Pizza and Beer
So here is and interesting take on delivery pizza and beer.
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.
So here is and interesting take on delivery pizza and beer.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
In the past month I have built a new PC. The new motherboard doesn’t have serial ports. No problem, I haven’t used serial ports in years, or so I thought. I have been looking at adding rig control for my Icom 706MKIIG ham radio. The great thing about rig control is that I can then use my PC to control the radio or have logging software pickup the frequency and mode that the radio is on when an entry into the log is made. Icom makes a unit for rig control but it is a serial device. There are several rig control circuits on the Internet, but all the ones I have found use serial RS-232 interfaces.
Lucky for me I came across the Rigtalk. It is made by West Mountain Radio and will control the equipment using one USB port on my PC. They only provide Windows drivers, so i can’t control the radio under Linux. Still I like this option better than playing with USB to RS-232 dongles.
I would really like Icom and other radio equipment manufacturers to update their product lines. Sure a serial interface might be cheap but more and more computers are shedding their legacy interfaces. Parallel Ports, serial ports, PS/2, and other old interfaces are just about gone on all current PC motherboards, and Macs. Just goes to show, when you think you no longer need that 20-30 year old interface, something comes up and you need it after all.
Well I have no idea if this is a good monitor. Seeing as it is orange, and that is my favorite color, I would hope it is a good peice of hardware. Here is the link.
This past week GM announced that they are going to kill Saturn. In many ways I am not surprised at this decision. I have had two Saturn cars, a ’97 SL2 and an ’03 ION. When I started college my parents contacted our insurance agent and ask what would be a good car on insurance for a 18 year old male commuting to college and working part time. She said that an SL2 would be one of the best choices. My father and I looked at a few used car lots but didn’t find any SL2s that had below 100K miles. We then drive to a Saturn dealership in the area. The whole Staff was great, they not only showed us the cars, but how to take care of basic maintenance, items to be aware of and they really made me feel like I was valued. When ever I had problems with the car I took itto the dealership and they treated me vary fairly and were very honest with what they were doing to the car. One time I had changed the spark plugs with A different brand from what Saturn recommended, the engine was running very roughly. I took the car tothe dealer and they found that the plugs ( Bosch plat. +4s) were wrong, they replaced the plugs with NGK (the recommended brand) at only the cost of the plugs. The car was fairly solid too, I had very few problems with the car. Sure, in some ways it was alittle tin and plastic can on wheels, but the car was light and got very goods gas mileage (about 32 city 37 highway). The car wasn’t fancy, the only fancy thing on it was cruse control. it had an automatic transmission, and I ended up changing the head unit out with a pioneer one so i could listen to my i Pod. I learned how to change the oil, air filters, change spark plugs, and other maintenance tasks. So when it came time to replace the SL2 I when back to Saturn. I ended up at a different dealership because the second one had a used ’03 ION Quad Coupe that I really liked. I had the same great sales experience. The service staff was great to.
But here is where the tail turns sour. See the ION was never really a Saturn design (yes I know the S series was not designed solely for/by Saturn but it was only made and sold by Saturn). GM must not have tested the ION design very well, if at all. Within a few months of having the car I had several strange problems. At 25K miles the bushings in the front suspension started to wear out and I got a clunking every time i went over the slightest of bumps. I also had a strange noise from the transmission atlow speeds. I had a seat belt retractor just stick in place, that had to be replaced. I had to have the bushings, and sway bar end links replaced again at 50K miles. I had other odds and ends things happen, all before 50K miles. By this time I was thinking “It is no wonder nobody was buying GM cars, They’re shit!”
Here is another example of how crappy GM is. The 2004 model year Ion Red Line had some problems that were addressed in the next model year. One of these was the intercooler pump was wired backwards negative to positive and positive to negative causing the impeller in the pump to run backwards. It circulated coolant but at a much less efficient rate than if it was wired properly as it was in the 05 and after model years, and would sometimes cause a hesitation/stumbling at low RPM operation due to the increased intake air temperatures. GM never issued a recall for this problem but did issue a Technical Service Bulletin. So in other words if you didn’t read all the TSBs for your car, you would never know that there was a wiring problem that was causing your carto run badly, seems shady to me.
Would I buy another Saturn? No not till I know for sure that they quality is back up. I really liked my SL2, It never let me down. my ION on the other hand has been a pain. The problem with Saturn hasn’t been that the dealers don’t try, they do and are some of the most helpful people I have met in the car sales and service industry. The problem is that they have been stuck trying to sell re badged GM shit cars and SUVs since 2003.
In some ways I hope Saturn can be sold off, and some how recapture the “glory days” when they produced a cheap well made/designed car that was different from the rest.