild magic calls upon a dragon, Ancaladar, who has been hiding in the caves for thousands of years (dragons used to be prevalent but many were killed during the last major battle with the Endarkened). Ancaladar helps Kellen rescue Idalia. Once the rescue is complete, Ancaladar meets Jermayan and they realize that they are meant to bond as a dragon and dragon mage. This adds a new, very powerful ally to the elven army.

With the children safe, the elves muster an army and attack the shadow elves, eventually cleaning out the first cave system they find. They then use Vestakia’s power to find two additional caves. They set up camp near those caves and eventually empty that cave system as well, though not without numerous incidents along the way. Throughout, Kellen grows more confident in his abilities, as do Jermayan and Ancaladar.

A subplot that sets the stage for the third and final book takes place at the same time as all of the above involves another human in Armetheliah. Back in Armetheliah, Cilarnen, a young man about Kellen’s age and a highly accomplished high magic apprentice, is conned into engaging in treason by Anigrel, a servant of the Endarkened who has deceived the High Mage Council, including Kellen and Idalia’s father, Lycaelon. Anigrel uses Cilarnen’s treason to remove his father, High Mage Volpiril, from the Council, opening a spot for himself. Cilarnen is banished from the city as a result, but is allowed to keep his magical abilities, which normally does not happen. Anigrel uses his position of power and his influence over Lycaelon Tavadon to slowly begin to release the magical wards that keep the Endarkened from entering Armetheliah. He also uses his position to make the High Mages increasingly afraid of Wild Mages and to turn them against all the other “lesser races” (i.e., elves, unicorns, centaurs, etc.). Cilarnen eventually meets up with Kellen as the elven army is mopping up the last of the shadow elves. Once he arrives, Kellen and Idalia begin to put together what is happening in Armetheliah. The climax of the book occurs when Idalia discovers Anigrel’s treachery but nearly dies in the process, only to be saved by the combined efforts of Cilarnen, Kellen, and Jermayan when the Queen of the Endarkened attacks her while she is casting the spell.

This climactic event sets up what must be the plot for the final book – the efforts of Kellen, Idalia, Jermayan, Cilarnen, and Vestakia to stop the plans of the Endarkened to take the city of Armetheliah and vanquish them back to the pits from where they came.

Review:
My only major complaint with the book is an element I left out in the summary above, which probably accounts for about 50 pages of the 650+ page book – tea. While the numerous instances of everyone drinking tea – before battle, after battle, in the morning, at night, at every meal, at every official meeting, at every unofficial meeting, whenever you have a spare moment, whenever you say something, etc. – add detail the story and make it seem like a more developed world, it was a bit over-the-top. The authors have created at least a dozen different types of tea with corresponding flavors and descriptions, all of which are recounted in excruciating detail by one character or another at some point. It gets old after a while.

I would have much rather seen the authors use those 50 or so pages to describe in greater detail Kellen’s battles. They do a decent job with his battle sequences, but given his knight mage abilities, his battles warrant greater detail then they are given in the book. The few sequences where they do go into detail were some of my favorite parts. For example, his first test after training with Belesharon against a dozen shadow elves in the pitch black of the caves (where they can see and he can’t) while tracking down the injured Idalia was beautifully described and made me smile while reading it.

Other subplots that could have used more detail include the relationship developing between Idalia and Jermayan, which seems to have been sidetracked once Jermayan bonded with Ancaladar and what Vestakia and Shalkan spend all their time doing when they are not accompanying Kellen. These minor complaints aside, it’s a compelling book and a well-developed fantasy world. It provided me with hours of enjoyable reading and leaves me wanting to know what ultimately happens. I guess I’ll find out when I read the final book… Hopefully that won’t be in a year.

Christotainment: Selling Jesus through Popular Culture

Author:
Shirley R. Steinberg, Joe L. Kincheloe

Publisher:
Westview Press

Date of Publication:
2009

ISBN:
978-0813344058

Rating:
1/10

Summary:
The book purports to be an analysis of how Christianity and Christ have become part of popular culture in the US. I guess, in a sense, it is, but only in the sense that it’s a book that mentions Christ and popular culture, not because the arguments are coherent or even provocative.

