Success! Here is a pic of Ubuntu running in XP on my ASUS Eee 1000h PC.
It's slow to load and may need some tweaking but it's fun and functional. A great way to play with a Linux distro.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
virtualized ubuntu running in XP off a SD card
Success! Here is a pic of Ubuntu running in XP on my ASUS Eee 1000h PC.
It's slow to load and may need some tweaking but it's fun and functional. A great way to play with a Linux distro.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Hacker Helper-now with twice the common sense
As more and more people become upset with problems involving their rights to their software purchases, such as Wal-Marts now infamous letter to consumers warning them about an upcoming cessation of DRM support from the Wal-Mart servers (meaning if you bought digital music from Wal-Mart and don't have it backed up to a CD, it will soon be unusable) and other copyright issues, Apple has now begun adding to the list of consumer complaints due to their poor screening of the apps in their app store and not offering a try before you buy option.
After buying a few apps that were misleadingly represented, people are becoming disillusioned and piracy has become prevelent on the site. As reported on the site "Torrent Freak" "When game designer, James Bossert saw he that his Whack 'em All iPhone game had 400 new users in one day last week he initially got excited. But that sentiment quickly changed when he saw that only 12 people had paid 99 cents for the game on Apple's iPhone App Store. Bossert e-mailed the person who claimed to have cracked and distributed it and posted the response on his blog."
Now, this is where it gets interesting. Instead of mouthing off, the pirate suggested that Apple offer trial versions of the apps and that Bossert offer an ad-supported version of his game. The hacker, "Most_uniQue" said he used Crackulous, "one-tap" cracking software developed by Hackulous, to crack the app. After cracking 35 apps, he is retiring, he told Bossert in their surprisingly friendly e-mail exchange.
The software designer could have complained or accused or litigated but instead he took the helpful hacker's words to heart and said he plans to release a free, ad-supported version of Whack 'em All within a few weeks as a result of the piracy. "I'll leave the 99 cent version out there and see what happens," he added.
This got me thinking, I've downloaded free open source software for years and if I like it, I click the Paypal button and send some luv their way.
Now, logic dictates that as I'm a broke student and I donate for free software after I downloaded and used it, and Open Source software has been around for ages (long enough that it would have died out if people didn't donate)
Then, it only stands to reason that donating to developers who produce a quality product is a time honored tradition and thus a viable business model.
Agree? Disagree?
Until next time always remember...The Cake is a Lie...
For related articles see:
http://torrentfreak.com/game-developer-confronts-iphone-software-cracker-090107/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10142318-83.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
After buying a few apps that were misleadingly represented, people are becoming disillusioned and piracy has become prevelent on the site. As reported on the site "Torrent Freak" "When game designer, James Bossert saw he that his Whack 'em All iPhone game had 400 new users in one day last week he initially got excited. But that sentiment quickly changed when he saw that only 12 people had paid 99 cents for the game on Apple's iPhone App Store. Bossert e-mailed the person who claimed to have cracked and distributed it and posted the response on his blog."
Now, this is where it gets interesting. Instead of mouthing off, the pirate suggested that Apple offer trial versions of the apps and that Bossert offer an ad-supported version of his game. The hacker, "Most_uniQue" said he used Crackulous, "one-tap" cracking software developed by Hackulous, to crack the app. After cracking 35 apps, he is retiring, he told Bossert in their surprisingly friendly e-mail exchange.
The software designer could have complained or accused or litigated but instead he took the helpful hacker's words to heart and said he plans to release a free, ad-supported version of Whack 'em All within a few weeks as a result of the piracy. "I'll leave the 99 cent version out there and see what happens," he added.
This got me thinking, I've downloaded free open source software for years and if I like it, I click the Paypal button and send some luv their way.
Now, logic dictates that as I'm a broke student and I donate for free software after I downloaded and used it, and Open Source software has been around for ages (long enough that it would have died out if people didn't donate)
Then, it only stands to reason that donating to developers who produce a quality product is a time honored tradition and thus a viable business model.
Agree? Disagree?
Until next time always remember...The Cake is a Lie...
For related articles see:
http://torrentfreak.com/game-developer-confronts-iphone-software-cracker-090107/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10142318-83.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Net Neutrality
I am a huge supporter of Net Neutrality for a variety of reasons but first for those of you who aren't sure what net neutrality is and how it affects you and your life here is a brief overview.
What is Net Neutrality?
Net Neutrality means no discrimination.
