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djotaku's twitter feed
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- http://www.gnu.org/fry/
- Clinton Supporters: Are you really such sore losers that you're prepared to screw us all over for four years just because you lost?
- More Christian Tech Goodness: http://tinyurl.com/6c8587
- When I was a kid, I played some corny Biblical video games. Now this comes out: http://tinyurl.com/5mxczl Will it sell?
- From now on all LPGA players must pass an oral english test. Who cares if you speak english if you can swing a stick at a small white ball?
- I thought my blog looked a little weird and then I remembered that I had ad blocker turned on and my google ad was therefore missing.
- Foobar2000 the strangely named audio player with the neat features
- I'm annoyed that my Civ 4 BTS hasn't been auto-updating. Just had to download over 300 MB of patches just to play Fall from Heaven 2.
- @ASPwizer: Nothing wrong with you, Honda Elements are the cars that winners drive. q;o)
- Also, sharing: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericsbinaryworld/sets/72157606917571613/
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Nov
30
Today’s Shot
Category: Photography | 
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Nov
30
Kids love Linux!
Category: Linux | 3 Comments
As I read this article about how this guy’s kids love Linux and hate Windows, I had a couple of questions come to my mind. First of all, is this a testament to how easily kids learn things? Second, what does this mean for newbies to Linux who complain that it’s not as easy as Windows?
According to the article:
Here was a five year old, traversing the directories, finding applications and opening them without any hesitation. He had no issue figuring out how to open and close screens, move them around, or change their size. The tool bars, menus and icons were all intuitive to these kids.
What caused the real screaming wasn’t me asking for my laptop back so I could get some work done. Instead, it was the shock of returning to Windows. They went to the living room and ended up throwing fits. I noticed that my son had more trouble trying to find and load his games on the WindowsXP machine for several reasons.
The final moans occurred when I told them they needed to go back to using the family PC, because my laptop was for work. This resulted in a revolution. When I finally reminded them that all of their games were loaded on the family PC, they both responded with intensity: “we don’t want those, we like the little Tux!”
So what he’s basically saying is that his kids found Linux easier to navigate and find their games than Windows. I think this suggests that perhaps there is nothing wrong with Linux on the desktop. (So many people complain that things are too hard - read: No enough like MS Windows) Yet these kids had no trouble getting done what they needed to get done. I think what it comes down to is not that Linux is complex but that people are too set in their ways with Windows. Computer guys like me don’t mind change (as long as it’s not ridiculous - I balked the first time I used Fluxbox), it’s the people that struggled to learn Windows that have problems with Linux.
Finally, kids are also a lot smarter. They have more time to spend exploring the computer than their parents who have to work and then take care of adult things when they get home. Ever since I was about 8 or 9 years old I’ve known more about computers than my parents and most of the adults in my life. Why? Because when I was bored after school or on the weekend I would go through all of the Windows tutorials. When we got the internet I used to go through tutorial after tutorial to learn HTML, Javascript and other computer techniques. Now I’m sure that another technologically inclined kid probably knows more than me. When I get home from work after hitting the gym, I barely have time to blog and do some photography before it’s time to hit the hay. I don’t have the time to devote to learning new computer techniques that I once did. So I feel that if you give a kid Linux and a few minutes, he or she will be just as fine as with Windows, if not (as this article suggests) better off. Also, from an educational point of view, Linux is better as it contains the source code for children to examine and get a head start in programming.
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Nov
30
So, on Retrozone, you can buy adapters to plug in your old Nintendo controllers to your Wii. This is for use with the service Nintendo provides to allow you to play on your Wii nearly every Nintendo game that ever came out for any system. I’m extremely surprised that Nintendo didn’t see this coming! They are going to lose out on potential business! They should have released Wii versions of the old control. Sure, they had a “normal” control in addition to the Wii stick, that looks like a cross between a Gamecube and a Super Nintendo controller, but it’s not the same as playing your old games with the old controllers! I predict that the prices of old Nintendo controllers being sold on Ebay will rise.
