Mindless Conversation

For over a year I had wanted an e-book reader. Since I work with technology every day, having some way to carry around refernece materials in a small package is ideal.  Having computer manual after computer manual in a small device is prefered to carrying 40 pounds of books in a bag. In June 2010, Barnes and Noble reduced the cost of their nook. I ended up getting one with the 3G connection for my birthday. I decided on the nook for several reasons. I like that I can “side load” books from other publishers. I also like that I can download samples from Barnes and Noble to see if the book is what I am looking for. The device is simple to use and upgrade the storage on. Barnes and Noble have a fair selection of books on line for purchase. I would how ever like to see more nonfiction selections. I mostly read technical and nonfiction books. I also would like to see Barnes and Noble add some better free ebooks to their store. Many of the free books seem to be trashy romance or some such books. Having some high quality free books would be a great way to get people started when they have just purchased the nook.

The Nook’s screen is very clear and easy to read. The battery life is good, allowing me to read for several days if I turn off the WiFi and 3G. The touch screen for navigation is simple to use. The Web browser included  isn’t the greatest and lacks some abilities to reformat pages to fit on the Nook’s screen. But I didn’t get the nook for web browsing. A friens has the Nook Color, and is much better at web content.

I think e-readers in general are a great thing. If an e-reader can get people to read more, I am all for their use. I find that by and large too many do not read.  I have noticed that with the ease of checking online, I have read more samples of books.

The future of e-readers will be interesting. EInk is working on a color display but the prototype photos look like junk. If you want a touch screen, the Apple iPad is the best interface going. Pixel Qi has an interesting display technology, a LCD panel that can run in several modes and allows the screen to be easily read in daylight. A tablet made with a Pixel Qi display with multitouch and running Android as the OS would make a great device. Content for the e-readers is improving.

Comments(0)

I have been using Nagios, the network monitoring software, for several years now. It is a shame to see that someone is trying to take advantage of the good work created by the Nagios community. Read the details here.

Comments(0)

For the past while I have been looking at building some kind of multi-touch table. I you have used an iPhone, or the like you know what multi-touch is. What I would like to make is some something close to Microsoft’s Surface. NUI Group is a great site and forums. They have information for the creation of server types of multi-touch interfaces. After studying the site forums, and with what I have access to right now, I think I will be trying to build and LCD FTIR type display. When I get further I hope to post more details.

Comments(0)

So here is and interesting take on delivery pizza and beer.

Comments(0)

Well it turns out that after months of waiting that the CrunchPad is dead. It is a real shame as the pad looks like it could be a real winner for the tablet form factor. I hope some how they are able to bring it back to life, or that some one will be able to create a clone device.

Comments(0)

This past week Ubuntu Linux turned 5 years old. I have been using Ubuntu for about 3 years now. I feel it is important to look at what they have done for users, and how Ubuntu has changed the experience of Linux for the desktop.

First, Ubuntu releases new versions on a time based system. While Ubuntu is not the first distro to do this, they are fairly consistent, and they do not delay a release because they are waiting on some new feature in the kernel or some user space utility. Ubuntu really makes upgrades for this release schedule work well. Ubuntu releases twice a year. This means that you will have access to newer software in the repositories, and that you will enjoy the new enhancements to GNOME or KDE about every 6 months.

Second, Ubuntu really pioneered the use of the Live CD installer. Before Ubuntu it was very hard to try-before-you-buy. I spent hours installing, formatting, installing, wiping, installing before finding a distro that was easy to use, powerful, and simple to maintain. With Ubuntu’s Live CD new users can see if they like the interface, and if they do they can just click on the installer to have a new OS.

Third, Ubuntu has taken on the task of accessing proprietary drivers. if you network card requires a closed source driver, you can install it using the restricted driver module installer, and Ubuntu’s repos. It is much easier than hunting down each driver and guessing that you have all the needed parts to install it.

Fourth, Ubuntu has focused on usability, especially for desktop users. Ubuntu recruited professional programmers and designers. the developers have worked to stamp out bugs, and add features. All while not charging the end-user.

Lastly, Ubuntu has created a large community. If you are a new user, check out the wiki, or forums. You are bound to find answers to your questions. Ubuntu has worked hard at making users feel welcome. So these are just a few things Ubuntu has done over the past 5 year. It will be interesting to see what 5 more years bring. If you are a Ubuntu user what do you really like about Ubuntu? What are you looking forward to?

Comments(0)

So here is and interesting take on delivery pizza and beer. Maybe someone will come up with a bicycle and smoker combo. Or even a bicycle deep fryer could be cool.

Comments(0)

So, a few friends and I are working on a 2D top down game. We call it Fuego. It is a C++ game that uses SDL. I am trying to create a Windows port of the game. I have setup Visual Studio 2008 express with all the development SDL libraries we are using, and I have almost all the bugs taken care of. I am getting a linking error related to the networking code. All of the network code is written to use BSD sockets. I’m sure there is a dll out there that will be the correct thing to link against.

Comments(0)

This week end I decided to experiment with bacon dishes on the grill. I made an BBQ Italian sausage wrapped in bacon loaf as well as bacon wrapped stuffed jalapeno. The two dishes turned out very nicely. Here are the quick steps to make them

Sausage bacon loaf:
1.5 pounds Sausage (I like a good italian or hungarian sausage)
1 to 2 pounds bacon (plain hickory or apple smoked)
BBQ sauce (some thing with a little kick, but will bot over power the flavor of the sausage

Create a woven mat with the bacon. This woven mat will be the outside of the loaf. When finished weaving the bacon take the sausage and form into a loaf. Carefully wrap the sausage in the bacon mat and place on the grill. The Grill should be set to medium or medium low for at least the first 15 minutes of cooking. This dish has a high amount of fat and drippings will cause flare-ups. When the internal temp of the loaf is about 155 degrees cover the loaf in your BBQ sauce. The loaf is ready when the internal temp of the sausage has reached 165 degrees F.

Stuffed jalapenos with bacon:

wood toothpicks (soak in water so they dont burn.)
package of cream cheese
jalapenos

cut the jalapeno down the center creating two halves length wise. Scoop out the seeds and inner white matter. Rinse off the inside, and fill with cream cheese. Place the halves together and wrap with bacon. Fix the bacon ends to the jalapeno using toothpicks. Place on grill and cook until the bacon has cooked through.

Comments(0)