TGIBarf!

I was planning on hitting both Speed Racer and Iron Man today, to catch up on my Trailer Review follow ups, but my daughter came home sick from school. Poor kid is not feeling good at all, but thankfully she's stopped exploding.

Since I mentioned my daughter, as an equal opportunity mentioner, I should mention my son as well. He's started a line of comics at school, which according to him are popular. Now, "popular" to a third grader could mean that one kid looked at it, but still it's encouraging. With his knowledge of science and skill at stickman drawing, he could corner the XKCD Jr. market.

I finished going through the copyedited manuscript of The BBook of Geek. I'd say 90% of my errors fell into two categories: commas and "that" or "which" errors. I'd say I did well for an engineering major writing his first book. I only have one joke left to rewrite, because some geek broke up with his comedian girlfriend and ruined my joke. That's an image though, so I can email it to my publisher over the weekend. Anyway, I'll get that done and it's off to the typesetters.

I'm still posting on Twitter, and I still don't get the addictiveness factor. I think I need to build up more followers before it reaches the crack-like level that the "stars" talk about. Follow me if you're on it, and I'll let you know the "safe" level of followers after I cross into the danger zone.

That's all I've got for today. Stay geeky!

Daily Links - 5/9/08

What do I do? - See if you can figure out what you're supposed to do.

LED Bulbs - The future of light.

The Honor System - A bakery experiments with just a tip jar, and succeeds.

Site Identification - The death of the padlock.

Data Recovery - An amazing job recovering data from a space shuttle hard drive that fell to Earth.

OO.o 3.0 - OpenOffice.org releases a version 3.0 beta. Check it out.

TRS-80 Emulator - Go old school with this TRS-80 BASIC simulator.

Daily Links - 5/8/08

NIN Album Free - In more ways than just price.

Superhero Lineup - Marvel announces the dates for their upcoming superhero movies.

Ad Parodies - All my favorites were there: Colon Blow, Robot Insurance, Bad Idea Jeans and Happy Fun Ball.

Pixel Art - Some old school pixel art for you to enjoy.

Insulting Words - A list of insulting words that BBspotters should know.

Firebug - An extension that most pro web developers probably already know about, but might be useful for amateurs or tinkerers as well.

Blaming Video Games - The myth that video games hurt movies busted. Make a good movie and people will go to see it.

Freedom of Choice

I know the dreams of removing Microsoft's stranglehold from the computing world using Netscape and now Firefox have been around for awhile. For the longest time, it's only been a distant dream, but slowly companies have been chipping away. We're not there yet, but with the wide availability of broadband, and improving online applications, that dream is moving closer to reality.

My recent switch to Ubuntu on my laptop illustrates this clearly to me. I finally see the path, first it will be early adopters like me making the switch, then as the apps improve more and more people will fit under the curve.

First off, I'm a geek with lots of computer experience. I've installed Linux on systems before. I'm not a guru even by the lowered standards of the word today, but I'm hardly a neophyte. That said, I haven't encountered any issues that couldn't have been solved by someone with a decent ability with Google. Also, this isn't meant as a complete review of Ubuntu. There are already plenty of those on the Web.

I made a jump into Linux a few years back, and I want to compare the two experiences. I'll talk about why, thanks to Firefox and Google, this transition went much smoother, and will most likely be permanent.

In my last transition to Linux, the biggest issue was email. At that time I was popping email from BBspot using Outlook on Windows. Evolution was a nice replacement for Outlook, but if you're not committed to Linux completely, keeping emails in sync between OSes with pop can be a pain. Add a laptop into that mix and it gets near impossible.

Since then, I've transitioned to using Gmail. This removes the sync problems I had in my previous attempt. It doesn't matter what OS or what computer I'm using, my email works the same. I just pop open Firefox and there it is.

Another big hurdle last time was stats for BBspot. At the time, I used an app to analyze the raw log files I downloaded from my site. There were a few solutions for Linux, but nothing that met my requirements. Now, I'm using Google Analytics which again works anywhere on any computer with a browser and an Internet connection.

Google Calendar replace Outlook Calendar for me, and while it lacks a bit in the features department, the universal availability more than makes up for it.