Net Neutrality prevents Internet providers from blocking, speeding up or slowing down Web content based on its source, ownership or destination.
Now your probably thinking, why would my ISP block, speed up or slow web content?
According to PC World Magazine,
"A distributor of online video content has filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, asking the agency to stop broadband providers from blocking or slowing P-to-P traffic.
The petition filed by Vuze, which uses the BitTorrent P-to-P (peer-to-peer) protocol to distribute Web content, asks the FCC to set rules for network management by ISPs (Internet service providers). Vuze's filing late Wednesday follows reports last month that cable broadband provider Comcast slows some P-to-P traffic, including BitTorrent."
By blocking or slowing video from Vuze, ISP's were effectively running the company into the ground as a video site rely's on fast speeds to customers. ISPs are futilely fighting customer demand for multimedia services but the broader implications are far more serious.
If ISP's can get away with slowing traffic to sites they dislike, whether it's because the sites utilize a lot of bandwidth for video or file sharing, then the ISP can effectively shut the business down simply by slowing traffic to the point of making the site unusable.
Like the early days of newspapers and radio the internet is a veritable cornucopia of innovation, growth and private individual created content. Anyone can become a video podcaster and start his or her own video show or internet radio program.This is in contrast to newspapers and tv which are now over 90% corporate created content.
If the internet becomes a regulated corporate body then all the freedom and innovation goes the way of the ancient radio talk show.
Comcast, a major cable company recently was busted by the FCC for seacretly blocking internet access to some of it's customers.
"A sharply divided Federal Communications Commission this morning slammed Comcast for blocking Internet access to some customers. It accused the cable company of failing to tell its subscribers about the practice, lying when confronted by regulators and trying to cripple online video sites that compete with its on-demand service."
Blogger, John C Dvorak wrote at on Feb 27 2008
"Comcast has acknowledged hiring people to fill seats before the start of a contentious federal hearing on how the company manages its broadband network, allowing its employees to take those seats when the filled-to-capacity hearing started…
“First, Comcast was caught blocking the Internet. Now it has been caught blocking the public from the debate,” said Timothy Karr, director of an advocacy campaign…
“The only people cheering Comcast are those paid to do so.”
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2008/02/27/comcast-not-only-limits-p2p-file-sharing-they-keep-public-from-fcc-hearing/
This is an important subject and I hope that freedom prevails.
What is Net Neutrality?
Net Neutrality means no discrimination.
Net Neutrality prevents Internet providers from blocking, speeding up or slowing down Web content based on its source, ownership or destination.
Now your probably thinking, why would my ISP block, speed up or slow web content?
According to PC World Magazine,
"A distributor of online video content has filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, asking the agency to stop broadband providers from blocking or slowing P-to-P traffic.
The petition filed by Vuze, which uses the BitTorrent P-to-P (peer-to-peer) protocol to distribute Web content, asks the FCC to set rules for network management by ISPs (Internet service providers). Vuze's filing late Wednesday follows reports last month that cable broadband provider Comcast slows some P-to-P traffic, including BitTorrent."
By blocking or slowing video from Vuze, ISP's were effectively running the company into the ground as a video site rely's on fast speeds to customers. ISPs are futilely fighting customer demand for multimedia services but the broader implications are far more serious.
If ISP's can get away with slowing traffic to sites they dislike, whether it's because the sites utilize a lot of bandwidth for video or file sharing, then the ISP can effectively shut the business down simply by slowing traffic to the point of making the site unusable.
Like the early days of newspapers and radio the internet is a veritable cornucopia of innovation, growth and private individual created content. Anyone can become a video podcaster and start his or her own video show or internet radio program.This is in contrast to newspapers and tv which are now over 90% corporate created content.
If the internet becomes a regulated corporate body then all the freedom and innovation goes the way of the ancient radio talk show.
Comcast, a major cable company recently was busted by the FCC for seacretly blocking internet access to some of it's customers.
"A sharply divided Federal Communications Commission this morning slammed Comcast for blocking Internet access to some customers. It accused the cable company of failing to tell its subscribers about the practice, lying when confronted by regulators and trying to cripple online video sites that compete with its on-demand service."
Blogger, John C Dvorak wrote at on Feb 27 2008
"Comcast has acknowledged hiring people to fill seats before the start of a contentious federal hearing on how the company manages its broadband network, allowing its employees to take those seats when the filled-to-capacity hearing started…
“First, Comcast was caught blocking the Internet. Now it has been caught blocking the public from the debate,” said Timothy Karr, director of an advocacy campaign…
“The only people cheering Comcast are those paid to do so.”
