I was watching this video of Robert Scoble discussing his feed reading system. I found it quite interesting and Scoble, as always, seems so honest and enthusiastic about what he does. You can tell he really loves it. Nice.
Of course there were snippets that undoubtedly would rile up some segment of small struggling tech bloggers, like scanning the headings and bylines for authors he knows and relegating ones he doesn't to the trash. There was also his mention of how he finds the small guys by paying attention to what the 'A-List' bloggers link to. Not exactly what "Joe Smith" was wanting to hear I imagine.
But one thing I didn't hear Robert mention was search feeds. I know that I have several Technorati and Google Blogsearch result feeds that give me posts that I would completely miss otherwise. I've found many new and wonderful blogs that way. I've got search feeds for things like 'Inkscape', 'Vim', 'wxPython' and some others. I've also used Chris Pirillo's gada.be engine (now called tagjag it seems) to good effect as well.
So why wouldn't Scoble use a Technorati feed with the term 'tablet pc'?
Sure these blog search feeds do generate a fair amount of noise, but it's fairly easy to sift through, and like I say, you can find some gems that you'd have otherwise missed. The other benefit is that they're transient. I can delete, or modify those search result feeds as my short term interests change (which they do all the time it seems).
So the questions go out to Robert and everyone else, do you use Feed searches? If so, what blog search engine do you use? And how do you use them?
ps - I'm also a huge fan of the 'starred post' feature in Google Reader. I use this as a rudimentary rating system so that I can quickly scan feeds and mark off interesting ones for later reading (I don't have all day to read these things) so it's nice to be able to keep track with something easier and far more efficient than something like say, del.icio.us .
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
The bigger picture - Facebook? Uh.. no.
Kent Newsome weighs in even more on the Social Networking v. blogging issue. His last statement strikes a real chord with me:
And the conversational aspect is no different. I want to hear from people interested in what I'm interested in, no matter where they are, no matter what their stripe.
I want to participate in the bigger picture - as Dave Winer put it the other day, "the wild wild web, the unbounded frontier". Facebook, MySpace, Virb and the like, are definitely not the bigger picture, no matter how much money they make for their
creators.
"I think the social networking closed site as online Mecca story is a myth driven by people who want to keep the content producing public behind the walls so they can make money off of the content they produce."And while I'm not focused on making money on the content I produce (would be a nice side-benefit), I am interested in getting it out to the world - not to my fellow Facebook members or my MySpace friends. I want the meager contribution I make to be reachable by anyone wanting to read or watch it.
And the conversational aspect is no different. I want to hear from people interested in what I'm interested in, no matter where they are, no matter what their stripe.
I want to participate in the bigger picture - as Dave Winer put it the other day, "the wild wild web, the unbounded frontier". Facebook, MySpace, Virb and the like, are definitely not the bigger picture, no matter how much money they make for their
creators.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
LIC - do you have it?
Penguin Pete outlines the symptoms of LIC (the Linux Insecurity Complex).
Describing one of the typical symptoms, Panic Attacks (thinking about how MS will sue Linux out of existence), Pete writes,
"You could drop nuclear bombs on every Linux user on the planet, but you'll miss at least one server housing the source code, to be found by some future archaeologist, and there it will go spreading again. Linux is creeping charlie. It is rooted too deeply to budge. Why do you think Microsoft is so afraid of it?"
So if you're a Linux user, you owe it to yourself to read his post and start showing some dignity! :)
Describing one of the typical symptoms, Panic Attacks (thinking about how MS will sue Linux out of existence), Pete writes,
"You could drop nuclear bombs on every Linux user on the planet, but you'll miss at least one server housing the source code, to be found by some future archaeologist, and there it will go spreading again. Linux is creeping charlie. It is rooted too deeply to budge. Why do you think Microsoft is so afraid of it?"
So if you're a Linux user, you owe it to yourself to read his post and start showing some dignity! :)
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Free commenting system? What free commenting system?
Yours truly (a.k.a. The Idiot Blogger), proudly posted about freeing up my comment system, proceeded to disable comment moderation and then forgot to hit 'Save Settings'.
Some ten hours later, idiot (me) finally gets home to realize commenters on his post are locked in moderation limbo.
Apologies to Chris and Will (btw - I'm not entirely sure that's you Will Simpson or some other Will, but I'll take the chance - I've already been an idiot once today, might as well bask in it).
Gee, you'd think I would have been automatically removed from the gene pool by now.. ;)
Some ten hours later, idiot (me) finally gets home to realize commenters on his post are locked in moderation limbo.
Apologies to Chris and Will (btw - I'm not entirely sure that's you Will Simpson or some other Will, but I'll take the chance - I've already been an idiot once today, might as well bask in it).
Gee, you'd think I would have been automatically removed from the gene pool by now.. ;)
Freeing Up The Commenting System
Chris Brogan is someone I've enjoyed reading for quite some time now. And while lately he's been knee-deep in the 'new media' space, every now and then he gives some sound solid advice for those of us who are doing these things solely for enjoyment and nothing else.
With my recent experimentation with screencasting, inkscape, linux, twitter and other things tech, I have not spent a lot of time improving my blog (or my blogging). Chris wrote a recent post on making your blog more friendly. One of his first points was about making commenting easier, citing the fact that captchas are a hurdle that should be avoided if at all possible. He also wrote that some blogging software (like blogger.com) makes it mandatory.
Hmm. I know I had captchas enabled, but never really checked if that was mandatory. Lo and behold, it isn't. A quick switch of a radio button in the commenting settings will turn it off.
I put a high value on the few comments I do get because of the opinions, ideas and discussion that can show up there. Therefore, I've turned captchas off and for that matter I've also turned off comment moderation just to see if anything changes. I'll still get email notification of comments and can go in and delete comments if they are in fact spam.
So for now I've freed up the commenting system - no moderation, no captchas. Now on to much tougher things like improving the writing and posting frequency...
With my recent experimentation with screencasting, inkscape, linux, twitter and other things tech, I have not spent a lot of time improving my blog (or my blogging). Chris wrote a recent post on making your blog more friendly. One of his first points was about making commenting easier, citing the fact that captchas are a hurdle that should be avoided if at all possible. He also wrote that some blogging software (like blogger.com) makes it mandatory.
Hmm. I know I had captchas enabled, but never really checked if that was mandatory. Lo and behold, it isn't. A quick switch of a radio button in the commenting settings will turn it off.
I put a high value on the few comments I do get because of the opinions, ideas and discussion that can show up there. Therefore, I've turned captchas off and for that matter I've also turned off comment moderation just to see if anything changes. I'll still get email notification of comments and can go in and delete comments if they are in fact spam.
So for now I've freed up the commenting system - no moderation, no captchas. Now on to much tougher things like improving the writing and posting frequency...
Friday, May 25, 2007
Dell to sell PC's in Wal-Mart stores
I haven't seen any chatter on the very recent news that Dell is going to be selling a model or two of PC's in Wal-Mart stores starting in June. This will be in Canada as well as the US. They will be custom spec models exclusively for WalMart. I'd say that's pretty big news for a company that has so far resisted any real retail presence other than a few mall kiosks.
I'm not normally one to break any tech news but I actually knew about this a few days ago. I now have a little birdie flying around the hallways there. :)
Unfortunately you can bet your first born that the models destined for Wal-Mart stores won't be the ones running Ubuntu. But then again, stranger things have happened. ;)
I'm not normally one to break any tech news but I actually knew about this a few days ago. I now have a little birdie flying around the hallways there. :)
Unfortunately you can bet your first born that the models destined for Wal-Mart stores won't be the ones running Ubuntu. But then again, stranger things have happened. ;)
Why Facebook and not blogs?
Kent Newsome asks the question:
I joined Facebook a little over a month ago - and while it does have it's uses, it in no way would serve as a replacement for this blog (or blogging in general). To me it's a completely different animal.
Facebook has put me in contact with two or three old friends (an old friend with whom I'd lost touch, one French teacher from high school and a former university house-mate of mine). The rest are people I already know and interact with. But that's really the extent of it for me. It's not a place I visit to learn anything new other than whether or not Joe OldFriend has kids or not or some other personal info people are willing to share.
But that's just it. It's all personal. It's all relatively closed. It's only as open as people are willing to make it. I don't login often. Maybe because I'm not a social butterfly by nature. Maybe because it's just been a series of 'hey long time no see, what ya up to' type private messages.
Sure, there are people who cross connect, join groups and share pictures and interests. If that's what you're looking for then it serves that purpose too.
Blogging on the other hand is much more expansive. And a lot more work too. But you're opening yourself up to discovering many more new things and people (and being discovered by a much wider range of people too). It's a completely different thing. If your into learning about new things, expanding your horizons and really participating in a global conversation then Facebook is not the place to do it. Granted it's not meant to be, and frankly I get the impression that the vast majority of people there are not that lofty in their ambitions anyway - which is perfectly fine too.
Of course there are the more subjective aspects. Facebook is very constrained design-wise and not at all pretty. It's a big step up from MySpace, but my home page seems like a sea of user names, widget headings and a big fat annoying ad on the left side, all drowning in a sea of too-tiny text. I imagine you can play with it, but every Facebook page I've seen is the same. It's just too constrained for my tastes.