Review:
Usually, when I start a book, I finish it. There’s just something about starting a book that makes me feel like I have an obligation to the author to see the book through to the end. There have been a few books over the years that I opened and, just a few pages into them I said, “Wow, this is so bad I’m not going to read it.” Alas, Christotainment can now be added to that list. So, this is a review of the Introduction and the 8 pages or so I read before I put the book down, never to be taken back up again.

What is so problematic about a book that you’d think would be ideally suited for someone like me who is critical of religion, but particularly critical of religions that seem money hungry and greedy? Well, it’s not scientific. It seems to suggest that it is, but only because most of the authors are academics (mostly education and communications professors) and they use references. When you check the references you see that the authors cite “publications” that range from (1) their own books, (2) some journal articles from education and communications journals (scary!), to (3) blogs (including the Daily Kos). Um, there are a few blogs that I might reference for non-scientific purposes, but never as a scientific source. So, first off, the book is not really an academic book. It’s, well, a pseudo-academic book.

Second, in line with the first problem, the authors make wildly unfounded statements. Here’s one from page 5, “At the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, you can’t turn on the radio or TV, go to the movie theater, listen to contemporary music, or attend on- and off-Broadway musicals without encountering Jesus.” I immediately asked myself after reading this line, “When was the last time I “encountered” Jesus? The answer: About two weeks ago when I was discussing an independent study with a student next semester. And in the conversation, Jesus was not the focus. We were talking about Bible manuscripts and Bart Ehrman’s work. So, I was talking specifically about religion and Jesus came up since he’s kind of the focus of the Bible (the New Testament at least). That’s two weeks without any “Jesus encounters.” I’ve read plenty of news, watched TV, and spent time with a lot of people since then, and Jesus hasn’t come up a single time. Granted, I’m not religious and most of the people I surround myself with are not either, but still… Maybe I’m just completely disconnected from popular culture in the US…

Okay, I figure you could chalk something like this up to hyperbole – the author is just trying to make a statement about the pervasiveness of religion, Christianity in particular, in the US (ironically, the editors are Canadian – go figure!). So, let’s try a few other choice quotes. Here’s another one from the same paragraph, “This book wants to understand this merging of popular culture and Christian fundamentalism. In this context, we use a bricolage of methods to understand religious marketing, what such theotainment looks like, and its theological, cultural, social, and political effects. Our assertion is that such dynamics are changing the world in a dangerous and frightening manner.” Well, they admit that they are critical theorists (meaning they reveal their biases). Okay, fine with me. But what’s their evidence that it is dangerous and frightening? They don’t mention the shooting of doctors who perform abortions. They don’t mention Timothy McVeigh (even though his actions were mostly political, just inspired by Christianity). They don’t mention any of the real threats of fundamentalist Christianity, just that it is around – on TV, in music, and sports. Scary!

What’s more, there is quite a bit of evidence suggesting that religion is on the decline in the US. In fact, I’d submit that the very fact that there are a lot of “Jesus encounters” (at least for some people) is evidence of this. Jesus has been so watered-down that he gets thrown around frequently, but not to convert people. It’s basically a marketing gimmick; Jesus has been commercialized (he makes for a pretty good celebrity promoter). There is plenty of evidence to support this, including the pharmacy across the street from my house that advertises with a sign out front that says, “Abortion Kills” and the chiropractor a few blocks away that advertises as a “Christian Chiropractor.” This isn’t the infusion of fundamentalist Christianity with popular culture – which is the central thesis of the book – but rather the commercialization and commodification of Christianity for capitalistic ends. That doesn’t suggest the growing influence of religion but the declining orthodoxy and authority of religion. Religion is now just one more thing people use to sell you stuff. If that is what religion has come to, how big of a step is it to simply dismiss religion altogether? In short, the fundamental premise of the book – that fundamentalist Christianity (which the author of the first chapter can’t actually define) is growing increasingly pervasive in popular culture – reflects exactly the opposite of what the authors claim.