Of course, it's not just the availability of Web apps that made the transition easier. The improvements in Ubuntu have been tremendous as well.

First of all, installing apps has become a much easier process. I remember the issues I had last time trying to get some apps to install. Trying to figure out what libraries I needed. Conflicts with other applications. Ubuntu's app handler makes all that a GUIfied breeze. Now I just type in some keywords into the Add/Remove programs search dialog and lists of applications pop up. The nice thing is that each application comes rated by popularity, so you know which ones are widely used and likely more polished.

Next, installing my printer this time went perfectly. The add printer wizard had no trouble finding my Windows networked printer. Last time this was a nightmare. Another hurdle easily cleared.

The transition hasn't been all rosy. The main issue is media playback. Linux can't be blamed for this. The proprietary media codecs are the culprit. I don't have any problems with normal media playback on the Web like YouTube or Flash games, or even playing a DVD. However, I like to play DVDs at 1.75x speed with pitch correction, and I can't find a Linux solution for this. Also, Quicktime playback has a few issues, which when doing trailer reviews is a big issue for me. And finally, Netflix's "Watch Instantly" streams only work on IE in Windows.

If those issues were solved (screw DRM), I most likely would never have to boot into Vista.

Yes, it would be hard for me to transition to Linux on my desktop system, where I use more Windows-only software (Quicken, Dreamweaver, Photoshop etc.), but the rise of webcentric apps and improvement of open source alternatives, have made that list shorter and shorter.

Please don't send me a list of Linux alternatives for these programs, I know about them already or about getting these programs to work in Linux under WINE. I don't want to go through the extra effort to replace when I've already made the investment in them. In my opinion, it'd be silly to do all that extra work just to duplicate something that works for me already. However, when the time comes for me to upgrade this system (it's running XP), then it will make more sense. And certainly, as time goes on, I will try to transition these programs to alternatives that work on Linux.

I encourage you to do the same. An easy step would be to try out Ubuntu for a little while, and figure out which apps are keeping you from the switch. When decision time comes for you to choose a new application, or upgrade current one. Think about choosing something that can be platform independent. When choosing media, opt for DRM-free choices, so you won't lose access when you switch platforms. You might be closer to being able to transition that you imagine.

In the long run, it's about the freedom to choose a solution that's right for you. For profit corporations want to lock you in, so they can bleed you dry. The more open and free solutions that you choose, the less likely you'll be screwed.

Quick Update

Just wanted to post a quick update on things here in the BBasement. I'm working on going through the edits on The BBook of Geek, which I have to complete by Friday. I'm focusing on that right now, so I can't put as much time in on the BBlog. Also this week is the Space Derby for Cub Scouts, and I've had to work on making our rocket. They moved it a day ahead at the last minute, so I'm scrambling to get that done too.

It always seems like "next week" I'll be back to a regular schedule, but it never seems to happen. I think I'm going to have to go back to waking up at 5 am again to find the time to do everything that needs to get done.

In case you missed it before, The BBook of Geek is available for preorder on Amazon. I'm going through it again with the copyedits, and I know I'm biased, but it's a funny book. I had a lot of fun creating it, and I think that comes through in the text and pictures. If you're dedicated enough to BBspot to be reading the BBlog, then you'll definitely enjoy it.

That's all I've got for today. Stay geeky!

Daily Links - 5/7/08

Tech Myths - 30 tech myths debunked. Argue amongst yourselves.

Dissed - I believe if you look up "dissed" in an online dictionary, it will point here.

It's "Offical" - You suck.

Einstein Wrong - Gravity: It's just a theory.

Washing Instructions - Coleslaw, you keep using that word, I don't think it means what you think it means.

Family Guy Matrix - The Family Guy Matrix trailer.

Backscattered - Don't be frightened, your email hasn't been hacked. You're just getting backscatter spam.

Daily Links - 5/6/08

MacGyver Movie - It could be happening. Awesome.

Geeks - Are Star Wars geeks and sports geeks brothers?

Conan on GTA IV - Conan reveals the kinder, gentler GTA IV.

Roller Coaster Again - This roller coaster designer is more about physics than fun. Try to design a coaster that thrills your riders without making them throw up or pass out. OK, I guess it is fun.

Wilfred Brimley Cats - 5 cats that look like Wilfred Brimley. Diabetes.