It's also a closed system. So there is absolutely nothing that advances the cause of the most underappreciated internet technology - RSS. I don't think Google can crawl Facebook and for some people that might be a good thing - if they even care. Maybe it's only people who understand the value of a feed aggregator that will care about that anyway.
It still reminds me of Classmates.com. It hasn't added any value to my life other than reconnecting me with a few long lost friends. But a quick google search of my name could have done it a lot quicker. But alas, not everyone has a web presence and this might be the way in for the 'great unwashed'. If only it wasn't so closed. Maybe a buyout might go some way to solving this.
What is telling for me is that for each person I reconnected with, I always ended up telling them it was better to check out my family blog or this blog if they really wanted to see what I was up to. I've been really using it as a way to climb in there and say - 'come out here and see what you're really missing'.
Make no mistake, not everyone is cut out for blogging. Not everyone wants to write more than a few misspelled lines in a comment on someone's 'wall'. Not everyone cares about well designed pages, trackbacks or RSS. Maybe Twitter/Jaiku/Tumblr addresses all that.
To me, blogging is so open-ended and has so much potential in so many ways and Facebook has none.
I think the winds of change are always blowing too. There's been Friendster, MySpace, Facebook, and now maybe Virb or something else. Maybe it's good you don't put a lot of hard fought effort into your content on Facebook. You likely won't be able to move it when you transition to the 'next big thing'.
There's some food for thought Kent. :)
"What is so much better about Facebook (and MySpace and other similar platforms) than an ordinary blog on a popular platform- say WordPress?"
I joined Facebook a little over a month ago - and while it does have it's uses, it in no way would serve as a replacement for this blog (or blogging in general). To me it's a completely different animal.
Facebook has put me in contact with two or three old friends (an old friend with whom I'd lost touch, one French teacher from high school and a former university house-mate of mine). The rest are people I already know and interact with. But that's really the extent of it for me. It's not a place I visit to learn anything new other than whether or not Joe OldFriend has kids or not or some other personal info people are willing to share.
But that's just it. It's all personal. It's all relatively closed. It's only as open as people are willing to make it. I don't login often. Maybe because I'm not a social butterfly by nature. Maybe because it's just been a series of 'hey long time no see, what ya up to' type private messages.
Sure, there are people who cross connect, join groups and share pictures and interests. If that's what you're looking for then it serves that purpose too.
Blogging on the other hand is much more expansive. And a lot more work too. But you're opening yourself up to discovering many more new things and people (and being discovered by a much wider range of people too). It's a completely different thing. If your into learning about new things, expanding your horizons and really participating in a global conversation then Facebook is not the place to do it. Granted it's not meant to be, and frankly I get the impression that the vast majority of people there are not that lofty in their ambitions anyway - which is perfectly fine too.
Of course there are the more subjective aspects. Facebook is very constrained design-wise and not at all pretty. It's a big step up from MySpace, but my home page seems like a sea of user names, widget headings and a big fat annoying ad on the left side, all drowning in a sea of too-tiny text. I imagine you can play with it, but every Facebook page I've seen is the same. It's just too constrained for my tastes.
It's also a closed system. So there is absolutely nothing that advances the cause of the most underappreciated internet technology - RSS. I don't think Google can crawl Facebook and for some people that might be a good thing - if they even care. Maybe it's only people who understand the value of a feed aggregator that will care about that anyway.
It still reminds me of Classmates.com. It hasn't added any value to my life other than reconnecting me with a few long lost friends. But a quick google search of my name could have done it a lot quicker. But alas, not everyone has a web presence and this might be the way in for the 'great unwashed'. If only it wasn't so closed. Maybe a buyout might go some way to solving this.
What is telling for me is that for each person I reconnected with, I always ended up telling them it was better to check out my family blog or this blog if they really wanted to see what I was up to. I've been really using it as a way to climb in there and say - 'come out here and see what you're really missing'.
Make no mistake, not everyone is cut out for blogging. Not everyone wants to write more than a few misspelled lines in a comment on someone's 'wall'. Not everyone cares about well designed pages, trackbacks or RSS. Maybe Twitter/Jaiku/Tumblr addresses all that.
To me, blogging is so open-ended and has so much potential in so many ways and Facebook has none.
I think the winds of change are always blowing too. There's been Friendster, MySpace, Facebook, and now maybe Virb or something else. Maybe it's good you don't put a lot of hard fought effort into your content on Facebook. You likely won't be able to move it when you transition to the 'next big thing'.
There's some food for thought Kent. :)
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
How not to impress anyone on a job interview..
I have not been in the job market for over a decade (and don't plan on being in it the short term either), but we're interviewing people for entry level design and drafting positions at our firm and I'm mystified by something.
Why do people show up half an hour late dressed in casual clothes for a job interview? Has society changed so much in the last 10 years that you no longer need to dress appropriately and show up on time for an interview?
About 11 years ago I remember sitting in my car, dressed in my suit, half an hour early for my interview, nervously waiting for the appointment time. I remember even taking a drive a few days earlier on the weekend to scope out the place so I'd know where it was, where I could park etc. I didn't want to get lost or have to walk 5 miles and be late for that interview.
Overprepared? Maybe. But the last few people I've seen come by here for interviews have been late and are dressed pretty shoddy. We work in a casual dress environment (think golf shirts and khakis), but this is a job interview - aren't you trying to make a good impression?
I'm not the one doing the hiring so I can't really speak to their experience or skills, but man, these people don't look like they're trying to impress anyone. At least they're achieving that.
Why do people show up half an hour late dressed in casual clothes for a job interview? Has society changed so much in the last 10 years that you no longer need to dress appropriately and show up on time for an interview?
About 11 years ago I remember sitting in my car, dressed in my suit, half an hour early for my interview, nervously waiting for the appointment time. I remember even taking a drive a few days earlier on the weekend to scope out the place so I'd know where it was, where I could park etc. I didn't want to get lost or have to walk 5 miles and be late for that interview.
Overprepared? Maybe. But the last few people I've seen come by here for interviews have been late and are dressed pretty shoddy. We work in a casual dress environment (think golf shirts and khakis), but this is a job interview - aren't you trying to make a good impression?
I'm not the one doing the hiring so I can't really speak to their experience or skills, but man, these people don't look like they're trying to impress anyone. At least they're achieving that.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Nothing like a bit of humour to send you into a long weekend...
Thank you to DanteDefiance, who's digg comment got me chuckling at the end of a long Friday afternoon:
"How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if the woodchuck was Chuck Norris?
...all of it."
Here We (lo)Go Again!
Here's another logo contest for those interested in exercising their creative muscles and learning Inkscape at the same time. This one sounds especially interesting and fun too:
From debianArt.org :
Update: If you want to incorporate the standard Debian 'swirl' in some way, I found a scalable SVG version of it on the debianart.org site right here.
From debianArt.org :
Debian Jr. is a Custom Debian Distribution (CDD) project.Check out the contest's About Page for all rules and deadline (July 16th).
Their goal is to make Debian an OS that children of all ages will want to use. Their initial focus will be on producing something for children up to age 8. Once they have accomplished this, their next target age range is 7 to 12. By the time children reach their teens, they should be comfortable with using Debian without any special modifications.
The Debian Jr. needs a logo and all designers are welcome!
Update: If you want to incorporate the standard Debian 'swirl' in some way, I found a scalable SVG version of it on the debianart.org site right here.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
How to get me to stop watching TV in one easy step...
So it sounds like CBS is cancelling Jericho. I quite enjoy it. In fact, it's the only TV series I've watched with any amount of loyalty in the last 5 years.
Of course they've got to make sure everyone gets their fill of frickin' CSI-whatever shows, that's for sure.
Bahh. I'm angry.
Anybody know where else a guy can get his fill of post-apocalyptic entertainment?
Of course they've got to make sure everyone gets their fill of frickin' CSI-whatever shows, that's for sure.
Bahh. I'm angry.
Anybody know where else a guy can get his fill of post-apocalyptic entertainment?
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Photos + Music = Much more
One thing I lament is the lack of an equivalent to MS-Photostory for linux. The awesome effect music can have on a series of photos has always amazed me and Photostory is a simple way of achieving that. (Photoshop Elements (and likely iPhoto) can do the same sorts of things).
If you've ever wondered how much music can influence imagery, check out this wonderful (but of course flash-heavy) site that I found via digg.
A couple of years ago I made a nice slideshow using the 'Ken Burns' pan and zoom effect and a series of pictures of my wife and our daughter from the first 4 years of her life. I had a lot of pictures to choose from after all.. ;) With the beautiful song 'Promise' by Tracy Chapman as the audio backdrop, it still elicits tears from family (including myself, and I was the one who made it!).
So put your headphones on and check out that site. Once you're clicking through the photos, turn the music off (speaker icon at upper right) and try and tell me it doesn't make a huge difference.
Come to mention it, wouldn't it be nice for Flickr to offer a similar service? Maybe they could build a library of creativecommons music to build an online flash generated slideshow with music. Or maybe someone else already offers this? It would be a great way to build this stuff and promote cc music at the same time.
