By removing Lifehacker from my newsfeed list, I've saved myself fifteen minutes per week of paging past dozens of pointless articles. I had subscribed to this a couple of years ago when I was desperate to improve my time organization & priortization skills, and the site had some practical tips.
However, the site has devolved into a sisyphean wheel of press releases, hints from Heloise, and ridiculously stupid ideas. Most practical tips are used up, and although they are reprinting old articles now, the site has become a time waster. And you know what to do with time wasters...
30 Oct 2007
29 Oct 2007
BlackBerry support in Ubuntu Gutsy
To charge or backup your BlackBerry device under Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon, there is a nice little GPL package named barry put together by some nice folks in Ontario. It isn't part of the Ubuntu software catalog yet, so here are some steps to get this up and running. (Note: the authors give instructions on how to build it from source – take your pick.)
First, you'll need to install an updated version of libopensync0 (0.22). Add the following lines to your /etc/apt/sources.list:
Note: you probably don't need the libbarry-dev package unless you plan to develop with this stuff, but I installed it anyhow. Won't hurt anything. The libopensync package should enable some sort of integration with your local copy of Evolution or Thunderbird, but I haven't tried it.
After all you can plug your BlackBerry into the USB port and it will finally charge. These packages don't put any entries in the Gnome menu system, but you can run "barrybackup" which will let you back up all data (and restore, if you want).
First, you'll need to install an updated version of libopensync0 (0.22). Add the following lines to your /etc/apt/sources.list:
So, go get that along with some other prerequisites:
#opensync
deb http://opensync.gforge.punktart.de/repo/opensync-0.21/ etch main
deb-src http://opensync.gforge.punktart.de/repo/opensync-0.21/ etch main
Then, download and install barry.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libopensync0 libglademm-2.4-1c2a libtar
wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/barry/libbarry_0.9-1_i386.deb?modtime=1192146928&big_mirror=0"
wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/barry/barry-util_0.9-1_i386.deb?modtime=1192146873&big_mirror=0"
wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/barry/barrybackup-gui_0.9-1_i386.deb?modtime=1192146747&big_mirror=0"
wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/barry/libbarry-dev_0.9-1_i386.deb?modtime=1192146953&big_mirror=0"
wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/barry/libopensync-plugin-barry_0.9-1_i386.deb?modtime=1192147004&big_mirror=0"
sudo dpkg -i libbarry_0.9-1_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i barry-util_0.9-1_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i barrybackup-gui_0.9-1_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i libbarry-dev_0.9-1_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i libopensync-plugin-barry_0.9-1_i386.deb
Note: you probably don't need the libbarry-dev package unless you plan to develop with this stuff, but I installed it anyhow. Won't hurt anything. The libopensync package should enable some sort of integration with your local copy of Evolution or Thunderbird, but I haven't tried it.
After all you can plug your BlackBerry into the USB port and it will finally charge. These packages don't put any entries in the Gnome menu system, but you can run "barrybackup" which will let you back up all data (and restore, if you want).
Smile!
When we bought our house in Toronto two years ago, we decided to get a Murphy bed for the guest room. We wandered around the city looking for the right one, astounded at every turn by the prices they charge for these things. A thousand bucks for a stack of compressed wood? Yup.
When we finally decided to cough up the dough, we were faced with a salesperson who mumbled curses in Russian under her breath, rolled her eyes, and sighed as we discussed options and paid her god-damned salary.
I was entranced.
I got out my phone and pretended to be playing around with it, and surreptitiously captured her image for posterity. (I had used a hack to disable the obnoxious snapshot sound effect. Hello, Motorola, it's my frigging phone, okay?) So here she is to brighten your day, too.
When we finally decided to cough up the dough, we were faced with a salesperson who mumbled curses in Russian under her breath, rolled her eyes, and sighed as we discussed options and paid her god-damned salary.