I Am Iron Man - A Japanese company takes advantage of the Iron Man marketing blitz and shows off their exoskeleton. Nothing like free advertising.

Iron Man Reviewed - OK, I didn't follow up on Iron Man, so in case you need someone else to tell you about the movie, here's a bunch of Slashdotters opinions.

A Winner is You!

Saturday was Science Olympiad day. I wore my "Stand Back I'm Going to Try Science" shirt from XKCD which I thought was appropriate. This event has grown since we (and by we I mean Mrs. BBspot and the kids) first got involved (and by involved I mean completely immersed). Now there are twenty participating schools covering 2nd-5th grade with up to 20 kids per team. That's a lot of kids. The amazing thing is that this is all done outside of the school system by parent volunteers. I believe I heard them say there were over 500 volunteers for the event.

My son did well. He got a second place medal in his Map Reading event, and his third grade team won the overall championship. It's awesome to see all the kids proud to wear their science Olympiad medals and team T-shirts. At least in this city there's hope for the future.

Speaking of hope for the future, I finished Watchmen over the weekend. After reading that, I've given up all hope for humanity. Just kidding, it wasn't that depressing. I enjoyed the complex story telling technique, and the fantastic imagery created by the graphics and text. I don't know if it's the best introduction to graphic novels that someone can read, but it worked for me. Next up on the reading list is "Down the Rabbit Hole" for the book club then onto some more geek classics.

I received back the copy edited text of The BBook of Geek. My publisher is old school and does everything on hard copy. I've got a stack of papers with indecipherable squiggles and notations. I'm supposed to answer the queries (Post-it notes) and approve the edits. First, I'm going to have to uncover a copy of the editor's Rosetta stone. While it's disconcerting to see all the red marks all over the manuscript, I'm excited to finally have a professional editor go through and improve my work. The BBook just keeps getting better and better.

I have a friend who works for an oil services company (a good time for that). He recently got assigned to work in Algeria for a while. He said that the worst part of getting there was the security in Houston. Apparently, an American going to Algeria on a one-way ticket raises a few red flags with the TSA. Kinda like the stamp I've got from Iran in my passport. My friend reports that the weather is hot today, hot tomorrow with a forecast of hot for the next week. I'm not sure how a Minnesota native can handle that, but he seems to be doing OK.

That's all I've got for today. Stay geeky!

Daily Links - 5/5/08

I'm Famous - At least according to the new Internet standard.

Emo Lincoln - Usually I find this picture links stupid, but this one made me chuckle.

Roller Coaster Creator - Create a roller coaster to collect the coins or to kill people.

HDTV Price War - This can only be good for people like me who are still waiting to get an HDTV.

Card Blasts Rowling - Yet another sci-fi author blasts J.K. Rowling and the Lawsuit of Ridiculousness.

The Memristor - Circuit classes just got a bit more difficult thanks to the folks over at HP Labs. Thanks guys.

Open Screen - Adobe opens up Flash, kinda. No source code, but it's a start.

Blinding Me with Science

This is Science Olympiad weekend in the BBspot household, and that means my Friday night and Saturday will be sciencetastic. I'm only peripherally involved, but Mrs. BBspot is in it up to her eyebrows. For the next couple of days though, I will be helping out as much as I can which usually means sitting around and making sure the kids get fed and my son gets to his events.

With all that happening, I've decided to skip going to Iron Man today. Usually I save Monday's story for the weekend, but since I won't have much weekend, I'm trying to finish as much as I can today. I'm going to try to go see it Sunday, when life has returned to normalcy (normalcy for the BBspot household anyway.) For this one, I don't think anyone's going to change their minds based on what I have to say anyway.

I just got word from my editor that the copyedited manuscript is on its way back to me. I hope they didn't run out of red (or blue) ink on this one. I guess that means we're one step closer to seeing this work in book form. Pretty exciting.

On the BBoard you can let everyone know what cool things happen on your BBirthday in this thread. Jimi Hendrix died a few hours before I was born. Coincidence?

I tried to play Team Fortress 2 again, but each server was filled with medics trying to get their achievements. Oh Valve why do you do me wrong?

That's all I've got for today. Stay geeky!