If you've ever wondered how much music can influence imagery, check out this wonderful (but of course flash-heavy) site that I found via digg.
A couple of years ago I made a nice slideshow using the 'Ken Burns' pan and zoom effect and a series of pictures of my wife and our daughter from the first 4 years of her life. I had a lot of pictures to choose from after all.. ;) With the beautiful song 'Promise' by Tracy Chapman as the audio backdrop, it still elicits tears from family (including myself, and I was the one who made it!).
So put your headphones on and check out that site. Once you're clicking through the photos, turn the music off (speaker icon at upper right) and try and tell me it doesn't make a huge difference.
Come to mention it, wouldn't it be nice for Flickr to offer a similar service? Maybe they could build a library of creativecommons music to build an online flash generated slideshow with music. Or maybe someone else already offers this? It would be a great way to build this stuff and promote cc music at the same time.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Ever seen one of these in a store?
I can now bid goodbye to burning CD-RW's for podcast listening in the car. For some strange reason I thought the USB input on my new car's stereo was for some special connection to a dedicated mp3 player (a la iPod). Turns out you can plug any USB key into it and play the mp3 files that it contains! Kia supplies a short black cord for this connection. I've tried it and it works flawlessly with the 1GB key I keep in my briefcase.
The stereo's face has a female 'mini' usb jack on it, and the supplied cord has a male mini-usb on one end and a female usb type-A connector on the other end. The type-A connector is the 'normal' thin and wide jack type that is used on virtually all usb keys and devices. So you can plug the usb key right into the female end of the cable.
And while the cable is not too unsightly, the geek in me is now in search of a direct 'female type A to male mini-usb' adapter to eliminate the cord completely. Effectively I want to plug the USB key right into the face of the stereo, eliminating the cord.
I've done some online searches at BestBuy and TheSource (aka RadioShack up here), but the best I can seem to find is a female to female version.
This is exactly what I want. Anybody seen it available in good old brick and mortar electronic shops?
Friday, May 11, 2007
RSS in rewind?
Maybe it's just me, but I find it funny that the person I consider to be the 'father of RSS' seems to upchuck a bunch of posts from a couple of years ago every once in a while. You'd think he'd be the last person with publishing bugs. I guess it's the price you pay for doing development work.
In any case Dave, I almost thought New Orleans was flooding all over again.
:)
In any case Dave, I almost thought New Orleans was flooding all over again.
:)
That new car smell baby!
Well, it finally arrived today! No more ass numbness from the blatting exhaust of my 95 Integra. I got my new Rio5 today! It's 'copper graphite' ... dark-metallic-grey for us non-marketing types. And I love it. It's a fully loaded Ex-Sport model. For a feature list, check out my post of about a month ago where I first pondered the decision.
Nuff said, here's a couple of pics:
Nuff said, here's a couple of pics:
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Jericho -mmm mmm good, and mushy link love to boot.
I just finished watching the latest episode of Jericho I had recorded from Wednesday night. Awesome awesome awesome!
I've watched the series from the beginning (based on an initial critique from Kent Newsome by the way - a testament to the power of 'word of mouth'), and it's just kept me always coming back for more. I don't watch much tv otherwise, so I've tried to figure out what it is about the series thats so compelling to me.
I think it comes down to two things:
1. The way they are able to intermix the personal and global storylines so well. They manage to give proper attention to each, without diluting either; and,
2. The show manages to provide satisfactory and substantial milestones in each episodes and also supplies unexpected plot twists and great setup for the next episodes to keep me coming back for more.
Kudos to the people who create Jericho. There is still something to be said for damn good television.
Following on from David's good practice and at the risk of copycatting Kent and now Earl, a couple of 'Thank You Links'(tm) go out to my inkscape screencasting compadre heathenx, and nate who commented on my recent post about mp3 splitting.
I really appreciate all you guys.
I've watched the series from the beginning (based on an initial critique from Kent Newsome by the way - a testament to the power of 'word of mouth'), and it's just kept me always coming back for more. I don't watch much tv otherwise, so I've tried to figure out what it is about the series thats so compelling to me.
I think it comes down to two things:
1. The way they are able to intermix the personal and global storylines so well. They manage to give proper attention to each, without diluting either; and,
2. The show manages to provide satisfactory and substantial milestones in each episodes and also supplies unexpected plot twists and great setup for the next episodes to keep me coming back for more.
Kudos to the people who create Jericho. There is still something to be said for damn good television.
Following on from David's good practice and at the risk of copycatting Kent and now Earl, a couple of 'Thank You Links'(tm) go out to my inkscape screencasting compadre heathenx, and nate who commented on my recent post about mp3 splitting.
I really appreciate all you guys.
You have got to be kidding.. right? No?
How's this for a twist?
1. Man diagnosed with pancreatic cancer - given one year to live.
2. Man stops paying mortgage, quits job, spends all his savings, family trips, lives life to the fullest - even makes funeral arrangements.
3. Man notices symptoms going away.
4. Man told he was misdiagnosed - it's inflammation of the pancreas, not cancer.
5. Man left bankrupt, in dire straits, but alive.
Talk about a rollercoaster. A great wave of relief followed by dawning realization and terror.
He's asking for compensation, and failing that will sell his house and/or sue the hospital. I don't think he'll win, but you gotta have some sympathy for the guy.
1. Man diagnosed with pancreatic cancer - given one year to live.
2. Man stops paying mortgage, quits job, spends all his savings, family trips, lives life to the fullest - even makes funeral arrangements.
3. Man notices symptoms going away.
4. Man told he was misdiagnosed - it's inflammation of the pancreas, not cancer.
5. Man left bankrupt, in dire straits, but alive.
Talk about a rollercoaster. A great wave of relief followed by dawning realization and terror.
He's asking for compensation, and failing that will sell his house and/or sue the hospital. I don't think he'll win, but you gotta have some sympathy for the guy.
Good audio book - but I'd like to chop it up. Any Suggestions?
While perusing the comments on a Digg post about Richard Dawkins, a link was posted to a freely downloadable mp3 file containing the audiobook version of Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World. I started listening to it this morning and have done enough driving as of lunchtime to reach the two hour mark. So far it's a really interesting and thought provoking narration of science and society. The whole thing is listed as 13hrs and 19min long (!). It's a 137MB download no less.
Therein lies the problem. I am appealing to anyone out there who might know of an automated way to split any given mp3 file into a number of chunks. I could do this in Audacity manually, but for something this size an automated splitter app would do wonders.
As I've mentioned in the past, I burn my podcast mp3 files onto an mp3 CD-RW which I then listen to in the car. The fast-forward and rewind capabilities of the car deck are fully capable for a 4 minute music file, but they become clunky and extremely inefficient when you're talking about 30 minutes let alone 13 hours. ;)
I like the audiobook, but it would be nice to be able to stop and listen to some music files or something else for a while and then come back at least close to where I left off. So I'm thinking of splitting it into half-hour or 15 minute chunks. Anybody know of a free and effective tool for the job?
If I found an effective solution I'd probably run the splitter on any podcast longer than an hour since it's been more than once that I've inadvertently forwarded to the next track when trying to skip ahead a minute or two.. doh!
Therein lies the problem. I am appealing to anyone out there who might know of an automated way to split any given mp3 file into a number of chunks. I could do this in Audacity manually, but for something this size an automated splitter app would do wonders.
As I've mentioned in the past, I burn my podcast mp3 files onto an mp3 CD-RW which I then listen to in the car. The fast-forward and rewind capabilities of the car deck are fully capable for a 4 minute music file, but they become clunky and extremely inefficient when you're talking about 30 minutes let alone 13 hours. ;)
I like the audiobook, but it would be nice to be able to stop and listen to some music files or something else for a while and then come back at least close to where I left off. So I'm thinking of splitting it into half-hour or 15 minute chunks. Anybody know of a free and effective tool for the job?
If I found an effective solution I'd probably run the splitter on any podcast longer than an hour since it's been more than once that I've inadvertently forwarded to the next track when trying to skip ahead a minute or two.. doh!
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Do cars have feelings too?
I think my car knows it's the end of days. The new car (a silver, fuel-miserly, and decent looking Kia Rio5 - Ex Sport) is hopefully available in the next day or two and my current car - a '95 Acura Integra 4-door - is flailing in panic.
Since putting down the deposit on the Korean car at the end of last week, my Integra's automatic tranny has started hunting for gears at odd times, and what was once a slightly louder than normal exhaust note has developed into a bellow on full acceleration. It's almost as if it's now given up and is beckoning me for one final expensive repair job.
Flail away buddy boy. You've been a decent car under indecent conditions, but your time has come. I've managed to go from around 200,000km when I got it to just over 340,000km in about 2.5 years. Not too much of that is city driving, but a fair amount of it is dirt and rough road travelling - so I don't feel I was jipped.
But nonetheless, it is a little embarassing these last couple of days driving around in something that sounds like the truck from Sanford & Son.
But maybe if I tilt the seat way back, people will assume I'm just another two-bit punk driving an Integra with a big soup-can muffler. I better get me some hip-hop goin' in the car too for authenticity.
Yo yo yo. Word.
