Cover: Movie "Porco Rosso"
9-16 ~ 9-23
It has been raining in Nanjing for a whole week, not heavy, on and off. The temperature has dropped significantly, and I feel a bit chilly even when wearing short sleeves. I quite like this kind of weather, cool and refreshing. If it's too cold, just bring a thin jacket with you, and it will be just right. The osmanthus in the school is blooming. After the rain, take a deep breath and feel refreshed. Sitting down and thinking back, it seems to be an ordinary week, but the daily notes that lasted for a week have made my memories less blurry.
New Attempt: Weekly Report 📝#
I saw many bloggers writing weekly reports in xlog, and I also wanted to give it a try. I don't expect it to bring me anything, I just hope that through this form of a weekly report, I can have a record of the state of life and the thoughts in life, so that I won't feel so confused. I have tried to write a diary before, but I didn't stick to it. A weekly report requires recording something about each day, otherwise, when the week is over, there will be nothing to write. Therefore, a weekly report can also be regarded as another form of a diary. With electronic devices prevailing, this is a quick and convenient way.
So how can I try to send a weekly report and stick to it? After thinking about it, the first thing is to record timely every day, record some people, some things, and some thoughts. But I should avoid recording just for the sake of recording. If there is something to say, say it, and if there is nothing to say, keep it short. I shouldn't let recording become a burden, but rather see it as a way of life, a way of communicating with myself, naturally and truthfully. Then, at the end of the week, summarize the records, and simply refine them. Don't demand too much on the length!
😃 I hope I can stick to it...
Ethnic Cafeteria#
I have been going to the ethnic cafeteria at school frequently recently because I have lost my appetite and want to try a different cafeteria with a different taste. I rarely went to this cafeteria before because I thought it was special and specifically prepared for some minority students. As a Han Chinese, I felt a sense of unfamiliarity and offense when going in to eat. Now I think it was unnecessary. After all, there are 56 ethnic groups, and everyone is one family. This cafeteria is not big, with only two windows. One is a regular fast food window, which is not much different from a general fast food window except for not using some ingredients that are taboo for some ethnic minorities. The taste of the food is really good, and the price is not expensive. It is considered cost-effective, but the variety is a bit limited. There is also a window selling pulled noodles. I have eaten there once before, and the taste was average. It has been renovated this semester and renamed as "Qinghai Pulled Noodles". It should be a new contractor. It hasn't been open for long, but the business is very hot. I have been going there to eat these days, and the taste is really good, just like the taste of pulled noodles in my memory. The soup base of this kind of pulled noodles (which should be the soup for cooking the noodles, so the noodles are also flavorful) has a special flavor. It smells fragrant and tastes a bit spicy and numbing. I remember reading an article about pulled noodles in high school. It seems that a special plant is used to make the seasoning. I have to admire the vastness of Chinese food culture and the diversity of ethnic cultures. It is because of this that we have the opportunity to taste local specialties from all over the country, experience various flavors of sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty, and add some fun to our originally monotonous diet.
New and Old Computers 💻#
This week I got a new laptop, second-hand, but it's considered new to me. The model is ThinkPad T480s, i7-8650U, 16G + 512G. Let me talk about my needs or pain points first: I am currently using a Y7000P 2020 model, i7-10875H, RTX2060, 16G + 512G. I have been using it for about three years. The gaming performance of this laptop is more than enough for someone like me who doesn't play games much, or you can say it's overkill. However, its portability has caused me great trouble. The whole machine weighs about 2.5kg, plus the brick-like power adapter, it's already heavy to carry in a backpack. If I also put one or two books or a tablet, it becomes even more burdensome. Battery life is another problem. It can only last for 2 to 3 hours on a full charge. Therefore, I have been wanting to get a lightweight, portable, and slightly better battery life laptop for a long time. I have been looking for one, and finally decided to choose between ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2018 and ThinkPad T480s. The difference between the two is not significant. The X1 Carbon is lighter, weighing just over 1.1kg, and slightly more expensive. The T480s is slightly heavier, measuring around 1.4kg in actual use. But considering the superior expandability of the T480s: it can be upgraded with additional memory and SSD, which is rare in ultrabooks. In the end, I chose the T480s.
Comparing the weight again with the old gaming laptop (actually, the T480s is older), it has indeed reduced a lot of weight. The laptop alone has reduced exactly 1kg!
Arch Linux, Third Round#
After receiving the new computer, I couldn't help but tinker with it. The expansion slot of the T480s is not specifically reserved for adding a solid-state drive, but for adding a 4G module. However, I didn't research why a solid-state drive can be added, but it should be because the interface and protocol are compatible. The compatible solid-state drive needs to meet the following requirements: m.2 slot, NVMe protocol, PCIe bus, and 2242 size. It's not easy to find one online because modern laptops don't use this interface anymore. In the end, I found a second-hand one in the second-hand market, and it's still in good condition.
After installing the hard drive, it's time to install the operating system. I have been using Linux as my main system for over a year. I have installed the system twice, both times using Arch, and the user experience is good. However, when encountering problems, I need to figure out how to solve them myself, and this process can sometimes be frustrating. In the previous two installations, I didn't keep any records, only focused on solving various problems. This time, I plan to install Arch again and record the entire process and the problems encountered.
The first time I installed the system, I followed other people's tutorials or the Arch Wiki, step by step, very carefully, without understanding the specific operations. In fact, the entire installation process is not complicated, just a bit more steps. It can be divided into two parts. One part is done in the boot disk, mainly partitioning the target disk for installing the system, creating file systems, and mounting them. Finally, install the system. The other part is the initialization work after the installation is completed on the system disk. Because the native Arch system is very small, many software needs to be manually installed. As a result, users have greater control over the software and can choose according to their needs.
After the initial system installation is completed, in order to make it usable, a desktop environment needs to be installed. Since I chose Arch, it means I'm here to tinker, so I didn't choose to use a DE (desktop environment) in the previous two installations, but chose a more lightweight desktop dominated by a WM (window manager). This time, I plan to try Wayland.
I'm about to embark on an endless journey of tinkering again...
Sesame#
Films📽️
I watched two movies by Hayao Miyazaki: "Spirited Away" and "Porco Rosso". Both movies are older than me, but they are both very good.
New staff💲
- ThinkPad T480s i7-8650U 16G+512G
- Kalita coffee dripper