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2008/02/27/comcast-not-only-limits-p2p-file-sharing-they-keep-public-from-fcc-hearing/
This is an important subject and I hope that freedom prevails.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
WePC.com - Idea - The Sojourn by Jen Eidson
A great idea for a new ASUS netbook.
http://www.wepc.com/vote/view/idea/5519/The_Sojourn
I recently submitted my idea for a new ASUS brand laptop. My idea was that the laptop would be waterproofed via Golden ShellBack www.golden-shellback.com and completely user customizable / repairable.
Think about being able to carry a few parts with you on a trip knowing that you could field strip the thing and have it back online in minutes even out in the middle of West Africa!
The Sojourn
PC Idea Description
Make the netbook easily user customizable in regards to upgrading the hard drive, memory, graphics etc.
Then Offer consumers the option to have their netbook waterproofed by utilizing a collaboration with the Northeast Maritime Institute; 32 Washington Street; Fairhaven, MA 02719 USA; ( map ) Phone: + [1] 508 287 2334;
info@golden-shellback.com ;
Have a series of commercials following an intrepid explorer as she braves the elements on a backpacking trip through West Africa.
Show the netbook and explorer surviving monsoons, sandstorms, heatwaves etc. This will illustrate the netbooks ability to go where no netbook has gone before and will give the public a sense of the high quality of ASUS machines.
Alternately you could have a similar commercial showcasing the application of using a waterproof netbook that is almost completely user reparable in the field
(think of a soldier field stripping and cleaning his rifle in the field)
along with miniature medical devices such as the new scanners developed by T2 Biosystems.
This would be a netbook beloved by travelers, Doctors Without Borders, hunters, hikers, photo journalists. Especially if there is plenty of options for additional storage.
People could take their netbook into very inhospitable places with a few replacement parts in case of emergency and be able to travel worry free knowing their patients/pictures/information is safe and their ability to communicate with the world is secure.
Adding internal WiMax capability would be an additional benefit as users prefer to have very few if any peripherals sticking out of a portable machine.
read more | digg story
http://www.wepc.com/vote/view/idea/5519/The_Sojourn
I recently submitted my idea for a new ASUS brand laptop. My idea was that the laptop would be waterproofed via Golden ShellBack www.golden-shellback.com and completely user customizable / repairable.
Think about being able to carry a few parts with you on a trip knowing that you could field strip the thing and have it back online in minutes even out in the middle of West Africa!
The Sojourn
PC Idea Description
Make the netbook easily user customizable in regards to upgrading the hard drive, memory, graphics etc.
Then Offer consumers the option to have their netbook waterproofed by utilizing a collaboration with the Northeast Maritime Institute; 32 Washington Street; Fairhaven, MA 02719 USA; ( map ) Phone: + [1] 508 287 2334;
info@golden-shellback.com ;
Have a series of commercials following an intrepid explorer as she braves the elements on a backpacking trip through West Africa.
Show the netbook and explorer surviving monsoons, sandstorms, heatwaves etc. This will illustrate the netbooks ability to go where no netbook has gone before and will give the public a sense of the high quality of ASUS machines.
Alternately you could have a similar commercial showcasing the application of using a waterproof netbook that is almost completely user reparable in the field
(think of a soldier field stripping and cleaning his rifle in the field)
along with miniature medical devices such as the new scanners developed by T2 Biosystems.
This would be a netbook beloved by travelers, Doctors Without Borders, hunters, hikers, photo journalists. Especially if there is plenty of options for additional storage.
People could take their netbook into very inhospitable places with a few replacement parts in case of emergency and be able to travel worry free knowing their patients/pictures/information is safe and their ability to communicate with the world is secure.
Adding internal WiMax capability would be an additional benefit as users prefer to have very few if any peripherals sticking out of a portable machine.
read more | digg story
Sunday, January 4, 2009
This months project
This month I've decided to try to run a linux distro off a 16GB class 6 SDHC card. I'm leaning towards Fedora or Ubuntu but plan to try Puppy linux as well. I've downloaded Unetbootin and found a few likely tutorials at http://www.pendrivelinux.com/.
As a warm up, the first tutorial I thought I'd try is running Ubuntu off a virtual drive.
To do this I'll download Qemu, http://bellard.org/qemu/about.html an open source machine emulator. This way I can run Ubuntu and Windows without needing to reboot to switch between them and I can easily share files between OS's as well.