:)
Since putting down the deposit on the Korean car at the end of last week, my Integra's automatic tranny has started hunting for gears at odd times, and what was once a slightly louder than normal exhaust note has developed into a bellow on full acceleration. It's almost as if it's now given up and is beckoning me for one final expensive repair job.
Flail away buddy boy. You've been a decent car under indecent conditions, but your time has come. I've managed to go from around 200,000km when I got it to just over 340,000km in about 2.5 years. Not too much of that is city driving, but a fair amount of it is dirt and rough road travelling - so I don't feel I was jipped.
But nonetheless, it is a little embarassing these last couple of days driving around in something that sounds like the truck from Sanford & Son.
But maybe if I tilt the seat way back, people will assume I'm just another two-bit punk driving an Integra with a big soup-can muffler. I better get me some hip-hop goin' in the car too for authenticity.
Yo yo yo. Word.
:)
What's in a name...
Todd Cochrane blogs about a recent WSJ article on the importance of how well your name Googles. It's been a while since I Googled my own name, but back in the day, I was the 2nd or third entry. There are relatively few benefits to having a last name like mine. But in the age of Google, it definitely ain't hurtin' my page rank. ;)
Currently when I type my first and last name into Google I get 30,600 hits. The first result that is not 'me' is at the very bottom of the third page! - I pwn Google biatch! :)
But with great power comes great responsibility... I have been at the same engineering firm for over 10 years now. If I ever went looking for a new job, I'd better be proud (or at least not embarassed) about what pops up in those first three pages of results.
Scanning those 29 hits, my only concern might be that you'd think I was a programmer/graphic artist/photographer - there is nothing about structural engineering anywhere in those first three pages. While I enjoy what I do, it's not something I blog about or participate in online.
Besides, I'm happy where I am, but if I did end up switching jobs, I'd probably be keen for something in programming/graphic arts/photography. :)
What's your Googability?
ps. I've also got Meandering Passage riding my coattails at the bottom of the first page of results. You're welcome Earl! ;)
Currently when I type my first and last name into Google I get 30,600 hits. The first result that is not 'me' is at the very bottom of the third page! - I pwn Google biatch! :)
But with great power comes great responsibility... I have been at the same engineering firm for over 10 years now. If I ever went looking for a new job, I'd better be proud (or at least not embarassed) about what pops up in those first three pages of results.
Scanning those 29 hits, my only concern might be that you'd think I was a programmer/graphic artist/photographer - there is nothing about structural engineering anywhere in those first three pages. While I enjoy what I do, it's not something I blog about or participate in online.
Besides, I'm happy where I am, but if I did end up switching jobs, I'd probably be keen for something in programming/graphic arts/photography. :)
What's your Googability?
ps. I've also got Meandering Passage riding my coattails at the bottom of the first page of results. You're welcome Earl! ;)
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
One Reader at a Time
Ron K. Jeffries mulls over his blog stats today. In his post he quotes a New Yorker article which states:
Ron will be glad to know that I don't subscribe to Engadget. But I do subscribe to him. :)
"Of the blogs that review products, Engadget, now owned by AOL, has the biggest audience; it gets about eight million unique visitors per month. …"
Ron will be glad to know that I don't subscribe to Engadget. But I do subscribe to him. :)
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Number generates big numbers...
Geez, I never thought anything would ever beat the 22,000 diggs that the iPhone announcement received... nevermind by a 13,000 digg margin.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Steven's Old School Linux experiment begins...
Steven Rosenberg is truly going old school.
He's starting an experiment where he's going to the command line for a month. No Gnome, no KDE, no XFCE, nada, zip, zero. Here is his Day 1 Post.
I look forward to seeing how he makes out.
Under Feisty, I do a fair amount of things at the command line (or more accurately the pseudo-command line - I'm talking about terminal window within Gnome). I still love and use MOC for playing music, I do a lot of my file management from the command line, Vim is my editor of choice most of the time, and ImageMagick has proved useful and efficient at times - if only I bothered creating a list of the various tools.
Good luck Steven - hopefully you post some progress reports.
He's starting an experiment where he's going to the command line for a month. No Gnome, no KDE, no XFCE, nada, zip, zero. Here is his Day 1 Post.
I look forward to seeing how he makes out.
Under Feisty, I do a fair amount of things at the command line (or more accurately the pseudo-command line - I'm talking about terminal window within Gnome). I still love and use MOC for playing music, I do a lot of my file management from the command line, Vim is my editor of choice most of the time, and ImageMagick has proved useful and efficient at times - if only I bothered creating a list of the various tools.
Good luck Steven - hopefully you post some progress reports.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
SCTV Genius - courtesy of YouTube
I'm not sure if there are any SCTV fans who read this blog, but back in the day it was one of my favourite shows.
Thanks to YouTube, you can watch the classic Gerry Todd show. It gave me a good chuckle on so many levels (the DJ voice, the video effects, the commercials, it goes on and on - video bloggers take note!).
Part 1 has the start of the show and classic Gerry Todd - bring up the super.
Part 2 has a hilarious Doobie brothers carpet warehouse commercial and a Christopher Cross / Michael Mcdonald video at the end that is pure genius.
I forgot how awesome SCTV was. Thank you YouTube!
Thanks to YouTube, you can watch the classic Gerry Todd show. It gave me a good chuckle on so many levels (the DJ voice, the video effects, the commercials, it goes on and on - video bloggers take note!).
Part 1 has the start of the show and classic Gerry Todd - bring up the super.
Part 2 has a hilarious Doobie brothers carpet warehouse commercial and a Christopher Cross / Michael Mcdonald video at the end that is pure genius.
I forgot how awesome SCTV was. Thank you YouTube!
We're not paying you to use Facebook...
I've written about the seemingly ubiquitous Facebook a couple of times. While I have a Facebook account, I've hardly every used it. A couple of friends and relatives have beckoned me to post some things there (on their "walls"?) but to this point I haven't really complied.
A couple of newsworthy things about Facebook:
1. It was recently reported that Toronto is the 'facebook capital' meaning that this area has the largest facebook contingent (NYC supposedly has around 250,000). Is this a good thing? Dunno.
2. I spotted a CBC story today where the Premier of Ontario (Dalton McGuinty) has stated that he doesn't see how Facebook adds any value to the workplace. As of yesterday, provincial government employees were banned from accessing Facebook. (and YouTube) through their workplace computers.
The article also mentions that more than a few provincial and federal politicians have Facebook pages, so it's not only the 'grunts' that might be pissed off about it.
With records showing these sites being checked more than 20 times an hour in some cased, I have to say I'm glad to hear it. We (Ontarians) are paying the salaries of these people are we not?
A couple of newsworthy things about Facebook:
1. It was recently reported that Toronto is the 'facebook capital' meaning that this area has the largest facebook contingent (NYC supposedly has around 250,000). Is this a good thing? Dunno.
2. I spotted a CBC story today where the Premier of Ontario (Dalton McGuinty) has stated that he doesn't see how Facebook adds any value to the workplace. As of yesterday, provincial government employees were banned from accessing Facebook. (and YouTube) through their workplace computers.
The article also mentions that more than a few provincial and federal politicians have Facebook pages, so it's not only the 'grunts' that might be pissed off about it.
With records showing these sites being checked more than 20 times an hour in some cased, I have to say I'm glad to hear it. We (Ontarians) are paying the salaries of these people are we not?
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
My Most Narcissistic Post Ever.. so far anyway
Like many avid photographers, I've got thousands of photos on my hard drive, of which, I'm in maybe 5 or 10.
I just wasted 30 minutes trying to find a decent photo of myself to use for my Twitter badge. I quickly remembered that I generally hate photos of myself. It is very rare that I like any of them and that's why the photo in my blog profile has never really changed.
I did manage to find a couple passable ones. The first one I chose I happen to like quite a bit, but it looks far more serious and contemplative than I actually am. I would feel like I was pretending if I used that one. It was actually taken with my 50mm F1.8 lens at arm's length while I was looking out a nearby window.
I finally found one a little more in character for me. Of course it was taken when I'm at my absolute happiest - when I'm cuddling my daughter.
So until I go get the glamour shots done at the mall, that's the one I have to settle on for my Twitter badge. ;)
Of course the backup plan is to do some very very minor touchups to my blog profile photo using Inkscape... can you tell which one's the original?
I just wasted 30 minutes trying to find a decent photo of myself to use for my Twitter badge. I quickly remembered that I generally hate photos of myself. It is very rare that I like any of them and that's why the photo in my blog profile has never really changed.
I did manage to find a couple passable ones. The first one I chose I happen to like quite a bit, but it looks far more serious and contemplative than I actually am. I would feel like I was pretending if I used that one. It was actually taken with my 50mm F1.8 lens at arm's length while I was looking out a nearby window.
I finally found one a little more in character for me. Of course it was taken when I'm at my absolute happiest - when I'm cuddling my daughter.
So until I go get the glamour shots done at the mall, that's the one I have to settle on for my Twitter badge. ;)
Of course the backup plan is to do some very very minor touchups to my blog profile photo using Inkscape... can you tell which one's the original?