I was entranced. I got out my phone and pretended to be playing around with it, and surreptitiously captured her image for posterity. (I had used a hack to disable the obnoxious snapshot sound effect. Hello, Motorola, it's my frigging phone, okay?) So here she is to brighten your day, too.
21 Oct 2007
DeAundra Peek
Media superstar (and fellow Cracker Barrel protester) DeAundra Peek gives us Dee-Lite's What is love? in her own inimitable style.
18 Oct 2007
Only heterosexual christians need apply?
I can only assume this headline means something else to the author of this article: Jiibe is eHarmony for Jobs.
15 Oct 2007
Copyright Trolldom
A spat recently erupted between two SF writers, purportedly about copyright. Cory Doctorow posted a paragraph of Ursula K. Le Guin, and she took offense because the single paragraph was a complete story; puffed-up chests and finger-pointing ensued, ending with an apology.
The reason this is trollery is that this story is given away through multiple sources, and Cory Doctorow, by promoting it, was doing her a service. She doesn't see it that way, though, because she is stuck irretrievably in 1950. So she made a stink about it. And Jerry Pournelle and his cronies in the soul-deadening SFWA waded in, carrying pitchforks and baying for Doctorow's blood.
So why does the SFWA hate Doctorow? He writes new stuff that people want to read, he gives it away for free, and has been tremendously successful at it. He also contributes to the influential blog BoingBoing. He does not bow and scrape to the bunch of borderline-fascist ex-authors who run the SFWA, and he has the temerity to espouse socially liberal political philosophies. They hate that stuff. And since UKLG and Connie Willis are the token women in the group, these real men can defend their honour.
A tempest in a teapot, illustrating the fact that a bunch of has-beens feel that the Internet will take away a comfortable retirement based on royalties from outdated, poorly written crypto-nazi bullshit they produced a generation ago. Now UKLG's boring story will safely stay on her site where nobody will actually read it. Great call, Ursula!
The reason this is trollery is that this story is given away through multiple sources, and Cory Doctorow, by promoting it, was doing her a service. She doesn't see it that way, though, because she is stuck irretrievably in 1950. So she made a stink about it. And Jerry Pournelle and his cronies in the soul-deadening SFWA waded in, carrying pitchforks and baying for Doctorow's blood.
So why does the SFWA hate Doctorow? He writes new stuff that people want to read, he gives it away for free, and has been tremendously successful at it. He also contributes to the influential blog BoingBoing. He does not bow and scrape to the bunch of borderline-fascist ex-authors who run the SFWA, and he has the temerity to espouse socially liberal political philosophies. They hate that stuff. And since UKLG and Connie Willis are the token women in the group, these real men can defend their honour.
A tempest in a teapot, illustrating the fact that a bunch of has-beens feel that the Internet will take away a comfortable retirement based on royalties from outdated, poorly written crypto-nazi bullshit they produced a generation ago. Now UKLG's boring story will safely stay on her site where nobody will actually read it. Great call, Ursula!
8 Oct 2007
Missing the point
Linux increased desktop market share by 119% over the past 12 months – but even so remains at 0.81% of total market share. Some see this as a huge disappointment and evidence that Windows will remain the One Ring.
However, I think a narrow focus on desktop market share is actually quite misleading. New devices with new capabilities are taking over the computing world. 'Most everybody carries a mobile phone, where Symbian and Linux are dominant, and Windows Mobile (which has nothing to do with Vista) has virtually no penetration.
So, if I count the "computers" in my house, there are: 2 linux laptops, two linux desktops, one vista laptop, one symbian mobile, one linux mobile, one linux landline and VOIP phone, one blackberry, one Windows CE and three linux embedded devices. Granted, I am a freak, and that increases the likelihood that I'll have linux devices – nine out of thirteen of them, in my case. But I only chose my OS on four of those nine linux devices, for the other five linux devices there is no alternative. And of course I'm not alone, as the TiVo is a linux device, and the linux-based wrt54g is the most popular router of all time.