To top that off, the authors simply get their facts wrong (not to mention don’t cite sources). Here’s my favorite from page 7, “Dominionists [who the author clearly thinks are all people who say they are Christian] have carefully engaged in their surreptitious political activities – sometimes successfully, sometimes not – in the process putting together mass communications complexes. Indeed, at the end of this decade, they own six TV networks and two thousand Christian radio stations, and they control the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States.” First off, Dominionists are people who want to replace our secular government with a Christian theocracy. While there are plenty of Dominionists out there, the majority of Christians in the US don’t think that way. To then assume that just because a radio station or TV network is owned by Christians that it must be Dominionist is patently absurd. There is a huge variation in theology among Christians in the US, ranging from ultra-liberal to ultra-conservative and these stations are owned by a variety of groups. This is misleading. Finally, the Southern Baptist Convention recently elected a more moderate leader, which didn’t get front page press, but was noteworthy in the circles I travel. The new leader is no Michael Moore, but he is being touted as a moderate. So, two factual errors and one misleading statement. Not bad for a single sentence.

My last complaint – the writing is atrocious. Here’s an example of wholly disjointed thinking from page 6, “Thus, in this new cultural atmosphere, the Bakkers merged Disneyland with the orgasmic [not a typo] delights of the camp meeting. With the sexual and financial scandals that beset the couple, their version of Heritage USA fell apart. Evangelicals knew they had a good marketing idea, and numerous efforts to reconstitute the fundamentalist theme park continue into the twenty-first century. Suffice it to say that the Jesus marketed at Heritage USA was an American patriot.” So, the author called camp meetings “orgasmic” and then, out of the blue, says that the Jesus of Heritage USA was an American patriot. Maybe he’s drawing a connection between USA and patriotism, but that line was completely unrelated to the collapse of Heritage USA. Bizarre…

So, about 10 pages in, I decided I’d had enough. I wasn’t going to learn anything from this book, and I don’t think you will either. If you want good books on the marketing of religion and how religions have become pseudo-corporations, ask me. This is not the book I will recommend.

After about three years of toying with each new release of Ubuntu Linux, the latest version, Jaunty Jackalope 9.0.4, sold me.  It’s about 95% there, and that’s enough.  So here’s the rundown of what works and what doesn’t…

I installed the latest version on five computers: 2 custom built desktops, a Lenovo laptop, a Compaq laptop, and a Toshiba laptop.  I had no driver issues on any of the laptops, though the video drivers on the Toshiba (A15-S157) seem a little buggy at times.  Driver wise on the two desktops, mine was fine – it has an Nvidia video card.  Linux prompted me to install the proprietary drivers and it works like a champ.  On Debi’s desktop, the ATI video card, a budget card that isn’t great quality, had some serious problems.  During the install the screen kept flashing – apparently the OS couldn’t figure out a resolution that worked for the monitor/video card combination.  I was eventually able to change the resolution once I got everything installed, but it still has problems.  I can’t get it to boot to a visible log-in screen.  Luckily I knew from past experience that I just needed to type the username, hit return, and then type the password and hit return.  I was able to do that without being able to see anything and it booted to the OS.  I eventually set the system to skip the login prompt, which is a crappy workaround, but it works.

Current problems:

1. On the Lenovo laptop I can’t seem to get the second monitor (our HD TV, which Linux detects fine) to function at its correct resolution.  I can get it to display video, but not at the correct resolution.  It still works, it just doesn’t take full advantage of the TV.  When I set it to the correct resolution, I get the Linux white screen of death.
2. I can’t seem to get Linux (using Synce) to recognize my HTC 8125 PDA.  I don’t sync it very often, but this is kind of a hangup.  I may have resolved this by syncing my contacts and calendar directly with Google as explained here.
3. I can’t install Internet Explorer on Wine so I can watch Netflix videos online.  I’m not sure how I’m going to resolve this one either.  I may have to pick up a Roku box.
4. I’m going to have to learn a new statistics program – R.  I’ve been using SPSS for almost a decade now.  Learning a new program is going to be challenging, but I hear good things about it, so we’ll see.  (Until I do I’m running SPSS in Windows via Virtualbox.)
5. While both a negative and a positive, I have had to look up how to do a number of things on Linux that simply were not intuitive.  I have also had to use the terminal (i.e., command prompt) quite a few times, which is awkward for someone like me who grew up on Macs then switched to Windows when there was no longer a need for the command prompt (for the most part).  Luckily, there have always been answers online.  But this is probably more than the average user is willing to do.
6. I have yet to find a video editing program that works as well as those I used on Windows (Sony Vegas and Adobe Premier).  Well, let me rephrase that: I have yet to find one that really works.  I have tried several and they each seem to work to some degree, but they are very buggy and either freeze up or simply don’t do what I need them to.  I’m going to have to fiddle with these more.
7. WINE, the Windows emulation program, has failed to install every program I’ve tried to install.  At this point I’m not sure it even can install Windows programs.  Kind of pointless.
8. I use special, ergonomic mice due to repetitive stress injuries.  At this point I have not found a program that will allow me to customize the functions of the buttons easily.  This isn’t a major problem, but it probably does slow me down a little bit.
9. When I disconnect my Lenovo laptop from its docking station, Linux doesn’t reset my display settings to a single monitor.  So, unless I change the display settings manually, I can’t see any of the key menus.  Not a major annoyance, but a minor one.
10. Our printers don’t work.  I may be able to get these to work with additional effort.  I’m not that perturbed by one of these, an HP Laserjet 1000, which was always a bit buggy with Windows XP.  However, our Canon MP 830 is kind of annoying.  The scanner function works great, but the printer doesn’t seem to be working at this point.  I’ll have to work on these.
11. Two pieces of software I cannot find replacements for: Omnipage pro, for optical character recognition and Nvivo for qualitative data analysis.  I’m figuring at this point I’ll simply run a version of Windows in Virtualbox and emulate those programs when I need them.  Amazingly, there is not a single good OCR program for Linux.  Not sure why.

Amazing things about Linux:

1. No driver disks or driver downloads to find anywhere.  Linux found all of them for me and installed them with only one or two minor hitches.  That, alone, saved me a lot of time.
2. It’s free!  No serials or codes to type in.  No registration required.
3. The repository of software has thousands of pieces of software to choose from.
4. So far, with only a couple of exceptions, I have found software to replace every piece of software I used to use on Windows.
5. Connecting to wireless networks has been super easy.  The software works flawlessly.
6. The software I have been able to replace includes: Microsoft Office with OpenOffice; Outlook with Evolution; Batch Rename with Bulk Rename; Windows Live sync with Dropbox (this did cost me $99, but includes a backup feature, which Windows Live sync did not include, meaning I always have my files backed up); Toucan synchronizer with Conduit Synchronizer (a lot better); xplorer2 Lite with Krusader; Adobe Reader professional with Okular and PDF Editor; uTorrent with Transmission; Nvu with Bluefish; DVDShrink and Gordian Knot with dvd::rip; iTunes with Rhythmbox; Winsplit with Compiz (even better); .
7. Software that works on both systems: I was already using Openoffice, which works on both; Picasa works on both; Virtualbox works on both; GIMP works on both; Scribus works on both.

My verdict for Ubuntu Linux: Well, if your hardware is fully supported and all you do is use the internet and basic word processing, Ubuntu will work superbly for you.  And, it’s free!  If your hardware isn’t fully supported, your not tech savvy, and you don’t enjoy troubleshooting, Ubuntu is pretty close, but could give you nightmares.  Of course, Windows XP could do the same thing.  Vista, well, that’s a gimme – it’s a worthless piece of crap.  If you’ve been cursed to run it at all, poor you (it came with one of my laptops; it was pretty bad!).  Windows 7, from what I hear, has potential.  But it’s also going to cost you a pretty penny.  And, unless you shell out for the more expensive versions you may be stuck being able to open only 3 applications at the same time.  Also, if you use a particular proprietary software package (e.g., SPSS or Omnipage), you may be stuck with Windows.

I am dual-booting Linux and XP on my desktop.  I’ll keep doing that until I find good video editing software.  Otherwise, I can emulate the other software I still need (Nvivo and Omnipage).

So, it turns out Debi and I aren’t the only Star Trek fans in Tampa.  We weren’t interviewed by Fox 13, but saw all of these people being interviewed when we went last night.  As far as the movie goes, it’s very good, but somewhat problematic as far as the Star Trek time line goes.  However, we were duly impressed at how well this film integrated the quirks of the original characters into the new actors.  The new cast is also very good.  I hear there’s another movie in the mix, probably depending on how well this does in the theaters.  I guess we’ll see.  Maybe next time Debi, Toren, and I will dress up!

Halloween 2006