The Real Landscape of the Web
If you were looking for a Map of Online Communities (and related points of interest), look no further. Beautiful. I love how the 'Mountains of Web 1.0" separate the Icy North (Yahoo and MS) from just about everything else. ;)
Kevin Rose between the proverbial rock and hard place
There has been a lot of unrest on Digg lately after they started pulling posts that contained HD-DVD crack codes as part of a cease and desist order. Users were adamant that this was wrong and started digging posts up to the front page, effectively spamming the system.
Kevin Rose, in what is either a cool move - or dumb move - depending on your perspective, wrote yesterday:
Errr. You just might. Either way too. Piss off enough users and you lose credibility and page views, get sued up the ying-yang and you lose too.
No wonder I heard Kevin mention that he's working on a new web app (the first really separate thing from Digg) during a recent Diggnation episode.
It's a tough call.
Kevin Rose, in what is either a cool move - or dumb move - depending on your perspective, wrote yesterday:
We hear you, and effective immediately we won't delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be. If we lose, then what the hell, at least we died trying.
Errr. You just might. Either way too. Piss off enough users and you lose credibility and page views, get sued up the ying-yang and you lose too.
No wonder I heard Kevin mention that he's working on a new web app (the first really separate thing from Digg) during a recent Diggnation episode.
It's a tough call.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Ubuntu To Jump Shark - free admission
Given the impending news of Dell shipping systems preloaded with Ubuntu, I guess there is no doubt now that Ubuntu has jumped the shark. What's next? Trying to get Linux slapped on the side of an IRL race car? At this rate, there will be people using Linux who've never even compiled a kernel before!
Oh the humanity!
Honestly, I don't see the march towards free and open source salvation (or disaster depending on your point of view) stopping any time soon either. I'm not going to join the geeky hordes in calling this the 'Year of the Linux Desktop' - even though this year it seems somewhat more realistic than the last ten, but looking at the surroundings, it does give you pause for thought.
Some interesting things from my perspective:
1. Free and open source development is not slowing - people not getting directly paid for developing things hasn't been a major stumbling block to this point.
2. The general public is getting more tech saavy. It doesn't matter if they are switching to Macintosh. At least they are beginning to realize that there are completely viable non-Microsoft alternatives. While awareness is growing at what seems like a snail's pace, it is growing - inexorably.
3. If Vista hasn't been a failure, it sure hasn't been the runaway success that it needed to be to maintain utter long term dominance.
4. Virtualization may make the choice obsolete. If I can run XP in VMWare, or XP in Parallels on a Mac, then the sacrifice of moving from one platform to another will vanish.
5. The pace is relentless. Who can move faster? Microsoft, Apple or FOSS developers? Doesn't releasing an OS every 5 years leave you a little hog-tied when technologies rise and fall so quickly? Apple sounds like it is trying to make some big steps with Leopard. It has to. I haven't heard of one thing in Vista that could be considered a big step ahead. Linux will undoubtedly scramble, catch up and likely surpass Apple's best efforts within a year anyway. Such is the tenacity of riled up developers when the gauntlet is thrown.
6. Free and open-source software is empowering the people who make and do interesting things. Open vs. closed models is becoming the big debate more and more often. Witness Silverlight v. Adobe.
7. If you can succeed as wildly as Ubuntu has, with a default brown theme, you can do just about anything! ;)
So the shark-jumping is not the end. It's hopefully only the beginning.
Oh the humanity!
Honestly, I don't see the march towards free and open source salvation (or disaster depending on your point of view) stopping any time soon either. I'm not going to join the geeky hordes in calling this the 'Year of the Linux Desktop' - even though this year it seems somewhat more realistic than the last ten, but looking at the surroundings, it does give you pause for thought.
Some interesting things from my perspective:
1. Free and open source development is not slowing - people not getting directly paid for developing things hasn't been a major stumbling block to this point.
2. The general public is getting more tech saavy. It doesn't matter if they are switching to Macintosh. At least they are beginning to realize that there are completely viable non-Microsoft alternatives. While awareness is growing at what seems like a snail's pace, it is growing - inexorably.
3. If Vista hasn't been a failure, it sure hasn't been the runaway success that it needed to be to maintain utter long term dominance.
4. Virtualization may make the choice obsolete. If I can run XP in VMWare, or XP in Parallels on a Mac, then the sacrifice of moving from one platform to another will vanish.
5. The pace is relentless. Who can move faster? Microsoft, Apple or FOSS developers? Doesn't releasing an OS every 5 years leave you a little hog-tied when technologies rise and fall so quickly? Apple sounds like it is trying to make some big steps with Leopard. It has to. I haven't heard of one thing in Vista that could be considered a big step ahead. Linux will undoubtedly scramble, catch up and likely surpass Apple's best efforts within a year anyway. Such is the tenacity of riled up developers when the gauntlet is thrown.
6. Free and open-source software is empowering the people who make and do interesting things. Open vs. closed models is becoming the big debate more and more often. Witness Silverlight v. Adobe.
7. If you can succeed as wildly as Ubuntu has, with a default brown theme, you can do just about anything! ;)
So the shark-jumping is not the end. It's hopefully only the beginning.
XMMS2 logo entry winner announced!
To quote Shaggy... 'It wasn't me..'
Congratulations to Arnaud Didry's entry 'Bluenote' which won the XMMS2 logo contest . It is a very attractive and striking graphic. Good job, and very deserving of the win.
I wonder how Arnaud plans to spend the $400 Amazon gift certificate prize? If you had 400 bucks to spend on Amazon what would you buy?
Congratulations to Arnaud Didry's entry 'Bluenote' which won the XMMS2 logo contest . It is a very attractive and striking graphic. Good job, and very deserving of the win.
I wonder how Arnaud plans to spend the $400 Amazon gift certificate prize? If you had 400 bucks to spend on Amazon what would you buy?
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Mini-minivacation
We're heading out for a super-mini vacation down to Niagara Falls this weekend. As cheesy as it might sound to some, the Falls are only an hour and a half away from me and they're spectacular despite the tourist-y cheese. My daughter hasn't been to see them since she was a few months old so it'll be fun for her too.
Besides, with a nice hotel room and pool facilities, it'll be a much needed recharge before the work week begins again on Monday.
Who knows, I might actually get to do a little photography while I'm at it. I haven't had the chance to even pick up the camera lately. :(
Things are warming up nicely so I likely won't get a photo similar to what you see up at the top of this post. ;) - I believe it was taken in 1911 when it was so cold it actually froze over .
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Html email stationary, How I hate thee - let me count the ways...
Okay. Html email programs such as Outlook have been in heavy use for what must be more than a decade already. At what point do people realize that using html stationary backgrounds for their emails achieves the exact opposite of the intended effect?
Do you really think it looks more professional when you send me email on some cheesy stationary? Every background I've ever seen immediately reminds me of the horrible wallpapers that came with Windows95/98 — the most markedly horrible of which had to be the 'bubbles' wallpaper in all its 2 colour, continuously tiled glory.
And what bothers me is that I'm seeing it more and more lately. Is it just me or do we have to stomp this out before it proliferates?
I scroll down past a well-written, perfectly valid business-related email and almost expect to see flashing unicorns or animated gifs of dancing babies (don't get me started!) at the bottom.
I betcha Jean Teasdale (one of my absolute favourite reads at theonion.com) just loves email stationary. Just look at her site!
Phew I feel better now.
:)
Do you really think it looks more professional when you send me email on some cheesy stationary? Every background I've ever seen immediately reminds me of the horrible wallpapers that came with Windows95/98 — the most markedly horrible of which had to be the 'bubbles' wallpaper in all its 2 colour, continuously tiled glory.
And what bothers me is that I'm seeing it more and more lately. Is it just me or do we have to stomp this out before it proliferates?
I scroll down past a well-written, perfectly valid business-related email and almost expect to see flashing unicorns or animated gifs of dancing babies (don't get me started!) at the bottom.
I betcha Jean Teasdale (one of my absolute favourite reads at theonion.com) just loves email stationary. Just look at her site!
Phew I feel better now.
:)
3D Desktop for Win? Not quite hotness...
During a quick lunchtime scan of my feeds, this post about a 3D virtual desktop app for MS-Windows caught my eye. I have to use XP-Pro at work and one of the things I miss most as compared to my Ubuntu box at home, is the lack of virtual desktop support and the sweetness that is Beryl/Compiz.
I tried out the Yod'm app they mention and looked at Dexpot as well. And after giving those a go, I have a much bigger appreciation for what the guys doing Beryl/Compiz have achieved. It is so much more natural, intuitive, stable and smooth than what I see in the above offerings.
That being said, I take nothing away from these guys. There is a huge potential market of Windows users that could benefit from good virtual desktop functionality - I'm surprised that there aren't more well-known attempts at achieving it.
But as it stands, I'm not satisfied enough with these apps to put them into use here at work. It's less kludgy for me to just use Alt-Tab and be at the ready with WinKey+D to get to my desktop when things get completely overcrowded.
Yes, yes I know that the Mac has Expose (and more recently Spaces) but they've made enough profit lately that I don't have to even mention them here do I? ;)
I tried out the Yod'm app they mention and looked at Dexpot as well. And after giving those a go, I have a much bigger appreciation for what the guys doing Beryl/Compiz have achieved. It is so much more natural, intuitive, stable and smooth than what I see in the above offerings.