Microsoft is innovating with a new category of device, a $10k coffee table. Good for them, it looks very sexy. Unfortunately for Microsoft it also looks dead simple to clone. Where's the new business model to go with it? Being too expensive won't make it exciting for long. Maybe they're hanging their hat on the Zune integration.
Meanwhile, Linux is making its way onto the motherboard (two different ways). Linux and other operating systems are being included in all kinds of new devices. A million iPhones have been sold already, and they run Mac OSX (the same thing that runs on the Mac). People don't think about the OS in these devices, and they don't care. The focus on desktop as the measure of success is so very 20th century.
However, I think a narrow focus on desktop market share is actually quite misleading. New devices with new capabilities are taking over the computing world. 'Most everybody carries a mobile phone, where Symbian and Linux are dominant, and Windows Mobile (which has nothing to do with Vista) has virtually no penetration.
So, if I count the "computers" in my house, there are: 2 linux laptops, two linux desktops, one vista laptop, one symbian mobile, one linux mobile, one linux landline and VOIP phone, one blackberry, one Windows CE and three linux embedded devices. Granted, I am a freak, and that increases the likelihood that I'll have linux devices – nine out of thirteen of them, in my case. But I only chose my OS on four of those nine linux devices, for the other five linux devices there is no alternative. And of course I'm not alone, as the TiVo is a linux device, and the linux-based wrt54g is the most popular router of all time.
Microsoft is innovating with a new category of device, a $10k coffee table. Good for them, it looks very sexy. Unfortunately for Microsoft it also looks dead simple to clone. Where's the new business model to go with it? Being too expensive won't make it exciting for long. Maybe they're hanging their hat on the Zune integration.
Meanwhile, Linux is making its way onto the motherboard (two different ways). Linux and other operating systems are being included in all kinds of new devices. A million iPhones have been sold already, and they run Mac OSX (the same thing that runs on the Mac). People don't think about the OS in these devices, and they don't care. The focus on desktop as the measure of success is so very 20th century.
6 Oct 2007
Lawrence Lessig on corruption
Lawrence Lessig (my favourite lawyer) announced earlier this year that he is moving on from the copyfight to spend the next ten years fighting corruption – in politics, in academia, in the media, in society – using new technology and mass-produced media to expose the effect of money on decision making. Larry's been the main draft pick on my Fantasy Supreme Court for a couple of years. I can't imagine a scenario in which he'd be appointed, but a boy can dream.
3 Oct 2007
Sayōnarā, WebEx
I have cursed WebEx for years:
As with anything that truly pisses me off, I was once a fan. For one incandescent second in 1999 Webex was cool. But they never improved a damned thing. And fickle me, I've found a new shiny thing: Google Docs Presentations. For creating presentations it isn't much – you'd better not want more than bullet points – but for showing slides to others? Oh, bliss... just fire up the presentation and send the link to the attendees. So create your presentation in KeyNote, PowerPoint, or OpenOffice Presentation, save it in PowerPoint format, then upload it to Google Docs, and you're set. It is a beautiful thing. Bye-bye, WebEx, it was fun for a while.
- every time I waited ten minutes for the crappy ActiveX control or equally crappy Java applet to (fail to) load
- every time desktop sharing loaded but showed nothing
- every time I struggled to export a powerpoint document into its proprietary Universal (?!?) Communications Format with its Powerpoint plugin that never worked
As with anything that truly pisses me off, I was once a fan. For one incandescent second in 1999 Webex was cool. But they never improved a damned thing. And fickle me, I've found a new shiny thing: Google Docs Presentations. For creating presentations it isn't much – you'd better not want more than bullet points – but for showing slides to others? Oh, bliss... just fire up the presentation and send the link to the attendees. So create your presentation in KeyNote, PowerPoint, or OpenOffice Presentation, save it in PowerPoint format, then upload it to Google Docs, and you're set. It is a beautiful thing. Bye-bye, WebEx, it was fun for a while.
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