I'll post an update in a few days about my progress...and if I don't...then you know something went horribly wrong :)
As a warm up, the first tutorial I thought I'd try is running Ubuntu off a virtual drive.
To do this I'll download Qemu, http://bellard.org/qemu/about.html an open source machine emulator. This way I can run Ubuntu and Windows without needing to reboot to switch between them and I can easily share files between OS's as well.
According to:
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/qemu-ubuntu-804-with-a-shared-folder/#more-416
I'll need the following...
Qemu Portable Ubuntu 8.04.1 essentials:
- 1GB+ flash drive (formatted as fat16 or fat32)
- A Windows Host computer
- Ubuntu 8.04.1 ISO
- QPU804.exe
Then I'll need to take the following steps...
Portable Ubuntu 8.04.1 creation process:
- Download and launch QPU804.exe, a QPU804 folder is created
- Download the Ubuntu ISO and move it to the QPU804 folder
- Move the QPU804 folder to your fat formatted flash drive
- From the QPU804 folder, Click QPU804.bat to start Ubuntu
- Once Ubuntu is up and running on top of Windows, navigate to Places and click QEMU VVFAT to mount it (this is the mount point for the shared folder).
I'll post an update in a few days about my progress...and if I don't...then you know something went horribly wrong :)
Mega Liquidation Sale Update
Channel 6 in San Diego reports that the scam is continuing. The reporters were prevented from investigating but did manage to help several victims recover what they paid in admission to the "event".
Go to
http://www.sandiego6.com/content/unit6/story/Many-Complain-About-Mega-Liquidation-Club/I9VDRY3LSEOufQD3XWeT_g.cspx
for the full article.
Go to
http://www.sandiego6.com/content/unit6/story/Many-Complain-About-Mega-Liquidation-Club/I9VDRY3LSEOufQD3XWeT_g.cspx
for the full article.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Beware The Mega Liquidation Sale
This scam has been touring the US for a few years now and it's time it was stopped. The organizers take out TV and radio spots a few days before the "sale" and claim to have fantastic deals on high ticket items such as iPods, TV's and DVD players.
In reality there are no deals.
The iPods "If there actually are any" are the same price as in the store and all other items are either generic brands, open box
(And by that I mean in large piles stacked on the ground)
or extremely outdated models.
(I personally witnessed a vendor trying to sell a laptop that was practically old enough to have a floppy drive at the Portlan Oregon show at the EXPO center.)
In today's economey this type of scam really hurts people.
The only way to stop it is to make the practice no longer lucrative to the scammers. All the scammers need to do, is dupe enough people into buying a $16 admission ticket and it doesent matter if a single item is sold or not.
If 1000 people show up over a three day weekend thats $16,000. There were only seven vendors at the Portland Show so that's over 2,000 each just in ticket sales, actual purchases are a bonus for them not the actual bread and butter.
This type of scam needs to be made so public that everyone knows not to bother. That way the scammers lose revinue and the practice dies out.
For other articles about this scam see : http://www.sandiego6.com/content/unit6/story/Many-Complain-About-Mega-Liquidation-Club/I9VDRY3LSEOufQD3XWeT_g.cspx
http://stateofaffairs.info/archive/portland-mega-liquidation-sale/
In reality there are no deals.
The iPods "If there actually are any" are the same price as in the store and all other items are either generic brands, open box
(And by that I mean in large piles stacked on the ground)
or extremely outdated models.
(I personally witnessed a vendor trying to sell a laptop that was practically old enough to have a floppy drive at the Portlan Oregon show at the EXPO center.)
In today's economey this type of scam really hurts people.
The only way to stop it is to make the practice no longer lucrative to the scammers. All the scammers need to do, is dupe enough people into buying a $16 admission ticket and it doesent matter if a single item is sold or not.
If 1000 people show up over a three day weekend thats $16,000. There were only seven vendors at the Portland Show so that's over 2,000 each just in ticket sales, actual purchases are a bonus for them not the actual bread and butter.
This type of scam needs to be made so public that everyone knows not to bother. That way the scammers lose revinue and the practice dies out.
For other articles about this scam see : http://www.sandiego6.com/content/unit6/story/Many-Complain-About-Mega-Liquidation-Club/I9VDRY3LSEOufQD3XWeT_g.cspx
http://stateofaffairs.info/archive/portland-mega-liquidation-sale/
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