That being said, I take nothing away from these guys. There is a huge potential market of Windows users that could benefit from good virtual desktop functionality - I'm surprised that there aren't more well-known attempts at achieving it.
But as it stands, I'm not satisfied enough with these apps to put them into use here at work. It's less kludgy for me to just use Alt-Tab and be at the ready with WinKey+D to get to my desktop when things get completely overcrowded.
Yes, yes I know that the Mac has Expose (and more recently Spaces) but they've made enough profit lately that I don't have to even mention them here do I? ;)
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Spam blog? Are you kidding me Blogger(tm)?
Creating my post for my 9th Inkscape screencast, I found out that for some reason Blogger has identified my blog as a spam blog and locked it. I can write posts (like I'm doing right now), save them as drafts, but can't publish them.
I have no idea how they identified this site as a spam blog. I don't think I've posted anything about erectile dysfunction or women getting bigger boobies in quite some time (try never!). Maybe it has something to do with that 'Flag Blog' button at the top of the page. That thing has always scared me.
Maybe it's some maniac Adobe Illustrator user that's pissed about all the Inkscape-love coming from this site. ;)
Anyways, it might be a couple of days before you see this post - but maybe I can actually get some other stuff done in the meantime... haven't posted any photos to Flickr in well over a month(!).
I have no idea how they identified this site as a spam blog. I don't think I've posted anything about erectile dysfunction or women getting bigger boobies in quite some time (try never!). Maybe it has something to do with that 'Flag Blog' button at the top of the page. That thing has always scared me.
Maybe it's some maniac Adobe Illustrator user that's pissed about all the Inkscape-love coming from this site. ;)
Anyways, it might be a couple of days before you see this post - but maybe I can actually get some other stuff done in the meantime... haven't posted any photos to Flickr in well over a month(!).
Inkscape Screencast 9 - Glass Button Redux
My 9th Inkscape screencast is up. This one shows a simple way to achieve a pretty convincing high-gloss candy look to various shapes.
This one was created in record time for me too. From the moment I fired up ffmpeg to start recording, through the intro recording, sound and music mixing, until starting the upload to YouTube took about 90 minutes. I didn't take a lot of time creating the intro for this one (and it shows), but overall it's still decent I think. Hopefully you like it.
I haven't had a lot of time to spend using Inkscape lately, simply because I'm currently buried at work (which has absolutely nothing to do with Inkscape or graphics at all ;-< ). But I did read on the mailing list somewhere that the most recent builds incorporate gradient editing right on the object (not in a separate dialog). That feature would have been useful for this screencast, but no sense in demonstrating a feature that few people can use right now. Here's the link to my other screencasts up on YouTube. You should also check out my friend heathenx's screencasts. I've learned quite a few good tips from him too.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Become a 'new media titan' for only 7 bucks a month
Maybe I'm just tired. But after thumbing through 48 odd online pages of Blogger & Podcaster magazine, I feel intensely bored.
The web - in the raw, all by itself - is chock full of content (entertaining or otherwise), opinion, knowledge, and opportunities. But hearing from the same dozen people about what they do, and reading about how to profit from it all just doesn't hit any of my buttons - no matter how slickly presented (my heartfelt wishes to anyone venturing to that magazine with dialup connectivity).
If you had any lingering thoughts about 'A-List' bloggers, podcasting pioneers, web 2.0 empire builders or the whole circle-jerkyness of it all, look no further than B&P.
Oops, I just noticed the magazine's tagline: 'For Aspiring New Media Titans'. I'm clearly in the wrong room... Carry on.
;)
The web - in the raw, all by itself - is chock full of content (entertaining or otherwise), opinion, knowledge, and opportunities. But hearing from the same dozen people about what they do, and reading about how to profit from it all just doesn't hit any of my buttons - no matter how slickly presented (my heartfelt wishes to anyone venturing to that magazine with dialup connectivity).
If you had any lingering thoughts about 'A-List' bloggers, podcasting pioneers, web 2.0 empire builders or the whole circle-jerkyness of it all, look no further than B&P.
Oops, I just noticed the magazine's tagline: 'For Aspiring New Media Titans'. I'm clearly in the wrong room... Carry on.
;)
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Upgraded to Feisty - no problemo! .. yet
About to apply some recent updates this morning, I spotted the 'new release' note at the top of my package updater dialog. Hmm. I know Feisty was released yesterday and knowing full well the Ubuntu servers would be getting pounded today, I still decided to take the plunge and start the upgrade before I left for work.
Getting home tonight, I had to answer about 5 dialogs which asked whether I wanted to replace specific configuration files or not. I answered yes to all of them (I ran into problems in the last upgrade when I decided to retain my old config files). After about 2 hours of chugging away, the system was ready to reboot. I crossed my fingers...
After noticing the prettier boot splash screen, and the nice ubuntu splash bar after logging in, I was suddenly running Feisty. No problems so far (although I've only been running it for an hour or two).
This may be temporary since I've been contemplating a re-install of my whole machine, wiping out the windows partition completely and running XP in virtualization only when I absolutely need to (CAD and video slideshow apps are still problems for me in Linux). I know almost nothing about VMWare or other virtualization methods, so if you've got any good sources for newbie info on this stuff, post it up in the comments.
I've never been completely happy with my dual boot setup. The running speed of linux on this machine has been consistently inconsistent from bootup to bootup. I think it has something to do with the fact that I've got ubuntu booting from a SATA drive. I've never been able to pin it down to any specific source. In any case, I'm in the market for an external HD to back up all my data and then boom, I'm going to wipe it out and start with a fresh full install of Feisty on this machine.
But until then, I'll be kicking the tires on Feisty and will report any problems I have.
Getting home tonight, I had to answer about 5 dialogs which asked whether I wanted to replace specific configuration files or not. I answered yes to all of them (I ran into problems in the last upgrade when I decided to retain my old config files). After about 2 hours of chugging away, the system was ready to reboot. I crossed my fingers...
After noticing the prettier boot splash screen, and the nice ubuntu splash bar after logging in, I was suddenly running Feisty. No problems so far (although I've only been running it for an hour or two).
This may be temporary since I've been contemplating a re-install of my whole machine, wiping out the windows partition completely and running XP in virtualization only when I absolutely need to (CAD and video slideshow apps are still problems for me in Linux). I know almost nothing about VMWare or other virtualization methods, so if you've got any good sources for newbie info on this stuff, post it up in the comments.
I've never been completely happy with my dual boot setup. The running speed of linux on this machine has been consistently inconsistent from bootup to bootup. I think it has something to do with the fact that I've got ubuntu booting from a SATA drive. I've never been able to pin it down to any specific source. In any case, I'm in the market for an external HD to back up all my data and then boom, I'm going to wipe it out and start with a fresh full install of Feisty on this machine.
But until then, I'll be kicking the tires on Feisty and will report any problems I have.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Green Alligators and Long-Necked Geese...
Great. My mother has turned my 5 year old daughter into an Irish Rovers fan. Now I find myself humming the bloody tune here at work. And no, I don't think the unicorn is the 'loveliest of all'.
What's next? Lawrence Welk? Nana Mouskouri?
Sheesh.
What's next? Lawrence Welk? Nana Mouskouri?
Sheesh.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Doc spells out the next challenge for Linux
Leave it to the inimitable Doc Searls to frame the bigger picture when it comes to Vista, OS-X and Linux. His recent Linux Journal article is definitely a worthy read, offering up the possibility that we're reaching for the wrong prize entirely. Here's a couple of snippets:
And it doesn't end there:
An article full of smart, thought-provoking ideas, and not aimed at the typical Linux zealot either. Give it a read right here.
A few weeks ago I was talking with folks who worked inside one of the large hardware OEMs. Somewhere in there they told me about their "Linux strategy". I told them they needed a "Linux strategy" about as much as a construction company needs a "lumber strategy".
If you're going to have a Linux strategy, make that strategy about getting past an OS-bound view of the world. Because the big difference between Linux and Windows is that you can build anything you want with Linux. With Windows you can only build what Microsoft lets you build.
And it doesn't end there:
The Linux community also has to get past the belief that Linux is mostly an alternative to other OSes. The Windows vs. Mac choice is between two silos that both do their best to lock customers in and maximize the dependencies of developers on proprietary platform SDKs and the like. Linux is not an alternative to any platform. It is an alterative to platforms themselves. It is the path to an open marketplace, not just another silo.
An article full of smart, thought-provoking ideas, and not aimed at the typical Linux zealot either. Give it a read right here.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Why do you use Linux? (aka Wufoo testing)
I was listening to one of Leo Laporte's recent TechGuy podcasts and they were discussing a site called Wufoo, which let's you build forms online and put them on your blog (or in other places). They give you 3 forms with the free registration (there are pay versions), so I thought up a quick poll to test it out.
There's a wide variety of controls and fields you can choose from and the layout is very much point and click in it's simplicity. In about 3 minutes I threw together this straw poll about the biggest reason you use Linux (if you use Linux). If you don't, pretend you do, and give it a shot anyway. ;)
I can monitor the results and generate reports over at the wufoo site. So if visitors to the blog start filling it out, I'll report back how the results are shaping up.