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Nov
29
Today’s Shot
Category: Photography | Leave a Comment
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Nov
29
Playstation 3 Review
Category: Video Games | 1 Comment
I don’t have one, but I can pretend I do by reading this review. Makes me glad I didn’t get one. Sounds like they have a lot of issues to work through.
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Nov
29
Just grow your own 1up mushroom! Don’t have the spores for that? A dinosaur kingdom hasn’t taken over your land and transformed your people into mushrooms? Don’t worry! Think Geek is selling a 1up Mushroom!
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Nov
28
Today’s Shot
Category: Photography | Leave a Comment
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Nov
28
Finally, some rulings that make sense!
Category: Computers, DRM, Movies, News, Politics, Technology | Leave a Comment
Joystick.com reports that judges are finally starting to make some rulings that make sense! We all know (if from nowhere else, than from this blog) that the DMCA is evil. It allows all kinds of restrictions to be placed on you, even though you were a good citizen and bought the content legally. For example, the DMCA makes it illegal to rip a DVD to your computer because that would entail breaking the copy protections on the DVD. This may have killed a HUGE surge or video iPod-like devices. Sure, you can buy video from the iTunes store, but why do that if you already own the movie?
Well, judges have made an exception for abandonware. Finally, they have made a ruling that makes sense. You see, abandonware is software for which the company that created the software no longer exists. Not only do they no longer exist, but they did not transfer the rights to any other entity. In other words, if Sony buys Small Company A, Small Company A would no longer exist, but Sony would own the rights to the games; this is not abandonware. But if Small Company A goes out of business without open sourcing their software, it is now abandoned - abandonware. And they do open source their software sometimes - that is the story of how the 3D rendering software Blender came to be.
If the company no longer exists and has abandoned their software, what happens if it becomes the retro hit of the year. Previously, you were on shaky legal ground if you claimed that you could distribute the software. Ethically you would have been right as you wouldn’t be hurting anyone by sharing the software. You are not truly pirating for there is no legitimate way to get the software. Notice that open source software can never be abandonware (which is one of the reasons I love it!) The very gist of open source licenses (eg GPL, BSD, etc) mean that if you like some software you can always redistribute the source code and revive a program that you feel died an untimely death.
The new ruling by the judge makes an exception to the DMCA so that you can break copy protection on abandonware. This means that you can effectively break the copy protection and reverse engineer it. Then you can distribute it, remix it, or add new levels.
I am extremely excited about this event because it means that some common sense is finally being hammered into the DMCA. Some libraries had complained that if they acquired music or books with digital restrictions management (DRM), they were afraid they might not be able to access it if the company went out of business. Now they can! Of course, ideally, they shouldn’t have to hack it - that’s why open source is much better. Don’t make money because you lock people out of stuff - make money because you are a better software producer!
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Nov
28
Fox’s O’Reilly is a moron
Category: Computers, News, Technology | 1 Comment
Here’s a quote from O’Reilly:
I don’t own an iPod. I would never wear an iPod… If this is your primary focus in life - the machines… it’s going to have a staggeringly negative effect, all of this, for America… did you ever talk to these computer geeks? I mean, can you carry on a conversation with them? …I really fear for the United States because, believe me, the jihadists? They’re not playing the video games. They’re killing real people over there.
(quote obtained from Think Progress)
Yes, O’Reilly, it’s bad if people in our country understand computers. We don’t want them to understand that the terrorists are employing crackers (black hat hackers) to put their videos up on American servers and create online forums where more hatred can be spewed. He makes it sounds like using an iPod will cause America to lose the battle against the terrorists.
And here’s the real kicker - if you become a premium member of Fox, you’ll get podcasts of O’Reilly. So even though iPods are evil and terrorists will win, he has podcasts up for people to listen on their…what? what?? YES their iPods!
What a moron!
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Nov
27
Suburban Plight
Category: Blender, videos | Leave a Comment
I came across this page today where someone has posted a video entitled Suburban Plight. The movie is a combination of live action and computer graphics created with Blender! The result looks very nice. I’m glad the author decided to share it with us. Check it out!
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Nov
27
Today’s Shot
Category: Photography | Leave a Comment
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