Powered by Wufoo
There's a wide variety of controls and fields you can choose from and the layout is very much point and click in it's simplicity. In about 3 minutes I threw together this straw poll about the biggest reason you use Linux (if you use Linux). If you don't, pretend you do, and give it a shot anyway. ;)
I can monitor the results and generate reports over at the wufoo site. So if visitors to the blog start filling it out, I'll report back how the results are shaping up.
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Tuesday, April 17, 2007
New Car Shopping - Rio5? Or am I crazy?
I'm new car shopping at the moment. My current beast is a 95 Integra sedan. It's still a solid little car but at 340,000km it's already cost me some money and with an intermittent squeal from the water pump lately it's scaring me a bit. I don't want it to turn into a money pit.
I'm a small car guy through and through. If only I lived across the pond where the compact/sub-compact segments are a lively market. My wife drives a Nissan Murano, and while it's a nice comfy SUV, it's far too big and bouncy for my tastes - nevermind the gas mileage and running costs (ever price out a set of 4 SUV tires?)
I've looked at the smaller cars from BMW/Mini, Hyundai, Kia, Honda, Toyota, Mazda, GM(Saturn), VW and even Ford (Chrysler is just not a consideration to me), and I have to say I'm favouring the Kia Rio5 Ex Sport model at the moment:
I really like the euro-hatch clean look of the Kia. And for a very reasonable list price of $20,700 CAD (18,250 USD) it comes fully loaded with things like:
15" Alloys
P195x55 tires
4-wheel discs w/ ABS
6-airbags (2 front, 2 side, 2 full side-curtain)
heated front seats (it gets cold up here dontcha know)
heated side mirrors
fog lights
sunroof
6 speaker CD stereo with MP3/WMA, Aux and USB inputs
A/C
alarm system
a kick ass 10yr/100,000km (or 160,000km extended) comprehensive warranty including roadside assistance
The list goes on and on and is actually pretty damn complete. The gas mileage is pretty darn good as well considering gas here has been teetering around $1.03 a litre lately (about $3.50 USD per gallon for you Yankees).
A quick first test drive also showed that Kia has really stepped up the quality game. The car felt and sounded very very solid. No squeaks, rattles or shimmies over various bumps and around corners. It handles very nicely. And while it doesn't have the street cred of a Mini Cooper, it's only shy by about 8 less horsepower. The interior looked and felt very solid as well. The back seat had significantly more room than my Integra 4 door too - although I think I've had only one adult passenger back there in the last two years anyway.
I chuckled the other day when I read a Motor Trend article that said that the Rio5 was faster through it's slalom course than both the Audi A3 (which a co-worker just bought at more than $40k) and the Mitsubishi Eclipse.
I also liked the fact that they didn't bother giving me a price where I had to add on things like floor mats, electric windows and mud guards to get a final price. They offer preselected no-fuss model selections which made calculating a price literally a 90sec affair.
If you're familiar with the 06 or 07 Kia Rio5 and have info to give me or if you want to dissuade me, please leave me a comment. I'd love to hear some opinions before I buy.
I'm a small car guy through and through. If only I lived across the pond where the compact/sub-compact segments are a lively market. My wife drives a Nissan Murano, and while it's a nice comfy SUV, it's far too big and bouncy for my tastes - nevermind the gas mileage and running costs (ever price out a set of 4 SUV tires?)
I've looked at the smaller cars from BMW/Mini, Hyundai, Kia, Honda, Toyota, Mazda, GM(Saturn), VW and even Ford (Chrysler is just not a consideration to me), and I have to say I'm favouring the Kia Rio5 Ex Sport model at the moment:
I really like the euro-hatch clean look of the Kia. And for a very reasonable list price of $20,700 CAD (18,250 USD) it comes fully loaded with things like:
15" Alloys
P195x55 tires
4-wheel discs w/ ABS
6-airbags (2 front, 2 side, 2 full side-curtain)
heated front seats (it gets cold up here dontcha know)
heated side mirrors
fog lights
sunroof
6 speaker CD stereo with MP3/WMA, Aux and USB inputs
A/C
alarm system
a kick ass 10yr/100,000km (or 160,000km extended) comprehensive warranty including roadside assistance
The list goes on and on and is actually pretty damn complete. The gas mileage is pretty darn good as well considering gas here has been teetering around $1.03 a litre lately (about $3.50 USD per gallon for you Yankees).
A quick first test drive also showed that Kia has really stepped up the quality game. The car felt and sounded very very solid. No squeaks, rattles or shimmies over various bumps and around corners. It handles very nicely. And while it doesn't have the street cred of a Mini Cooper, it's only shy by about 8 less horsepower. The interior looked and felt very solid as well. The back seat had significantly more room than my Integra 4 door too - although I think I've had only one adult passenger back there in the last two years anyway.
I chuckled the other day when I read a Motor Trend article that said that the Rio5 was faster through it's slalom course than both the Audi A3 (which a co-worker just bought at more than $40k) and the Mitsubishi Eclipse.
I also liked the fact that they didn't bother giving me a price where I had to add on things like floor mats, electric windows and mud guards to get a final price. They offer preselected no-fuss model selections which made calculating a price literally a 90sec affair.
If you're familiar with the 06 or 07 Kia Rio5 and have info to give me or if you want to dissuade me, please leave me a comment. I'd love to hear some opinions before I buy.
Is that your logo or are you just happy to see me?
Another great post by David Airey asking the age old design question... Is your logo design phallic?
:)
:)
Theming Google Reader
I'm not big on Firefox extensions. It's not that I don't like them, I've just never spent a lot of time fooling with them. I have Greasemonkey installed, but don't do much with it. I've also got Google Notebook installed which I use from time to time. But upon reading a digg link today I spent a few minutes fooling with an extension called Stylish. It seems there's a whole crowd of people who want to skin different pages (or all pages) with different themes.
I tried out a few Google Reader themes, but actually came to the conclusion that I like the stock gReader theme better than any of the several I tried. I've said before that I like the functionality, simplicity and look of Google's Gmail, Reader and Calendar. I'm not sure I really want (or need) to theme them. But in case you're into that type of thing, you should install the Stylish extension and visit userstyles.org.
[that being said, I see that userstyles.org might be suffering from the digg effect right now so be patient]
I tried out a few Google Reader themes, but actually came to the conclusion that I like the stock gReader theme better than any of the several I tried. I've said before that I like the functionality, simplicity and look of Google's Gmail, Reader and Calendar. I'm not sure I really want (or need) to theme them. But in case you're into that type of thing, you should install the Stylish extension and visit userstyles.org.
[that being said, I see that userstyles.org might be suffering from the digg effect right now so be patient]
CNN frothing at Virginia Tech
Terribly sad story at Virginia Tech yesterday. CNN is frothing at the mouth.
I watched an interview this morning with a young guy who helped barricade his classroom door, quite likely saving the lives of his classmates. Towards the end of the interview the reporter asked him what he thought of people calling him a hero. He couldn't speak. And the reporter seemed very uncomfortable at the silence. Tears welled up in my eyes at what he must be feeling. I know it had nothing to do with him being called a hero. There was just fear in those eyes.
I bet they'll be running that one all day long.
Poor kids.
I watched an interview this morning with a young guy who helped barricade his classroom door, quite likely saving the lives of his classmates. Towards the end of the interview the reporter asked him what he thought of people calling him a hero. He couldn't speak. And the reporter seemed very uncomfortable at the silence. Tears welled up in my eyes at what he must be feeling. I know it had nothing to do with him being called a hero. There was just fear in those eyes.
I bet they'll be running that one all day long.
Poor kids.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Openfontlibary.org logo contest winner announced... and he's devilishly handsome too! ;)
They picked one of my logo entries for the new openfontlibrary.org logo!! Going to bed tonight, I am a truly happy camper!
:)
:)
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Sketching, Creativity and the Design Process
I'm a big fan of the design process. Almost more than the result itself.
I remember when I first got my hands on the wonderful book Driving Ambition, and I found myself quickly drawn not to the high quality photography, but to Gordon Murray's initial sketches and the drawings involved in developing various ideas. It's something that has always fascinated me - how people create the things we see and enjoy. If you're at all into car design I can't recommend it enough.
Recently, David Airey had a great post on logo design where he made the point that sketching was a vital ingredient in the design process. He also posted many design options for a project he was involved in.
While reading that post, I was in the midst of posting logo submissions for the Xmms2 graphic contest. And I was, in fact, doodling ideas in a hardcover notebook I keep for jotting down ideas and sketches. So after reading it, I decided that after I was done submitting logos, I'd post up the various doodles and sketches.
Now, I'm far from an accomplished artist, but I had fun generating ideas and transforming them into digital form with Inkscape. Hopefully this will encourage others to post things that illustrate their design process (whatever process that might be). It's something that I don't see enough of on the web (if you know where it is, then point me to it). There's a lot of inspiration in seeing how people create things, even if they're just pencil sketches on a knapkin.
Here are the various ideas I played around with. You can see a fair number of my xmms2 logo submissions that come directly from these sketches. Others never quite went anywhere....
[click on the image(s) to see larger versions]
I remember when I first got my hands on the wonderful book Driving Ambition, and I found myself quickly drawn not to the high quality photography, but to Gordon Murray's initial sketches and the drawings involved in developing various ideas. It's something that has always fascinated me - how people create the things we see and enjoy. If you're at all into car design I can't recommend it enough.
Recently, David Airey had a great post on logo design where he made the point that sketching was a vital ingredient in the design process. He also posted many design options for a project he was involved in.
While reading that post, I was in the midst of posting logo submissions for the Xmms2 graphic contest. And I was, in fact, doodling ideas in a hardcover notebook I keep for jotting down ideas and sketches. So after reading it, I decided that after I was done submitting logos, I'd post up the various doodles and sketches.
Now, I'm far from an accomplished artist, but I had fun generating ideas and transforming them into digital form with Inkscape. Hopefully this will encourage others to post things that illustrate their design process (whatever process that might be). It's something that I don't see enough of on the web (if you know where it is, then point me to it). There's a lot of inspiration in seeing how people create things, even if they're just pencil sketches on a knapkin.
Here are the various ideas I played around with. You can see a fair number of my xmms2 logo submissions that come directly from these sketches. Others never quite went anywhere....
[click on the image(s) to see larger versions]
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Cool 3D photo collage modelling
Now no one can accuse me of not being an equal opportunity blogger:
[Via a recent episode of Leo Laporte's KFI podcast]
Just in case you thought Microsoft wasn't full of smart people (ok, maybe acquired smart people), wanting to push the envelope, check out the demo videos of the Photosynth project.
Think Quicktime VR but formed from a mass of normal digital photographs. From what I understand, they've got software that analyzes a group of photos of a specific location, recognizes datum objects, figures out camera position and angle of view, transforms them to account for parallax errors and assembles them together in a sort of 3D collage model. Put that inside a nice viewer with cool pan and zoom navigation and you have something really really interesting.
You can't get this software yet (I don't think), but it does show some really interesting possibilities for all those millions of photos being posted to the net. A use for photos in aggregate.
Now if only I could find the open-source equivalent.. ;)
[Via a recent episode of Leo Laporte's KFI podcast]
Just in case you thought Microsoft wasn't full of smart people (ok, maybe acquired smart people), wanting to push the envelope, check out the demo videos of the Photosynth project.
Think Quicktime VR but formed from a mass of normal digital photographs. From what I understand, they've got software that analyzes a group of photos of a specific location, recognizes datum objects, figures out camera position and angle of view, transforms them to account for parallax errors and assembles them together in a sort of 3D collage model. Put that inside a nice viewer with cool pan and zoom navigation and you have something really really interesting.
You can't get this software yet (I don't think), but it does show some really interesting possibilities for all those millions of photos being posted to the net. A use for photos in aggregate.
Now if only I could find the open-source equivalent.. ;)
*My* Code of Conduct
While I think Kent Newsome was right when he wrote: "Blogs are like cars- they create a false sense of invincability that releases your inner asshole .", I also think that not all people are assholes, inner or otherwise.
If a blogger needs a code of conduct to treat people with civility and respect, then likely that person's problem runs deeper than any code from on-high will address.
Plainly, if you act like an asshole, even anonymously, then almost invariably, you are an asshole - at least to some degree, despite what your alter ego might project.
Conversely, if you consistently treat people with respect and civility, chances are you are not an asshole.
I fall into the latter category (you'll have to take my word on that). But life has taught me that I might not be in the majority. ;)
When I started blogging I made a couple of mental notes: I would write what I thought and own what I wrote. The second part of that means looking forward and determining whether or not you'd be proud of what you're about to publish, whether that is a blog post, comment or forum posting.
Maybe that is *my* code of conduct.. mehh, it's enough for me.
If a blogger needs a code of conduct to treat people with civility and respect, then likely that person's problem runs deeper than any code from on-high will address.
Plainly, if you act like an asshole, even anonymously, then almost invariably, you are an asshole - at least to some degree, despite what your alter ego might project.
Conversely, if you consistently treat people with respect and civility, chances are you are not an asshole.
I fall into the latter category (you'll have to take my word on that). But life has taught me that I might not be in the majority. ;)
When I started blogging I made a couple of mental notes: I would write what I thought and own what I wrote. The second part of that means looking forward and determining whether or not you'd be proud of what you're about to publish, whether that is a blog post, comment or forum posting.
Maybe that is *my* code of conduct.. mehh, it's enough for me.
Keys to a better Keyboard - what do you think?
So there's a war on about moving or getting rid of the Caps Lock key.
What about the Scroll Lock and Pause/Break keys? They sit pristine and untouched on my Dell keyboard here at work and on any keyboard I've ever used for that matter.
And while I would prefer a more OS-agnostic glyph for the 'Windows' key, I do find it useful (Windows+D on XP and a multitude of Beryl controls combinations on Linux).
However this Dell keyboard I'm staring at also has a key with a menu symbol on it. It's just to the right of the right hand windows key. Pressing it brings up the right-click context menu in your current app. Completely useless in my mind. The right-click context menu is one of the few mousey things I think is pretty efficient.
So out with Caps Lock, Scroll Lock, Pause/Break and the mysterious Menu keys. (The print screen key is good for screen captures).
Any others we should pry off and throw out?
What do we replace all those missing keyspaces with?? (a double question-mark key??)
What about the Scroll Lock and Pause/Break keys? They sit pristine and untouched on my Dell keyboard here at work and on any keyboard I've ever used for that matter.
And while I would prefer a more OS-agnostic glyph for the 'Windows' key, I do find it useful (Windows+D on XP and a multitude of Beryl controls combinations on Linux).
However this Dell keyboard I'm staring at also has a key with a menu symbol on it. It's just to the right of the right hand windows key. Pressing it brings up the right-click context menu in your current app. Completely useless in my mind. The right-click context menu is one of the few mousey things I think is pretty efficient.
So out with Caps Lock, Scroll Lock, Pause/Break and the mysterious Menu keys. (The print screen key is good for screen captures).
Any others we should pry off and throw out?
What do we replace all those missing keyspaces with?? (a double question-mark key??)
Gmail lagging behind?? Bahhh!!
Ron K. Jeffries gives his thoughts about Gmail and cites a PC Magazine review of web-based mail services that disses Gmail and a response here.
I agree with Ron. I love GMail too. The 'search and tag' metaphors are so much more my style than 'folders and drag n drop'. But there is another simple thing that makes Gmail win hands down (for me):
When I log into Yahoo Mail I see my folder list, top news stories, a big f a t animated ad on the right hand side, and a few other ads on the left, under my folder list. My actual inbox is another click away . When I log into Gmail, I get... wait for it... my inbox. No ads, no flashing, blinking things.. just my email.
The simplicity of the interface doesn't insult me. It's relatively speedy, clearly readable, and the colours are muted and unobtrusive. It's kind of like comparing Visual Studio to Vi. I'm in the Vi camp.
And I find Google's Reader and Calendar the same. I like the lack of shiny faux-3D bars and stripes. They're functional interfaces, with minimal, unobtrusive advertising. If I were Yahoo or MS, I'd seriously review what it is they're aiming for.
I've demonstrated GMail to probably a dozen people in the last year or so. Three of those were already on Yahoo Mail at the time. Those three are now avid Gmailers. Once you get past the fact that it doesn't work like Outlook, you begin to realize that just might be a good thing.
On a more general, application-wide note, I think keyboard shortcuts are seriously underrated. People somehow take keyboard controls as an indication of antiquated, simplistic and somehow limited application behaviour. But I find myself frustrated when I can't easily find a keyboard shortcut for an often-used command.
Down with Feature-bloat, Up with Functionality!
I agree with Ron. I love GMail too. The 'search and tag' metaphors are so much more my style than 'folders and drag n drop'. But there is another simple thing that makes Gmail win hands down (for me):
When I log into Yahoo Mail I see my folder list, top news stories, a big f a t animated ad on the right hand side, and a few other ads on the left, under my folder list. My actual inbox is another click away . When I log into Gmail, I get... wait for it... my inbox. No ads, no flashing, blinking things.. just my email.
The simplicity of the interface doesn't insult me. It's relatively speedy, clearly readable, and the colours are muted and unobtrusive. It's kind of like comparing Visual Studio to Vi. I'm in the Vi camp.
And I find Google's Reader and Calendar the same. I like the lack of shiny faux-3D bars and stripes. They're functional interfaces, with minimal, unobtrusive advertising. If I were Yahoo or MS, I'd seriously review what it is they're aiming for.
I've demonstrated GMail to probably a dozen people in the last year or so. Three of those were already on Yahoo Mail at the time. Those three are now avid Gmailers. Once you get past the fact that it doesn't work like Outlook, you begin to realize that just might be a good thing.
On a more general, application-wide note, I think keyboard shortcuts are seriously underrated. People somehow take keyboard controls as an indication of antiquated, simplistic and somehow limited application behaviour. But I find myself frustrated when I can't easily find a keyboard shortcut for an often-used command.
Down with Feature-bloat, Up with Functionality!
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